Literature sample from A Tale of Two Cities, with CHC Reader s Guide

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3 2. Note a second diatribe uttered by Madam, this one directed at the stranger (spy) who complimented her on the cognac and the knitting. Here she counters his pleasantries about business and about the unfortunate and miserable people with a shrill speech on the brutality of life and running a wine shop. All we think, here, is how to live (how to stay alive) she says. The spy, on the other hand, with increasing force pursues his snooping for the king. 3. The brutality of the rulers is seen in the treatment described of Gaspard. He was tortured and imprisoned in a cage, then finally, hung from an extremely high gallows above the town drinking well, so that the village could see the body for a long time and the well would be fouled. This is the way of tyrants. 4. Soon the large-faced king and the fair-faced queen came in their golden coach, attended by the shining Bull s Eye of their court, a glittering multitude of laughing ladies and fine lords, and in jewels and silks and powder and splendor and elegantly spurning figures, and handsomely disdainful faces of both sexes, the mender of roads bathed himself. In this paragraph Dickens describes the disgusting display of luxury and power in the face of the desperately poor. Yet they shout spontaneously, Long live the king! Why do men so oppressed still shout to the honor of their rulers? Ans: Men are as sheep, forgetful, easily led, overcome by the display of power and wealth. Not seeing God s real glory, they can easily succumb to the false glory of earthy pomp. Chapters Lucie s Marriage Interpretation and Appreciation 1. This section is concerned primarily with the marriage of Lucie and Charles. It gives us an insight into the personal relationships of the characters. How did Dr Manette react to the marriage of his daughter?

4 Ans: He had one of his relapses after Charles and Lucie left, but generally he accepted it well. Charles has talked with him at length to reassure him of the love and concern they both had for him. 2. What do we learn from the long discussion between Mr. Lorry and Dr. Manette? Ans: Mr. Lorry levels with his friend Manette, asking him for advice as though he intended to inquire about a third party. He asked if Manette knew that he had relapsed into his state of denial and withdrawal. Manette says that he has realized what he did. He cannot avoid having this happen, but he shows great understanding in being able to talk about the matter. 3. What was the great struggle of which Mr. Lorry and Dr. Manette speak? Ans: Lorry was attempting to get Dr. Manette to allow him to remove the forge and the shoe making equipment. His thought was to take away the symbols of the past, the horrors of his imprisonment, and so to relieve him of some part of his fear. The doctor is fearful of allowing this to happen. The bench is his security blanket, his retreat from harsh reality. He found the equipment to be an old companion. 4. What did Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross do with the equipment? Ans: They went in the doctor s room when he was away and hacked the thing to pieces. They buried the leather and other materials in the yard and felt as guilty criminals while doing it. 5. On the return of bride and groom who was their first visitor? Ans: Sidney Carton came and asked Charles to be his good and special friend. Carton showed his good character again in not accepting the clichés offered so easily by Charles. Calling himself a dissolute dog, he asks for some kind of intimate status in the Darnay household. 6. Charles reveals the conversation to the others, including Lucie. What was her reaction?

5 Ans: Lucie asks Charles to have more respect and consideration for Sidney Carton. She asks him to be especially generous and lenient. 7. Mr Lorry tells the family about the increased business at Tellson s Bank. He says that customers in Paris can t transfer their money quickly enough to the London bank. What does this mean? Ans: It indicates the beginning of the breakdown in France, the start of the chaos of revolution. Dickens even provides the year, 1789, mid-july. 8. What had Charles Darnay told Dr. Manette that had made the doctor deadly pale? Ans: He had told him the truth about himself, that he was from the family of the Marquis, the man who had so terribly persecuted Manette. Author s Technique 1. What might the author s goal be in the matter of Sidney Carton as a miserable man and the Darnay s giving him accommodation and love? Ans: The book is about poor and miserable people who receive no consideration or accommodation from the rich. The poor in France will rise up and destroy their civil government, their economy and their land. Here in this personal relationship we are shown another way, an example of kindness and compassion. 2. What further revelation might be emerging as we see the development of the characters of Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay? Ans: Carton is the more sensitive man, in spite of his dark self image. He is more complex in his emotions and is intellectually frank and sincere. Darnay, on the other hand, being a gentleman, is used to being courteous and proper, but quite simple of character. The study of these two men reveals the

6 value of carefully noting the needs and abilities of others, of being honest about ourselves. An example is found in Carton s asking Darnay to be his friend. Darnay responds, We are already friends. Carton shows the shallowness of this response, calling it a cliché and wanting more. 3. By chapter twenty-one what is the author revealing to us about the passing of time and events? Ans: Lucie has had two children, one of which has died. She has a daughter of six who is very much like her. She lives happily, if somewhat haunted by a premonition of evil things to happen in the future. Charles is prospering. Life is comfortable enough. The threat becomes reality with news of the storming of the Bastille, the city jail in Paris, and the beginning of the revolution. 4. Note the contrast of the peaceful family, including close friends, gathered together in the window, having tea, discussing events and comforting one another amid the even footsteps of the neighborhood, alongside the mass of scarecrows, forest of naked arms, mad, dangerous footsteps of violence in Saint Antoine. Little Lucie chatted with the tongues of the two cities as she played with her dolls and Tellson s, a few blocks away, tried to keep up with the business of revolution. 5. What picture does Dickens want us to have of the revolutionaries? How does he portray Madame Defarge? Ans: Today she is not knitting. Instead Madame s resolute right hand was occupied with an axe.... and in her girdle were a pistol and a cruel knife. She is heading for the Bastille to free the patriots that had been arrested by the king. 6. What is the meaning of one hundred and five, the North Tower? Ans: One Hundred and Five, North Tower, is the cell in which Dr. Manette had been held. Defarge is intent on getting to that particular cell. Does he want to find something? 7. Recall the breaking of the wine cask outside the wine shop in Saint Antoine. The last sentence of chapter 21 now gives the true meaning of that incident, the years stained red are now supposedly unstained by the revenge of the common man.

7 8. Again we must evaluate which injustice is worse, which is more evil in God s sight. Does He hate anarchy even worse than He hates the tyranny of wicked kings? His law tells us to expect the wickedness and unfairness of kings (I Sam.8:10-22). God is against those who grasp violence to their bosom and would raise their hands against the king. Recall that David, the man after God s own heart, refused to kill Saul, when he twice had the opportunity. Idealism would argue that there is another way, but the oppressed find it hard to listen. The American rebellion against the English crown certainly took another, less wanton course. Vocabulary pensive - thoughtful oblivion - forgetfulness malady - sickness diffidence - shyness, hesitancy allusion - reference vestige - trace, hint lethargic - listless, weary sequestration - confiscation, impounding of property or persons emigrant - expatriate, someone who has moved away from one s homeland succour - [succor] help, assist dolorous - sorrowful, painful aversion - dislike, loathing