A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

The year is 1775, and social ills plague both France and England. Jerry Cruncher, an odd-job-man who works for Tellson's Bank, stops the Dover mail-coach with an urgent message for Jarvis Lorry. Lorry is somewhat elderly, but quaintly dressed. The message instructs Lorry to wait at Dover for a young woman, and Lorry responds with the cryptic words, "Recalled to Life." At Dover, Lorry is met by Lucie Manette, a young orphan whose father, a once-eminent doctor whom she supposed dead, has been discovered in France. Lucie is a pretty, blonde, young woman of compassionate nature and who inspires a lot of love and loyalty in other people. Lorry escorts Lucie to Paris, where they meet Defarge, a former servant of Doctor Manette, who has kept Manette safe in a garret. At this point, we are introduced to the first theme I found in this book; that the reality of death is ever-painful. The narrator states, “My friend is dead, my neighbour is dead, my love, the darling of my soul; is dead; it is inexorable consolidation.” Driven mad by eighteen years in the Bastille, Manette spends all of his time making shoes, a hobby he learned while in prison. A theme I came across in this book, “Inprisonment can dehumanize people”, was supported at this point when Lorry questions the Doctor about his identity. The Doctor replies, “Did you ask for my name? 105, North Tower.” Lorry assures Lucie that her love and devotion can recall her father to life, and indeed they do.

The year is now 1780. Charles Darnay stands accused of treason against the English crown. A bombastic lawyer named Stryver pleads Darnay's case, but it is not until his drunk, good-for-nothing colleague, Sydney Carton, assists him that the court acquits Darnay. Carton clinches his argument by pointing out that he himself bears an uncanny resemblance to the defendant, which undermines the prosecution's case for unmistakably identifying Darnay as the spy the authorities spotted. Somewhere within this passage, Dickens takes it upon himself to bring up the theme that every human creature is different. He does this by stating that “A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.” Meanwhile, Lucie and Doctor Manette watched the court proceedings, and that night, Carton escorts Darnay to a tavern and asks how it feels to receive the sympathy of a woman like Lucie.