Examples Of Sacrifice In A Tale Of Two Cities

Sacrifice is defined as giving up something of great value in order to benefit others. In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens there are lots of sacrifices being made. Some of the people that sacrificed themselves for others were Sydney Carton, Lucie Manette and Dr. Manette, they do this in different ways; however, it is still sacrifice. These sacrifices have different intensities, for example, Lucie Manette sacrificed her social life for her father, Dr. Manette. Dr. Manette sacrificed his health and mental status for his daughter and her happiness but the most noted sacrifice is the novel was done by Sydney Carton, who sacrificed his life for Lucie and her loved ones. These sacrifices sum up to develop the theme of the book, which is that

This depicts how Sydney thought that his life didn't matter and since nobody cared about him he wouldn't care for nobody. He showed this attitude through drinking. This made Sydney Carton “incapable of his own happiness” (96). This meant that even though he could be capable of many things but his lack of confidence in himself and the fact that he didn't try to get better because he had no one to encourage him to do so. It is also shown that he believes that his life is purposeless, he states, “Do you particularly like the man?... Why should you particularly like a man who resembles you? There is nothing in you to like; you know that” (90). In this quote it is shown how he believes that he is a worthless person and that nobody should like him, it is also shown that he does no like Charles

This is shown when Charles Darnay, Lucie’s husband was sentenced to the guillotine and Carton voluntarily exchanges places with him because of their resemblance. Before he did this he whispered in Lucie’s ear, “A life you love.” (345) while she was unconscious. By this Carton means to tell Lucie that he is going to fulfill the promise that he had made to her years ago. By sacrificing himself Carton also believes that his death will make Lucie and her family happy and peaceful. He predicts this by stating, “I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. I see her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name” (386). This shows how Sydney Carton believes that it is necessary that he gives up his life in order for Lucie's family to be happy and peaceful in the