A Tale of Metaphors and Motifs

In the 1900s, philosopher Erich Fromn made popular the definition of transcendence as the need to destroy in order to create. However, the concept of destruction before rebirth has been around for hundreds of years. Some would say that the duality of destruction and rebirth is inherent to nature, and even humanity, itself. This concept of destruction, resurrection, and the balance of their dual relationship is thoroughly explored by Charles Dickens in his book A Tale of Two Cities. A Tale of Two Cities is a work of historical fiction that describes the events of the French Revolution through the eyes of a few men and women. It is the perfect read for anyone interested in the political and societal implications behind the French Revolution, and is an intriguing novel for anyone interested in classic literature and the period of the 1780s. The book also holds a special appeal for anyone who, like me, enjoys and appreciates layers of complex motifs and symbols.

One part of A Tale of Two Cities that stuck in my mind was the section describing when a French aristocrat, the Marquis St Evremonde, ran his carriage over a boy in the road. After he ran the child over, he showed no remorse for the crushed boy. Instead he asked if his horses were okay and threw a coin at the boy's father. This horrifying scene did not just represent the bad character of the French elite at the time of the Revolution (and in Dickens' later time when he was wary of the French); it was also an artfully written foreshadowing of the French Revolution and the amounting tensions in France that had not yet occurred in the book.

As I mentioned earlier, a recurring theme in A Tale of Two Cities is resurrection. The premise of the book-the French Revolution-could be seen as a resurrection, or the destruction before rebirth. However, Dickens does not just leave the metaphor at that. Each individual main character also undergoes a form of resurrection. This theme begins in the start of the novel when a bank worker named Mr. Lorry sends a message to a young lady of the name Miss Mannette. Mr. Lorry's message is short and cryptic: "Recalled to Life." When I first read this message, I was intrigued. Later on in the story it becomes apparent that this message meant that Miss Mannett's father, previously presumed dead, had been found in the Bastille and was going to be set free. In this instance, "recalled to life" means that Miss Mannett's father was being brought back to life by being freed from imprisonment. However, my fascination didn't completely dissipate; there were many other characters and situations in the book that "recalled to life" could have applied to.

Throughout the rest of the book, there are two other main characters: Mr. Darnay, a man previously convicted of treason but good and noble (despite being part of the horrible Evremonde family that I talked about above), and Mr. Carton, a drunk and apathetic men who didn't live up to his potential. These two men, though seemingly complete opposites in nature, are doppelgangers in appearance. (When I did outside research on this, I found that some propose that these men represent two warring sides of Dickens himself). At the end of A Tale of Two Cities, Mr. Darnay is held in a French prison to be executed for his brother's (Marquis St Evremonde) crime. However, Mr. Carton sneaks into the prison and switches place with Mr. Darnay, and ends up being guillotined in Mr. Darnay's place. This self sacrificing act, so uncharacteristic of Mr. Carton, serves as another instance of resurrection. The ending monologue of the book exposes Mr. Carton coming to the realization that this one act, sacrificing himself for Mr. Darnay and Mr. Darnay's family, makes up for the sins he committed during his life. In fact, as he stands on the guillotine block, the last thing that Mr. Carton says is, " It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

For me, this ending of A Tale of Two Cities is poignant and poetic. It finishes the story by closing a loop, repeating the "recalled to life" promise once more in a man who, throughout the rest of the book, you didn't think would ever change or live up to a better potential. The ending holds both the excitement appropriate for the fictional drama that it is, and also stands as a statement that, no matter how bad things may get, there is always rebirth.

Who said that Good Writing Can't have Bad Grammar?

A primary goal for most writers is to make a unique voice shine through the writing. An author like Ray Bradbury may use an abundance of imagery to set and express their own individual voice. Others, like Hemingway, may use a terse, minimalist style to get across their point, and in doing so establish a recognizable writing personality. Aside from different uses of rhetorical appeals, authors also look to grammatical constructions to create an individual tone to their work. For example, by writing in a stream of consciousness style and forgoing many conventional grammatical constructions, James Joyce has earned himself recognition as a unique and discrete writer.

 While the majority of Charles Dickens' writing is distinct to himself in that it follows a detailed and verbose method, for one paragraph in the 2nd book of A Tale of Two Cities he switches to a very different, stream of consciousness style.

"Silence in the Court! Charles Darnay had yesterday pleaded Not Guilty to an indictment denouncing him for that he was a false traitor to our serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, prince, our Lord the King, by reason of his having, on diverse occasions, and by diverse means and ways, assisted Lewis, the French King, in his wars against our said serene illustrious, excellent, and so forth; that was to say, by coming and going, between the dominions of our said serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, and those of the said French Lewis, and..."

This paragraph goes on for another 7 lines, continuing with the omission of any periods and repeating the same adjectives over and over. Charles Dickens chose to write this enjambment paragraph in order to show that the words, though not a real life quote, are nevertheless the words of a character- a lawyer - in the book. I approve of the brief transition Charles Dickens makes with this paragraph. Not only does it provide a brief respite from the style of the rest of the writing, but it also effectively separates the voice of a character in the book from the thoughts of Dickens in the rest of his writing. By omitting periods and using lots of commas instead, Dickens is also able to give the impression of a stream of consciousness- meaning that these words could either be those that were actually said out loud or just those thought by the character, the distinction which Dickens does not give us - and gives a personality to the character from whom they come. This paragraph shows me that not only does Dickens know how to establish a unique writing style of his own, but he also realizes the importance of creating distinctive personalities in his story.

Strangers Don't Change

Charles Dickens begins his book The Tale of Two Cities by describing the trip of a mail carrier from London to Paris. On this trip, there are three passengers in the carriage aside from the primary carriage driver. Even though these passengers travel together in close quarters for days on end, they avoid each others gazes and shrink away from each other in distrust. This seemingly paranoid distrust does not just stem from their introverted natures; it is inherent to the very zeitgeist of their time. Charles Dickens goes on to explain that the time period in which this trip takes place sits in the years leading up to the French Revolution, when trust of strangers was potentially disastrous, and avoidance was the only way to ensure survival.

On first glance, Dickens' description promotes an interesting contrast to society today. Dickens's words are meant to stress the seriousness and tone of the years by providing a stark contrast to the way that we in Western Civilization relate to each other today. When I read the section, I initially reacted to this contrast by thinking, "I am sure glad that I don't live in those times- people were way too isolated."  However, upon further reflection, I realized that there are more similarities in today's time to the distrust and avoidance that Dickens depicts. Whenever I visit the city, I realize just how lucky I am to live in a small town like Deerfield in Franklin County. When I visit my aunt in New York City, I see streets crowded with hundreds of people in cars, isolated from each other in their own vehicle without having to interact. Sidewalks are crowded with hundreds of people, power walking in every direction, heads down and eyes glued on the street or a phone in hand. Few make eye contact or smile at those who pass by, and those who do are given wary glares or a wide berth. The common bump or shove that you receive is rarely met with any mumble of apology, and it is more common to walk by a heated argument than a casual conversation between strangers.

Of course, this self-imposed seclusion does have its reasons, and there are safe havens in every city from it.  But this unwelcoming atmosphere permeates many streets in the US, and converts even the friendliest person when they are on a street surrounded by strangers. When I think about the wary description of the passengers of 1770 mail carriage on the road to Paris, I realize that the strangers of today are not so different from the strangers of 350 years ago.

The Jury looks to Ethos over Logos

"Silence in the Court! Charles Darnay had yesterday pleaded Not Guilty to an indictment denouncing him (with infinite jingle and jangle) for that he was a false traitor to our serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth, prince, our Lord the King, and...assisted Lewis, the French King, in his wars against our said serene, illustrious, excellent, and so forth...and wickedly, falsely, traitorously, and otherwise evil-adverbiously reveled to said French Lewis...[important information]."

Rhetoric is inescapable. From the pathos of a dramatic fiction novel to the logos of a legal document, rhetoric is the vessel which all types of writers use state their points. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses a plethora of pathos especially to convey his points. Dickens is also successful at portraying the type of rhetoric that characters of the time period he writes about would have used in their day to day life as well. For example, in the beginning of Book 2 of A Tale of Two Cities Dickens describes an English court case dealing with the accusation that a man, Charles Darnay, committed treason by giving valuable information to the French King about the English military.  The Attorney General, who makes the above speech in argument that Charles Darnay is guilty, uses diction, ethos, and pathos to support his point. Using an abundance of stately words like "illustrious" and "adverbiously", the Attorney General attempts to build ethos with the Jury by showing them that he is a man of great knowledge who should be trusted. These words also serve as a use of pathos since the appellations like "excellent" and "serene" that describe the King, who all citizens of England should love and be loyal to, build up the repute of the King, and in extension the Attorney General, who uses the name of the King to help support his own point. The majesty and importance of being loyal to the King (who may not even know about the situation at all) helps distract citizens the fact that there may not be any concrete facts to support the Attorney General's claim.

This method of persuasion is an interesting contrast to many modern standards for arguments on court, which are supposedly based on facts. More in line with current law cases, the lawyer defending the prisoner Darnay instead appeals to logos in his argument that Charles Darnay is not the man guilty since he could have been confused with the real culprit. To support this claim, the lawyer points to a member of the counsel, and points out to everyone the striking resemblance that the counselman and the prisoner share. When the whole room is surprised by this, the lawyer then states "So if this occurs, doesn't that mean it could happen again?" This tactic of syllogism connects incomplete witness testimony to a visual, tangible fact in order to support a counterclaim. However, though much more in line with the style of a court's proceedings today, even the lawyer appealing to logos lacks the real facts that many in court today would find more comforting that an appeal to ethos or logic.

An Excess of Hunger and Rhetoric

"Hunger. It was prevalent everywhere. Hunger was pushed out of the tall houses, in the wretched clothing that hung upon poles and lines; Hunger was patched into them with straw and rag and wood and paper; Hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of firewood that the man sawed off; Hunger stared down from the smokeless chimneys...Hunger rattled its dry bones among the roasting chestnuts in the turned cylinder..."

Charles Dickens is well known for his descriptions of poverty. Through the first chapters of The Tale of Two Cities that I have read, Dickens widely employs the use of imagery to make clear his poignant and direct statement about the poverty in Paris. However, in this paragraph from the 5th chapter of the first book, set in Paris, Dickens uses an even stronger rhetorical appeal to set the tone of the story. Along with imagery, this passage is full of anaphora and personification. By consistently repeating the word "hunger" at the beginning of more than 8 consecutive sentences, Dickens drives his description of poverty home. The anaphora serves to express how wide spread the hunger that Dickens describes reaches. This passage explains that the hunger permeates firewood, clothing, tall houses, and even the lack of fire in houses. In the sentence "hunger rattled its dry bones..." Dickens goes on to personify hunger, giving the prevailing malady a more sinister and intelligent tone, suggesting that the hunger is no mere lack of food; it is driven and out to claim every last person in Paris.

Though Dickens' purpose in this passage may seem apparent, Dickens has a more clandestine motive for stressing the prevalence of "hunger". A Tale of Two Cities takes place in 1775, in the tense buildup before the French Revolution. Though Paris was full of poverty during this era, the prevailing "hunger" that Dickens describes more accurately refers to the discontent and hunger for revolution that filled the people of France.

Finding a Long Lost Father and a Bad Socioeconomic System

The First book of A Tale of Two Cities begins by introducing Mr. Jarvis Lorry, a banker man from England who travels to Paris. The opening pages of the book describe Mr. Jarvis Lorry on his journey from England to France in the mid 1800s along with the postal carriage. During these first pages, Dickens sets up the background for the time period and setting of the story, and describes the two cities and their people as rather dismal and poverty stricken. When Mr. Jarvis Lorry reaches Paris, he meets a 16 year old woman named Miss Manette, and explains to her his purpose of arranging their meeting: Mr. Lorry was an old friend of Miss Manette’s lost father, and had just discovered that Mr. Manette was, contrary to popular belief, still alive. In these chapters Dickens keeps how Mr. Manette disappeared in the first place a mystery, but does suggest that he left Miss Manette and her mother shortly after his daughter was born, perhaps to go to prison.

In the 5^th and 6^th chapters, Mr. Manette leads Miss Manette to a bar where the barkeeper Mr. Defarge was keeping Miss Manette’s father. When Miss Manette enters the room where her estranged father was kept, she walks in on an old man making shoes. It turns out that in the 15 years since Mr. Manette disappeared, he lost some of his sanity, and does not remember either who he or any of his old friends are. Dickens ends book one with the scene of Miss Manette escorting her new found father to a carriage waiting to take them home to England.

My first reaction to reading this story was, as I mentioned in my last post, that Dickens is a verbose writer. However, the more I have read, the more easily his writing and story flows. Though the writing can, at times, be loquacious or lackluster, it is chalk full of metaphors and symbols that foreshadow that the main plot of the story is more of a social commentary than a purely fictional work. For example, a passage of anaphora in the 5^th chapter repeats the word “hunger” at the beginning of each consecutive sentence when describing the poverty of the citizens of France. Such descriptions remind me of Angela’s Ashes, a memoir by Frank McCourt. They also set a serious tone for the book, and suggest that the story could be a commentary on the modern cultural or socioeconomic situation when Charles Dickens wrote the book. 

Beyond the Best and Worst of Times

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  Perhaps one of the most famous classic literature quotes, many people in western civilization today are bound to recognize these words even if they have not read Charles Dickens' a Tale of Two Cities. My goal in reading A Tale of Two Cities was to read beyond these well known words and try to understand what these oxymoronic words, in Charles Dickens' own mind, really mean.

A Tale of Two Cities is the first Dickens book that I have read. If I really wanted to learn the meaning behind just the opening words to A Tale of Two Cities I know that I could always look them up on sparknotes or google. However, such an unsubstantial understanding of them would be shallow. Instead, I decided to read this book in order gain the entire concept of the writing, and in order to get a taste for the famous "Dickens" writing.

Before I started the fictional book A Tale of Two Cities, I knew that Dickens was well known for his descriptive writing. However, it wasn't until I finished the end of the 6th chapter that I truly understood just HOW intensely descriptive his writing is. Though some, including famous writers Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde, consider Dickens' style "loose writing", I find it charming and feel that it pulls me into the story firsthand. Similarly, other authors have criticized that Dickens' writing has a lack of psychological depth. I disagree with that assessment. Even in the first 40 pages of his 400 page book, Dickens has set up an interesting plot surrounding a banker called Mr. Lorry who sets out to introduce a young lady named Manette her long lost father. The gloomy setting of the story (1775 in a squalid description of Paris) seems to be both a social commentary on Dickens' own times (the details of which I have not yet determined) and seems to embody the zeitgeist of that era as well.

As I continue to read A Tale of Two Cities, I am looking forward to seeing how Dickens develops his characters and plot and to see if I can make any correlation between the story and Dickens' own life.