Tale Of Two Cities Inhumanity Essay

Commencing the story, we are presented by the narrator to the city of Omelas, and the first day of the Festival of Summer- only hint of exposition of the story. The narrator uses a positive tone; the knowledge of the town seems to run deeply while he/she describes the “houses with red roofs and painted walls” and the “old moss-grown gardens” that the procession taking place is passing by. Dances, melodies, mirth, and bustle fill the boulevards as the citizens prepare for the big horse race. This scenario is like a joyous, luxury fairy tale, “long ago and far away, once upon a time” with "a clamor of bells" and "swallows soaring." Afterwards, the narrator comes to talk about the citizens, and here is when we start catching some vestiges of uncertainty diction-wise. Despite previously establishing that these are happy people, we get a minor lecture on what the narrator knows we have come to expect of such an idealistic way of living: kings, princesses, and battles for glory. However, that is not the case; there is no such thing as monarchy, slaves, clergy, or even military in Omelas. Only those things which bring happiness and prosperity to the city are tolerated, for as the narrator describes in a barely attached tone, “Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive” (Le Guin, 2).

One begins A Tale of Two Cities expecting... Well, expecting a tale of two cities. And yet we do not read about the second city, Paris, until "The Wine-shop", in which a wine-cask spills into the cobblestone streets, causing a brief, merry celebration among the starving people. Dickens uses the scene to establish the impoverished and desperate atmosphere of France that will serve as the catalyst of the Revolution, and employs imagery and symbolism to foreshadow the imminent bloodshed.

Charles Dickens portrayal of symbolism within the novel, A Tale of Two Cities helps his readers understand the key information through objects and characters. Symbolism occurs throughout the entire book, and many are included. For example, the broken wine cask, Thérèse Defarge’s knitting, the Marquis d’Evrémonde and the guillotine blade. All of these symbols help in foreshadowing the struggles that the characters will face as the book progresses.

Throughout the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens uses powerful contrast to present a story that reflects the situations in his life, as well as the life of two cities. Best/worst, wisdom/foolishness, belief/incredulity, light/darkness, spring/winter, hope/despair, everything/nothing; these antithesis springing up from the first paragraph provide contrasting ideas that highlight the extreme conflict revealed throughout the novel. Looking at the character motifs, Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, in addition to Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge are contrasting characters evolving with the progressing story. Contradicting scenes between London and Paris set the background for a light versus dark motif. Dickens’ use of contrast through antithesis, character motifs and two different cities demonstrate the intense conflict, change, and struggle that existed during the French Revolution.

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens criticizes the social injustice that occurs during the French Revolution through excessive mortality, a clear distinction between classes, and the irrationality of the government system. Dickens includes a myriad of unnecessary deaths in his novel to reflect the abuse the French people endure. Preceding the revolution, many peasants were killed at the merciless hands of the wealthy. Monseigneur's carriage recklessly races through the streets when he runs over a child.

The French Revolution was a time of despair when everyone doubted his or her fate. A Tale of Two Cities is a book by Charles Dickens about the disaster of the French Revolution. The French Revolution caused many people to become depressed because of the situations they faced. This fate was inevitable and no one escaped it. Fate is a very important theme that is reflected by the metaphors of the sea, the golden thread, and echoing footsteps.

Working as a child in order to support his family while his father was in debtor’s prison, Charles Dickens had a firsthand experience with social injustice in the Victorian Era. Seventy years after the French Revolution began, Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, which tied the injustice and oppression of the Revolution to his own time. Dickens believed in the novel as an important form of social commentary, and he used A Tale of Two Cities to shine a light on society’s problems. One of the themes of this novel, man’s inhumanity, shows how people can be incredibly cruel and heartless towards others. Dickens illustrates this theme of man’s inhumanity to his fellow men by using the symbols of blue-flies, scarecrows, and knitting.

Dickens develops inhumanity as something innately present in human beings, but that is only truly revealed when there is lack of consequence for revealing it. Society then shifts to accept man’s inhumanity and becomes a destructive force, brutally hurting everything in its path and breeding the inhumanity of revenge in the people it wrongs. This inhumanity developed by other inhumanities is why Madame Defarge so mercilessly hunts the Evrémonde family. It is why the peasants of the French Revolution are equally as inhumane to the aristocrats as the aristocrats had previously been to them. The brutally honest theme of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man is part of what makes A Tale of Two Cities such a memorable book, as it serves as not only an entertaining piece of literature, but also a warning to generations to come.

This represents peoples unhappiness and uncontrollable behaviors like the sea. It is clear to see that in The Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses many forms of literary devices to enrich his story and give it more of a stronger meaning to

Charles Dickens focuses on the revenge that put the bloody French Revolution in motion in his suspenseful story A Tale of Two Cities. The French Revolution was a revolt instigated by the peasants, who attacked the nobles with vengeful hearts starting in the year 1789, and going on until the year 1799. The settings of the book took place in both London and England, two parallels in novel, two cities where the plotting of the Revolution went into affect. Although the reasons behind the different examples of revenge are exposed, the actions taken with revenge in mind are inexcusable and not justifiable. Dickens portrays the theme of revenge successfully through the joker Gaspard, the brave younger brother who sacrificed himself to protect his

The French Revolution brought an abundance of death, anger, and fright to the country of France and its inhabitants. Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities about fifty years after the French Revolution. During the French Revolution, there was excessive bloodshed and death since most of the French inhabitants were crazed and bloodthirsty. This carnage caused several sacrifices for various reasons, which A Tale of Two Cities greatly focuses upon. Dickens develops the theme of sacrifice throughout the novel numerous times with both large and small sacrifices for reasons such as maintaining well-being, performing acts for the greater good, and Sydney Carton’s numerous sacrifices for Lucie.

    Many events that take place in A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, foreshadow upcoming obstacles and give insight into the hardships of the townspeople. Symbolic events occur which describe the vengefulness of the peasants towards the aristocrats. The novel contains many events, which have symbolic value. Many of the symbols have to do with the inevitable clash between the aristocrats and peasants. These events foreshadow the war that is soon to become reality.

The literature that came out of the French Revolution often shares common themes of death, rebirth, and destruction. Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is much the same way. Throughout the novel, Dickens clearly supports the revolution but also depicts the brutality of the revolutionaries. Dickens uses powerful metaphors of a sea to symbolize the revolutionaries destroying old France and the belittling name of “Jacques” to depict the narcissistic views of the French aristocracy to show his support for the revolution.

John F. Kennedy expressed that “those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable”, accurately describing A Tale of Two Cities, as it sheds light on the societal issues faced by the lower classes in pre-revolutionary France, leading up to the peasants uprising against the government and demanding change. As France went through a post-revolutionary era of havoc lacking reform and a proper government, England contrasted this with a stable condition of conduct. Through the use of metaphorical hunger and repetition of crowds and food, Charles Dickens portrays the motif of hunger to emphasize the theme of a longing for justice by the peasants to symbolize that not only are they starving for literal food, but for revenge

France, overflowing with misery from the French Revolution, was a broken state from 1789 to 1799; however, it is in this broken state that Charles Dickens becomes captivated and proceeds to compose one of the most remarkable stories of all time. Not only does Dickens capture the essence of the revolution itself through A Tale of Two Cities, but he also captures the tribulation of the French people. As portrayed in the story, being overcome with misery compels individuals to respond in various ways. The aristocracy chooses to completely disregard the well-being of those below them. The peasants resort to acting in savage ways as a result of their inhumane treatment. However, Darnay, Miss Pross, and Carton are exceptions to this unfortunate