Book Review

Book Review: A Tale of Two Cities

------It was the best of time, it was the worst of the time.

The famous historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, was written by Charles Dickens in 1859. Set in London and Paris before and during the famous French Revolution, it depicts the story of Doctor Manette who has been imprisoned in the Bastille in Paris for 18 years without any wrong doings, and was released and lived in London with his daughter Lucie whom he had never met because of his imprisonment. The end of the story, to some extent, is a tragedy, but viewed form another different angle, it’s somehow a happy ending.

In the middle of 19th century, capitalism in Britain was booming and developed at a fantastic speed. Due the swift development of capitalism, many problems were revealed in its society. Exploitation, oppression, enslavement and so on all put proletariat people into poverty. Complaints arose from those poor laboring people, which was an indicative of coming bursts of social revolution in Britain. Dickens noticed that mid-19th-century Britain was quite similar to the late-18th-century France, in which case, he created the novel to shed light on the British people in case that tragedies hit the Britain.

This book reveals many important aspects of life, which greatly enlightens its readers as well as the society.

1. The crazy revolution and revenge

Revolution is not difficult to notice in the France. Monseigneur lives in luxury and extravagance, while ordinary people are very poor and even hard to survive in the society. “His morning’s chocolate could not so much as get into the throat of Monseigneur, without the aid of four strong men besides the Cook.” But look at the poor people’s life. A large cask of wine hand been dropped and broken in the street. Wine to them is what gold to us. Upon seeing the wine flowing on the street, they cannot suppress the desires of drinking it. “All the people within reach had suspended their business, or their idleness, to run to the spot and drink the wine.” “Some men kneeled down, made scoops of their two hands joined, and sipped, or tried to help women, who bent over their shoulders, to sip, before the wine had all run out between their fingers.” “Others, men and women, dipped in the puddles with little mugs of mutilated earthware, or even with handkerchiefs from women’s heads, which were squeezed dry into infants’ mouth.” “Others made small mud embankments ti stem the wine as it ran.” Others cut off little streams of wine flowing away towards new directions. Others even sucked the broken pieces of the cask with eager relish. How terrifying the scene is! People abandon their dignity to sip the little wine on the street like animals. There have been trapped in poverty for a long time or even throughout their whole life. They just eat hard bread, and some even don’t have anything to eat at all. Hunger and dullness haunt them everyday. How could they even imagine the taste of chocolate?

Monseigneur enjoys feast every meal and several men serves him. He never thinks about those poor people. Worse enough, he is cruel and imperious. He looks down upon the poor people. He never cares about their life and keeps exploiting them to the last blood. His horse once kills a man’s son. He doesn’t apologize to the man, instead, he complains about the boy that he hurts his horse. How ridiculous! He throws out a gold coin to show his “generosity.” He is rather like Devil than a human being.

People are becoming more and more angry to the degree that they can barely put up with. When they become so furious that they are willing to sacrifice their lives, revolution is hard to avoid. A tremendous roar arises from people. They pick up their weapons or semblance of a weapon to fight for their happiness, right, freedom and future. The fire has set upon the Bastille and the whole Paris. Monseigneur cannot flea away. What awaits him is Guillotine. People stand up. They over turn the old rotten social system.

What drives the revolution is revenge. Ordinary people are involved in the revolution on account for the fact that they have been exploited and suppressed to the degree for a long time that they can hardly survive. Everyone has their own personal reason to show enthusiasm and excitement in the crazy revolution. One the most typical figure is Mrs. Defarge. She is a pathetic and scaring woman. Since she was a child, those monseigneurs killed her father, her elder sister and her elder brother. It’s no strange that she hates them and the current rotten society so much. She wants to kill every patrician as long as possible. None of them will ever escape from her hands. As the hostess of the wine shop, she keeps waving, recording every crime secretly. She helps to arrange the revolution as best as she can. She also keeps encouraging her husband, Mr. Defarge. When the revolution starts, she takes the lead to take part in the war. She takes on the weapons and leads women to fight. She cuts enemies’ heads without a second thought. It’s no doubt that Mrs. Defarge is brave and wise and has a firm belief in revolution.

However, she is too much indulgent in the hatred and revenge. Although Charles Darnay is a family member of Evremonde, he is different from any other aristocrat. Never is he involved in the exploiting and suppressing people. What’s more, he even tries to help ordinary people as much as possible. He gives up his property and privileges, and he abandons his name Evremonde, renaming himself Charles Darnay and moving to London to start a now life. He always stands on the side against his uncle. From this point, he is innocent. But Mrs. Defarge doesn’t think so. She thinks he is guilty because he was, is and will always be a member of those monseigneurs, which, for her, is the truth the will never change. She has already lost her mind in revenge. She goes to any length to kill Charles Darnay and his family, Lucie and little Lucie. His wife and daughter didn’t do anything wrong, in other words they are also innocent. They are on the list of killing of Mrs. Defarge for the mere reason that they are the family of Charles Darnay. It’s so ridiculous.

At last, Mrs. Defarge is killed by Miss Pross by accident. Her miserable life is ended. Revenge ad hatred shapes the brave and wise Mrs. Defarge, but also it’s them that destroys her. She is the tragedy of the old rotten society.

It’s no doubt that revenge is a strong and powerful motive that fuels people to fight against evil and injustice and fight for rights and freedom that they deserve. But relying too much on it will definitely gives rise to disaster and tragedy. Mrs. Defarge is a typical example. Charles Dickens created the figure also wants to warn us that revolution needs and has to to be reasonable and rational. Never allow revenge to blind your mind.

2. Failure of the revolution

People cannot bear the painful and torturous regime any more. They arm themselves and vigorously start the bloody revolution. It should overturn the rotten social system that tortures poor people so much. Unfortunately, it is quite the opposite. Revolution doesn’t manage to take them out of the miserable and painful life. The newly built Republic even put some poor people to death for some ridiculous reasons. It fails to fulfill their dreams that they would live a better life, at least better than the past. No one thinks that they build a country controlling by the Hades. “If the Republic really does good to the poor, and they come to be less hungry, and in all ways to suffer less, she may live a long time: she may even live to be old.” said by a poor girl who is arrested by a false accusation. So many people are sentenced to death penalty.

“Fifty-two.”

“I said so! A brave number! My fellow-citizen here would have it forty-two; ten more heads are worth having. The Guillotine goes handsomely. I love it.”

Fifty-two heads can hardly satisfy those citizens. They want more. Killing is not uncommon for them. They even take delight in cutting people’s heads down, the more, the better and the more exciting they are. The are like Bloodthirsty slasher, scaring, irrational and out of mind. Nearly every citizen pray for the Guillotine, who has already been respected as their divine God. They love him, praise him, and be crazy for him, for his greatness of inventing guillotine. Life, which should be the most important and valuable thing for all people, now, seems useless. Those so called citizens kill as they want to do so.

Poor people overturn the awful old society for the reason that they don’t want to be exploited and suppressed anymore and hope to build a fair and peaceful new era. But as a matter of fact, none of their wishes come true.

Laws has become the tool of the power holders. They make and pass according to their own thinking and interest, regardless of other ordinary people’ thoughts and demand.

Charles Darnay goes back to Paris to save his old servant, Gabelle. He has spent quite a long time to get to the Paris. He is arrested on his way to Paris. He asks “Under what law, and for what offence?” The answer goes” We have new laws, Evremonde, and new offences, since you were here.” He doesn’t commit any crime, but is imprisoned just for the reason that he is an emigrant who used to be an aristocrat having abandoned his privilege long time ago. The newly made laws sharply direct to the old aristocrats without any other possible exceptions, which is unreasonable. Since the lawmakers have already lost their mind, the laws are inevitably unreasonable as well. Instead, they become powerful tools which helps the violent democracy to develop out of control.

The execution of the laws also becomes crazy. The court is not like a place where justice shoiuld be done. The jury are too much emotional. They are easy to be affected by other people’s feel and their own thoughts. The court is so noisy which should be quiet and solemn. People in the court shout out their personal opinions and worse enough, go with the tide without further thinking. The judge is also of dereliction of duty. They are not fair at all, and doesn’t judge a case according to the law, either. What people call for, he does. Charles Darnay is recharged by Mrs. Defarge against the script written by Doctor Manette in the Bastille. The court sentence him to death penalty according to the script written many years ago, but neglect how the very charger of the ancient script, Doctor Manette, feel right now and what is his true current appealings. True democracy will never be built under such circumstances.

Laws is the foundation of the democratic society. Only when the law-based society is build, can the democracy be stable and sustainable. Violence is disqualified for a happy and peaceful country, that is why poor people are even more miserable and painful than before.

3. Love and humanitarianism

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of the 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 the Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

Yes, indeed. It is a period full of contradiction. Most of the people live a miserable and torturous life. The social system has nearly broken down. However, there is still love and humanitarianism. The most impressive character in the book, A Tale of Two Cities, is Sydney Carton. All the time I think he is a decadent secondary person in the book until I read the end of the story. He is a great man, who is willing to sacrifice his invaluable life for his beloved girl. I hold firm belief that every reader is bound to be touched and moved by the poor but kind man.

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens portrayed Mr. Carton as a self-abandoning and decadent prodigal man who could only show the nobility of human nature in the face of love, and finally sacrificed his own life for the happiness of his loved one. He described Mr. Carton in the book:

“Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and is own happiness, sensible of the bright on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away.”

Carton has no love and hope for his own life in his heart, and even no sense of self-love. When he falls in love with Lucie, it seems that he floats in the vast sea, holding a lifesaving straw in his hand. But when the straw is in jeopardy, Carton stands up to protect it determinedly. That is because, for him, there is nothing that he wants to look back in the fallen life, but the only hope that supports him to keep on living is his love for Lucie. Carton is ready to sacrifice his life for Lucie, or even for Lucie’s beloved ones. What Carton shows is the spirit of self-sacrifice, who is willing to die for the people he loves. That, in fact, is the tragedy of depravity.

Carton walks to the guillotine in the place of Charles Darnay. He not only saved his life, but also his own. Love brings his life to the end, but it also returns to the begging. After all, everyone's life is like drawing a circle on the ground with branches. When the beginning and the end are connected, the life is complete.

Romain Rolland once said: There is only one heroism in the world: to see the world as it is and to love it. There are not so many heroes in our life, let alone heroism. However, the love for life can fill our hearts with infinite expectations and hopes, at least ensuring we don’t need to degrade or devalue ourselves.

Even though the revolution reveals the cruelty and evil of the society and human beings, the presence Mr. Carton makes it less dark or despair. We can believe that no matter how terrible the current situation is, there will always be kindness and love that will encourage us to move forward.

There is no doubt that the French Revolution is the most striking theme.

The French Revolution described by Dickens is full of blood everywhere. Every street seems to be turned into a knife, everyone has become a tool of killing, every glass of wine contains the taste of blood, and even the young and ignorant children take hatred for granted. Even if the French Revolution described by Dickens deviates from the real history, the blindness, ignorance and barbarism of the people to the revolution is something that everyone should seriously reflect on. What exactly is the purpose of revolution? For the progress of history, for the rights of the people, or for the freedom? But the fact is that every revolution, in the name of freedom, has cut countless heads on the guillotine. Just as Jeanne Marie Roland cried “O Liberté, que de crimes on commet en ton nom!(Freedom, how many evil deeds have been done in thy name!)”

The ordinary people are the executioners of this revolution. Their hands are stained with blood, their eyes are stained with bloody red. Only killing can soothe the resentment that has been evoked. No matter they are good or evil aristocrats, they are all killed. There is nothing rational about this kind of killing. Ration has been replaced by hatred. People go with the tide, having already lost the ability to think independently.

"A Tale of Two Cities" is a story between London and Paris, but there are no clear geographical boundaries between them, as if it all took place in the same city. London is Paris and Paris is London. There is no such thing as two cities. What exist there are the human nature of love and forgiveness, and the human nature of hatred and revenge. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. In this era of contradictions and confusion, Charles Dickens successfully created Sidney Carton. “For you, for your love, I am willing to do anything. If my career is worth the sacrifice and the opportunity, I can for you and your love to the one making any sacrifice.”

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2022-08-24

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