Sydney Carton Sacrifice

One of the most memorable and best scenes in A Tale of Two Cities to take something away from is when Sydney Carton sacrificed his life in place of Charles Darnay’s because of their resemblance to one another. In book 3 of the story, Charles was sentenced to death by guillotine, very unjustly. Though, in the minutes before he was going to be murdered, Carton drugged him, sent him out of the gaol, and took his place. Just after, a gaoler took Sydney to the guillotine and, he became the ______ person to be executed. When the executioner asks for his final words Sydney simply says, “______________”.

The audience of these punishments said they feel as though he had never seemed more peaceful than he did at his death. This scene is very important to the overall theme and message of A Tale of Two Cities.

In some situations, sacrifice can often be the right and best thing to do. We see this in history through the peasant girl, Joan of Arc. Joan sacrificed her life to defend the French against the English in early 15th century. Many years and 5 centuries later, Joan became the patron saint of France. For Joan, this sacrifice was great because she had saved the lives of many and help French claim victory over England. In similar fashion Sydney Carton laid down his life to save the life of others, of Charles Darnay and in turn, better lives for both Lucie and Little Lucie, keeping his promise. The sacrifice Sydney Carton made for Lucie and her family is similar to the sacrifice of Joan of Arc, both were very commendable and