Entry 1: On the first page of the book, Dickens uses a great number of contradictory phrases. Some of these phrases are, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other was, [...]” (1). I believe the use of such phrases has many purposes. One of these purposes is to show the different views in society at that time. Another is to show the significance of time, notice how in the beginning …show more content…
the lengths of time get longer and longer, ‘Age’ and ‘Epoch’. The contradictory phrases also gave light to the different opinions the people had about society and themselves during that time. Entry 2: On page 31, there is an interesting scene with wine. A barrel is spilled in the streets and all of the people stop what they are doing and immediately start to drink the wine. This in itself is not particularly interesting as it is a fairly common occurrence in books, I myself have seen it before, but what is really interesting is that when the spilt wine is all drunk, a message is written on a wall in the muddy wine: “BLOOD” (31). Then Dickens gives the reader some very interesting foreshadowing. He writes, “The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there” (31). Blood is a wine in the mind of Charles Dickens. Entry 3: Right after the wine scene there is some description about the people in one of the cities.
In this description, The word hunger is repeatedly used, but not just any hunger, this is Hunger! He capitalized the word as well as repeating it eight times in one paragraph. Here are some of the instances, “[...] was the sign, Hunger. [..] Hunger was pushed [...]; Hunger was patched into ]...]; Hunger was repeated [...];Hunger stared down [...]. Hunger was the [...]. Hunger rattled its dry bones [...]; Hunger was shred into [...]” (32). I think the repeating of the word was to show its importance and possibly establish it as a motif in the book. Now, the capitalization of the word hes two purposes, one more interesting than the other. The first is to show its importance to the reader. The next, more in depth one is to show Hunger as a force or even as a person! The two things that elude to this more than the others is where Hunger is actually doing something that a living creature would do (personification). These are, “Hunger stared down,” and “Hunger rattled its dry bones” (32). Much like the creature Death, Hunger is described as a humanoid-like creature too. Another instance of this is where Want is described. Want is only mentioned once and not described a doing anything, just that it showed in everything. Thus, the reader can determine that a possible character of want is much less important than the established character of
Hunger. Entry 4: On page 33 there is a metaphor, this one involving the sea and a ship. It is, “Indeed they were at sea and the ship and crew were in peril of tempest” (33). In this metaphor, the ship and crew are the people and the tempest at sea is Hunger and Want and the effects of those. This shows the threatening effect that Hunger and Want have on the people during that time. There is another metaphor on this page, “But, the time was not come yet; and every wind that blew over France shock the rags of the scarecrows in vain, for the birds, fine of song and feather, took no warning” (33). The winds are warnings to the people to try to fix their ways and troubles, the scarecrows are the people, and the birds are possible the people higher-up in society. Entry 5: Throughout chapter 5, part two, two of the characters, Mr. Stryver and Sydney Carton, are said to be a Lion and a Jackal respectively. An example of this is when Dickens writes, “The lion then composed himself on his back on a sofa on one side of the drinking table, while the jackal sat at his own paper-bestrewn table proper, on the other side of it, with the bottles and glasses ready to his hand” (96). The reason of this is to show the powerfulness or level in society with animal imagery. The lion, being higher up in the animal kingdom than a jackal, puts Mr. Stryver at a higher level in human society than Mr. Carton in the reader’s mind. This is shown when Dickens writes, “At last, it began to get about, among such as were interested in the matter, that although, Sydney Carton would never be a lion, he was an amazingly good jackal, and that he rendered suit and service to Stryver in that humble capacity” (95). This goes to show that ‘Lion’ and ‘Jackal’ are attainable levels of power in society but some end up serving in the capacity of a jackal in society. Entry 6: On the first page, page 101, of chapter six, part two, Charles Dickens uses a metaphor about waves to show that time has passed and things have changed. He writes, “On the afternoon of a certain fine Sunday when the waves of four months had rolled over the trial for treason, and carried it, as to public interest and memory, far out to sea, Mr. Jarvis Lorry walked along the sunny streets from Clerkenwell where he lived , on his way to dine with the Doctor” (101). He uses this to say that the passage of time has metaphorically washed away the public interest of a trial. This allows a character who participated in the trial to walk about the streets freely without hindrance. Entry 7: On page 118, Charles Dickens symbolizes unreality as a disease, leprosy. He says, “The leprosy of unreality disfigured every human creature in attendance upon Monseigneur” (118). This characterized Monseigneur and the residence of whom as unreal, possibility estranged from the lives and times of the common people, as Monseigneur is a great lord among the cort. This can lead the reader to believe that Monseigneur is a disease to his people and has a terrible effect on their lives. Entry 8: Further along in chapter seven, part two, a scene is shown that greatly furthers the antagonistic nature of Monsieur the Marquis. In this scene, Monsieur the Marquis is intentionally driving his carriage recklessly to injure of kill the peasants. Dickens writes, “The complaint had sometimes been made itself audible, even in that deaf city and dumb age, that, in the narrow streets without footways, the fierce patrician custom of hard driving endangered and maimed the mere vulgar in a barbarous manner” (121). The carriage of Monsieur the Marquis ran down and killed a child in the street. The reaction of the father of the child is, “‘Killed!’ [...] ‘Dead!’” (122). The Monsieur does not seem to care that he has just killed a child and tosses one gold coin to the father and rides on. He says,”’It is extraordinary to me , [...], that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children”’ (122). This shows that he does not care about the lives of his people and is willing to suck them dry if it benefits himself. Entry 9: On pages 142 and 142, there is some very interesting descriptions of the house of Monsieur the Marquis. The same sentence is virtually repeated. The two forms of this sentence are, “The stone faces on the outer walls stared blindly at the black night for three heavy hours “ and “For three heavy hours, the stone faces of the château, lion and human, stared blindly at the night” (141). Right after this description Monsieur the Marquis is murdered, the description of which involves the stone faces of the château. The description is, “It was portended that there was one stone face too many, up at the château. The Gorgon had surveyed the building again in the night, and added the one stone face wanting; the stone face for which it had waited through about two hundred years” (145). This stone face is of course, that of Monsieur the Marquis. The involvement of the Gorgon character is quite interesting because it is a creature from the Greek myths, much older for two hundred years. The best part is that it had been waiting of Monsieur the Marquis for two hundred years. This eludes that the Monsieur is much more than the reader had thought, but no more than the Monsieur himself had thought. Entry 10: At the end of chapter ten, book two, there is some slightly creepy foreshadowing. In it the Doctor seems to return to his old ways of making shoes. His daughter heard him and ran to his room to check on him. The reader doesn’t know what she saw, but she was visibly frightened by it. Dickens writes, “[...], she looked in at his door and came running back frightened, crying to herself, with all her blood chilled, [...]” (154). The strangest part is that after she goes back up, gets him, and goes on a walk, he goes to sleep. Then when his daughter checks his room again, his tools and supplies are just as they had always been, like nothing had actually happened. Dickens writes, “ He slept heavily, and his tray of shoe-making tools, and his old unfinished work, were all as usual” (154)
A Tale of Two Cities In every great novel, there is a theme that is constant throughout the story. One of the better known themes portrays the fight of good verses evil. Different authors portray this in different ways. Some use colors, while others use seasons to show the contrast. Still, others go for the obvious and use characters.
Dickens used his great talent by describing the city London were he mostly spent his time. By doing this Dickens permits readers to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the aged city, London. This ability to show the readers how it was then, how ...
Many famous writers use foreshadowing. An author needs to use different instances of foreshadowing. Charles Dickens was a great British author who used foreshadowing. A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, contains many examples of foreshadowing.
Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens repeats a number of symbols and motifs. By employing these two literary devices throughout the duration of the story, Dickens is working to emphasize the importance of these specific components of the story. Motifs and symbols represent repeating ideas that help the reader to understand, as well as highlight the author’s central idea. Dickens employs the usage of symbols and motifs, such that by using both he adds a layer of significance and deeper meaning to actions, people, as well as objects. Additionally, by using symbols and motifs, Dickens is able to create a story in which both the characters, and the plot are interwoven.
A Tale of Two Cities Essay Throughout history, the powers of love and hate have constantly been engaged in a battle for superiority. Time and time again, love has proven to be stronger than hate, and has been able to overcome all of the obstacles that have stood in the way of it reaching its goal. On certain occasions, though, hate has been a viable foe and defeated love when they clash. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents several different power struggles between love and hate.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a classic novel written in the 1850’s by Charles Dickens. The novel is set in London and France during the French Revolution. The novel features an amazing use of themes as well as sensational development of characters. Charles Dickens and his feature style of the poor character who does something great is very evident in Sydney Carton, a drunken lawyer who becomes the hero of the book.
Right from the famous first sentence, A Tale of Two Cities is a book of parallels; even the novel’s title suggests a concept of duality. A careful reader can find parallelism on nearly every page of the book, with subjects ranging from characters to the general tone of the novel. The clearest example of parallel characters is Doctor Manette and Sydney Carton. Carton’s self-created mental imprisonment parallels Doctor Manette’s literal imprisonment. In addition to parallel characters, there is a set of two physical settings - Paris and London - that give the book its name. In these two settings, Dickens carefully crafts individual tones that help define the events that occur in each of them. These tones parallel each other, with some aspects of each being similar and others forming clear contrast. Even within these settings, variations in tone can emphasise the importance of certain events and concepts. In his novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens creates and uses well-established tones to highlight the importance of events and themes.
... time in this book is Miss Havisham. Dickens goes on, “On this day of the year, long before you were born, this heap of decay," stabbing with her crutched stick at the pile of cobwebs on the table but not touching it, "was brought here. It and I have worn away together. The mice have gnawed at it, and sharper teeth than teeth of mice have gnawed at me." (97). She might have stopped all of the clocks in the Satis House, but she cannot stop time. She is stuck and destroyed by time. No matter how hard someone tries, time is the only thing that is impossible to get back.
In the Prologue to the Merchant’s tale, the Merchant begins to speak of marriage. He explains how he has a cynical view of marriage. In lines 1219-20, the merchant says of his wife, “For if she and the devil were a pair, / She’d be more than his match, I dare to swear.” The Merchant then begins to tell his tale.
In order to stress the various types of hunger that he felt, Hemingway uses repetition. He uses this device often, as the word “hunger” appears frequently throughout the entire passage. Hemingway uses the word to stress the significance some the different meanings and leave the reader to use syntax to figure it out the correct meaning. He used the phrase, “I knew I was hungry in a simple way” to let the reader know that he was hungry only because he had not eaten (Hemingway 57). He was not hungry for life or for art; he just needed food to satisfy his craving. Hemingway describes the hunger as simple because its meaning is the denotative form of the word. The other types of hunger are sometimes difficult to decipher. When Hemingway questioned Hadley if he was truly hungry, Hadley responded, “There are so many sorts of hunger. In the spring there are more, But that’s gone now. Memory is hunger” (Hemingway 57). When Hemingway asked Hadley to describe and define his hunger, there is repetition of the word in unconventional settings. Hadley shared Hemingway’s view that there are different types of hunger and explains that springtime brings the kind that he feels as a writer. During the spring, nature begins to bloom and the weather begins to warm; this is prime material for Hemingway to write. He also repeated the word in other parts of the novel when he writes, “Hunger is healthy and the pictures do look better when you are hungry” (Hemingway 72). Many people would never imagine that hunger is healthy, yet Hemingway used this to play with the denotative form of the word. In this sentence, he uses an oxymoron of sorts to explore the contrast between literally being hunger and the writer’s hunger that he feels.
Hunger is a term that is often defined as the physical feeling for the need to eat. However, the Hunger Artist in Kafka's A Hunger Artist places a different, more complex meaning to this word, making the Hunger Artist's name rather ironic. The hunger of the Hunger Artist is not for food. As described at the end of the essay, the Hunger Artist states that he was in fact never hungry, he just never found anything that he liked. So then, what does this man's hunger truly mean? What drives the Hunger Artist to fast for so long, if he is truly not hungry? The Hunger Artist salivates not for the food which he is teased with, nor does he even sneak food when he alone. The Hunger Artist has a hunger for fame, reputation, and honor. This hunger seems to create in the mind of the Artist, a powerfully controlling dream schema. These dreams drive the Artist to unavoidable failure and alienation, which ultimately uncovers the sad truth about the artist. The truth is that the Artist was never an artist; he was a fraudulent outcast who fought to the last moment for fame, which ultimately became a thing of the past.
My favorite scene in A Tale of Two Cities is one of the last scenes, when Sydney Carton is about to go to the guillotine. It takes place in Paris, near a prison, and many people have gathered to watch french aristocrats be beheaded. The atmosphere is tense and chaotic; Sydney, however, remains calm, even though he is about to be killed. Sydney is holding the hand of a young girl who is given no name other than a "poor little seamstress". Sydney and the seamstress, who are both being wrongfully killed, comfort each other just before they reach the guillotine, and they seem to have an instant romantic connection with each other. I loved this scene because it showed that Sydney Carton had finally found someone who could love him, as he could love them, but it saddened me that he had found her just before their deaths.
“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens is an artfully crafted tale that unabashedly tells the story of the injustice, the horror and the madness of the French Revolution. More than this, it is a story of one man’s redemption, one man who Dickens vividly portrays as being “a nobody”. This nobody had thrown away his life. “A Tale of Two Cities” is the tale of Sydney Carton and his full circle redemption.
In the tale, the historical technique has been used quite perfectly. Dickens uses the element of history not only to advance the plot, but also to show connections between life in the eighteenth century and the novel. Another way Dickens’ uses history is to show the partnership between evil and history itself (Allingham). Dickens showed how the population felt about the government, how they acted, and what the end result was. He did all of this while advancing the storyline. He also continued to develop the many characters of the book. He also showed many connections between the novel and history including characters, events, places, and overall feelings.
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, is a story set in the year 1775 and through the turbulent time of the French Revolution. It is of people living in love and betrayal, murder and joy, peril and safety, hate and fondness, misery and happiness, gentle actions and ferocious crowds. The novel surrounds a drunken man, Sydney Carton, who performs a heroic deed for his beloved, Lucie Manette, while Monsieur and Madame Defarge, ruthless revolutionaries, seek revenge against the nobles of France. Research suggests that through Dickens’ portrayal of the revolutionaries and nobles of the war, he gives accurate insight to the era of the Revolution.