Kayla MacDonald
Mrs. Shank
Honors English 9
March 14, 2017
The Resurrection-Man
Jerry Cruncher in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a dynamic character. The person he was at the beginning of the book has changed values from the character at the end of the novel. When we first meet him he's a mysterious messenger who beats his wife but at the end of the story he shows remorse for all of his wrong actions.
Not agreeing with something someone does is no reason to physically abuse them. Jerry Cruncher is introduced as a mysterious character who has many secrets and is an “odd job man.” He’s man who yells and beats his wife for “praying against him.” “Saying your prayers! You're a nice woman! What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying against me?” (Dickens 54). As this is one of the first impressions we have of Cruncher, it's already clear he isn't a good guy and could be hiding something. Jerry is a physically abuser who beats his wife
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Cruncher makes two promises near the end of the book saying he'll try to be a better person and stop doing the horrible things he previously was. “First, them poor things well out o’ this, never no more will I do it, never no more! Second: them poor things well out o’ this, and never no more will I interfere with Mrs. Cruncher's flopping, never no more!” (Dickens 352). Jerry promises to stop robbing people's graves and to not interfere with his wife's praying again. This shows he's had a sudden change in his values or beliefs. Jerry changes from being a criminal to a person who wants to try and do better.
Jerry Cruncher is a dynamic character because he was a gravedigger who physically hurt his wife. But he changed by promising to stop doing those things and maybe even start praying himself to build a connection with God. Now instead of being the resurrection-man and resurrecting others he's trying to resurrect
The response to abuse has metamorphosed drastically from Janie’s time to present day. During the days of the early 20th century in which the novel was set, spousal abuse was accepted and even promoted in some cases. Astonishingly, when Tea talks with the men about beating Janie the men respect Tea Cake and admire the way Janie stays quiet during the ordeal saying, “wouldn’t Ah love tuh whip a tender woman lak Janie” (Hurston 148). They ignore the fact that Tea Cake beats her just to show other people that he is in charge; he beats her because of his own insecurities. In Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple it is shown that the men as well as the women encouraged spousal abuse. When Harpo seeks advice on how to deal with Sophia it is Celie, another woman, who advises him to beat her. Although spousal abuse still occurs in many households today, it occurs in secrecy because there are laws that have been erected to protect against this type of abuse, and the punishment for this crime is harsh. Today, if a man hits a woman he is less of a man and a disgrace, not praised and admired as in the past.
There are many factors that cause Jerry to act the way he does. The main reason is he forced by the vigils to refuse the chocolates. "When he returned to the school after practice, he found a letter scotch-taped to the door of his locker. A summons from the vigils. Subject: Assignment."(Cormier 62) He is now forced to refuse the school chocolate sale. He now has to face Brother Leon and tell him no which soon gives him insight in to the teachers’ feelings. "His eyes gave him away. His face was always under control but his eyes showed his vulnerability."(Cormier 92) Jerry realizes that Brother Leon is struggling with the candy sale and that he is trying to hide his anger for Jerry’s’ refusal. Jerry knows Brother Leon’s hate for him and his fear of failure with the chocolate sale. "He had met Brother Leon in the corridor late one afternoon after football practice and had seen hate flashing in the teachers eyes. More than hate: something sick." (Cormier 92) Jerry knows that Leon hates him for refusing the chocolates but he doesn’t want to give into Leon and take the chocolates. This is what motivates Jerry to become a rebel
Charles Dickens stereotypes many of his Characters in A Tale of Two Cities. Among these stereotyped characters are The Marquis D' Evremond,
The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he burns their barns to get revenge. Abner’s character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is cold hearted, lawless, and violent.
Being a wild card and jumping(mugging) people for fun, he was like all the other West-side rich kids. He was all in for it when Bob and the gang went looking for Johnny and Ponyboy for hanging out with their girlfriends. In spite of the turn of events, Randy states, “ ‘I'm sick of all of this. Sick and tired…. People get hurt in rumbles, maybe killed. I’m sick of it because it doesn’t do any good ‘ ”(Hinton 116-117). At this point of time, Randy apprehends that fighting doesn’t solve anything and it is unethical to beat people for entertainment. Everybody has an equal, Randy looks into the real world and starts acting right in the world. Randy took a step out of the path of evil and had a change of heart. His dad also helped him achieve this. When he told Randy that nobody could get hurt if he would tell the truth. On the other hand, he let his father down because he was confused and disorganized. Randy said, “ ‘.... I feel lousy about the old man. And it’s the first time I’ve felt anything in a long time’ ” (Hinton 164). As a result, Randy starts to knock down the wall of aloofness. Bob’s passing caused Randy to start breaking down and feel his emotions. This causes Randy to start growing and start to see the world beyond his
The English novelist, Charles Dickens, is one of the most popular writers in the history of literature. During his life, he wrote many books, one of them being A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens uses many dynamic characters in this novel. Dynamic characters or, characters that drastically change, play a very important role in the novel A Tale of Two Cities.
At 10 years of age, Kemper began showing signs of true violence. He was sent to live with his father after his mother found the remains of their two pet cats in his closet, one decapitated and the other cut into pieces, from the use of a machete. Once in his father’s care, he ran away and was then quickly shipped off to live with his paternal grandparents on a remote California ranch. At this point in Kemper’s life he was a young teen that stood six feet four and weighed well over 200 pounds. Not only dealing with the strict rules and dysfunctional lifestyle at home, Kemper also endured teasing and torment from peers at school. Most days he would sit and daydream about killing everyone in the world. Kemper later described himself as a “walking time-bomb” (Ramsland, 2006a).
Power can allow one to make decisions for others than will benefit them, but too much power can cause one to become corrupt. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, the author, Charles Dickens, views power as a way in which corruption arises. Throughout the novel, Dickens speaks about three characters who starts to abuse their power as time passes in the novel. Dickens portrays the characters of the Monseigneur, the Marquis of Evermonde, and the revolutionaries as characters who goes through a change as a result of power.
I admire Roland Goubert (The Goober) the most of all the characters within this book because he is honest, loving, and a loyal friend to Jerry. In the book when Jerry was refusing to sell the chocolates, Goober felt many feelings that Jerry was feeling. For example the guilt, fear, anger, tension, and most of all the horror of living another day just waiting for the coming of the next homeroom period to once again refuse the chocolates from Brother Leon. That was a sure sign of a bond between the two of them. When Goober waited for Jerry one day at the school’s entrance and pulled him aside to ask, “ Jeez, Jerry, what did you do it for? ” after the assignment was over with and Jerry still refused to sell the chocolates. That showed that Goober cared about Jerry and wanted to warn him of Brother Leon and how Brother Leon could control Ferry’s fate. For example when Jerry stated, “ It’s not the end of the world. Four hundred kids in this school are going to sell chocolates. What does it matter ...
In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens’ choice of sentimental expression had an excellent effect on the readers’ responses to the characters. The use of exaggerated sentimentality helped create a clear picture of the story’s issues in the readers’ minds; it gave a feel for the spirit of the times, and made it easier to understand the characters’ points of view. It was this very sentimentality that Dickens strived to achieve.
...to do your thing, not unless it happens to be their thing, too. It's a laugh, Goober, a fake. Don't disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say” (Cormier). Jerry is stating that it is better to fit in and conform than to rebel. Don’t disturb the flow of society. Interrupt its progress and get destroyed by its mechanical properties. Jerry and McMurphy were both different, they never fit in with others around them. In the end Jerry and McMurphy paid ultimate the price.
Gross, John. "A Tale of Two Cities." Dickens and the Twentieth Century. Ed. John Gross and Gabriel Pearson. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962. 187-97.
In A Tale of Two Cities, the actions of Jerry Cruncher, while essentially very humorless, may seem peculiarly funny to some people. The events that occur in chapter one of book two, concerning Mrs. Cruncher, is an appropriate example of this idea. In this scene, Jerry Cruncher yells at his wife because he thinks she was praying against him. To start with, because of this accusations obvious ridiculousness, it strikes readers as comical. One may even argue that he didn’t actually believe this, but maybe he was just bored and finds joy in harassing his wife. To say such silly things out of boredom also may hit someone as amusing. What generally makes this scene humorous is that Cruncher is so unjustified in yelling at his wife for such an absurd thing, and furthermore, he lacks any real evidence that she was doing what he accuses her of doing. While this scene may seem like a comical one, with a silly husband, it is really calling attention to verbal abuse to wives. It is palpable that Cruncher has no respect whatsoever for his wife. At the time of this book, this was a common situation so either people did not notice the seriousness because of the humor that is masking it, or it was an every day happenning for them.
Dickens responded to this "dog-eat-dog" social climate by writing A Tale of Two Cities as a vehicle to reform society. He intends to fortify Christian values within English culture, such as self-sacrifice and kindness, in a time when he feels these values are threatened and sometimes completely overlooked. In this essay, I will show how Dickens interweaves his moral agenda of Christian values into the novel by using contrasts, symbols, and the motif of doubles as well as the evolution of Sydney Carton into a Christ-like figure with the goal of inspiring the reader to the point of evolving into an ethically "good" human being.
Charles Dickens is a talented author who wrote many notable novels, including A Tale of Two Cities. Barbara Hardy notes that at a young age Dickens’ father was imprisoned for debt, leaving young Charles to support himself and his family alone (47). Dickens strongly disliked prisons, which shows as a motif in A Tale of Two Cities. Many of his interests contributed to the formulation of the novel. In the essay “Introduction” from the book, Charles Dickens, Harold Bloom claims Dickens hoped “to add something to the popular and picturesque means of understanding [the] terrible time” of the Revolution (20). Dickens’ reading and “extraordinary reliance upon Carlyle’s bizarre but effective French Revolution” may have motivated him to write the novel (Bloom 21). Sir James Fitzjames Stephen believed that Dickens was “on the look-out for a subject, determined off-hand to write a novel about [French Revolution]” (Bloom 20). In Brown’s book Dickens in his Time, Dickens guided the writing of the play Frozen Deep where two rivals share the same love, and one ultimately sacrifices himself for...