The Images Within Us All: A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

The French Revolution from 1789 to 1799 was a time of uprising in France, followed by the decline of monarchies and the rise of democracy and nationalism. A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, is set in the cities of Paris and London and flawlessly captures the angst and changing times of these places during this unforgettable period. Dickens extensively researched the events that occurred to set up perfect scenes that stick with the reader even after the novel is finished. Dickens masterfully uses the literary element of imagery throughout the novel to enforce his theme of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man and to first create a sense of sympathy towards the peasants with an underlining feeling of hatred towards the nobles, then he creates and sustains a deep love and respect for the main characters of Lucie Manette, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton, and lastly Dickens sways the reader’s opinions as he creates a fresh sense of hatred for the Revolutionaries and a sympathy towards the nobles at the novel’s closing.

Dickens’ s first use of imagery sets the scene in France before the Revolution and gives the reader a glimpse into the hard and desperate lives of the peasants, and the extraordinarily opposite lives of the cruel, unforgiving nobles. This is first portrayed through a scene where a wine cask is dropped and broken in the streets of one of the most wanting towns, St Antoine. The peasants and all those standing around “suspended their business, or their idleness, to run to the spot and drink the wine,” (Dickens 20). The common people of this town are so anguished that they rush and willingly drink every drop of wine up off the filthy streets. Even though the peasants are barely able to get any wine, it still brin...

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... confirms what the reader believes: that these people do not deserve to die.

The frightful images of the nobles in the beginning and then the horrific images of the turn of the peasants, contrasted with the loving and caring images of the Darnays and family, skillfully mold and remold the readers’ views and opinions throughout the novel all the while engaging Dickens’s them of man’s inhumanity. Carton’s last thoughts, providing a glimpse into the future, are the powerful, final images Dickens leaves the reader with. These images prove what everyone has known all along and are so effective because they remind the reader of important truths in their own lives. These truths are that justice is more powerful than revenge, sacrifice will never be forgotten, and love will always prevail.

Works Cited

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. N.p.: Dover, 1999. Print.