A Tale of Two Cities

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Recommended: Themes of a tale of two cities

Change can be a good thing. Charles Dickens, a fine author of A Tale of Two Cities uses many themes throughout his work, but the main theme he focuses on is redemption. The idea of redemption has to do with someone changing their outlook on life and making a difference from what they used to be. An alcoholic becoming a hero, a thief becoming a honest man, a crazed man becoming a leader, and a bystander becoming honorable. The transformation of an ordinary person to someone who benefits many people is an example of true redemption. Dickens includes a few specific characters that relate directly to this theme. Dr. Manette, Charles Darnay, Jerry Cruncher, and Sydney Carton are identified in a couple of instances where it appears that their life has been misspent, but in the end redeemed. At the start of the novel, Dr. Manette was imprisoned for 18 years and he was not able to see his family during that whole period of his life. Anticipating death everyday at the prison made him go insane. All those years of Dr. Manette’s life was wasted at the Bastille prison. Lucie, his daughter, helped him recover from the horrific experience and Dr. Manette was able to see his daughter marry a young gentleman named Charles Darnay. Redemption, however, came to Dr. Manette when he was given the opportunity to try to save Darnay from having the same terrible fate as him. Darnay was imprisoned wrongly, which parallels Dr. Manette’s imprisonment because Dr. Manette was accused without any justification. Darnay had not done anything wrong and the French people kept him in jail for one entire year. During this time Dr. Manette’s attitude changed in a positive way. An insane old man who couldn’t even remember his own name, had this sudden transformation ... ... middle of paper ... ...87). Sydney Carton redeemed his wasted life by making sure he was loved and remembered to everyone he was close to. His sacrifice was what redeemed Carton to be a hero. New realization in oneself is redemption and benefitting others through this is an act of true heroism. Dr. Manette, Darnay, Cruncher, and Carton all related to redemption because each one of them sacrificed themselves for the people they care about. Dr. Manette sacrificed his past prison experiences to help Darnay, while Darnay sacrificed his noble title to be with Lucie. Cruncher sacrificed grave stealing to be a real honest tradesman and Carton sacrificed his life for Lucie to be happy. Each one of these characters transformed into something greater, enabling them to reach redemption. Their misspent life was not wasted toward the end of the novel and these characters did impact those around them.

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