Necessity Of Sacrifice In A Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens

“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what is has to say” once said by Italo Calvino, expresses that although numerous years could pass after a novel was written, a true classic shall never stop connecting to its readers. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is one of those classics. The historical drama is set in 1775, at the start of the American Revolution, where Lucie Manette is reunited with her father, Dr. Manette of Beauvais, after learning that he spent 18 years in a French prison instead of being dead like she assumed he was. As the years passed, the Manette family grows to include Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and the ramifications of the French Revolution. Despite being first published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities …show more content…
The theme necessity of sacrifice can be found throughout the novel, especially in relationships involving the Manette family. For instance, when Charles Darnay, husband to Lucie Manette, and son-in-law to Doctor Manette, goes to France to rescue an old family servant from death, he does not inform his family that he is going to France or the reason why he is going as only Doctor Manette knows his real name and his family background. In this action, the reader can observe the theme necessity of sacrifice. “It was a hard matter to preserve the innocent deceit of which they were profoundly unsuspicious” (254). This theme produces relevancy in the novel, as people often do things and hide them from their loved ones in order to protect them in some way, such as some parents would not discuss their financial troubles with their children, no matter how old the children may be, because they do not want their children to worry about them. For the same reason, Darnay does not reveal to anyone that he has to go to France and he does not know the duration of time he will spend there. Darnay sacrifices the good opinion his family has of him in order to protect them, as, before his departure to France, the Manette family held him in high esteem, which changes after he leaves. With the actions of Darnay the reader realizes the hidden trait of wanting to …show more content…
One of the main characters, Charles Darnay, is a static character whose actions shine insight on the human ability to unconsciously follow regular routines and feelings while making decisions. Throughout the novel, Darnay holds the same opinion about another main character, Sydney Carton, as being an unpleasant character who can achieve nothing positive in life. “He never thought of Carton. His mind was so full of the others, that he never once thought of him” (362). In today’s society, humans still have the habit of judging each other despite how well one may know someone through the opinions of others around them. Darnay reveals this behaviour to the reader when he is writing his final letters to those who are close to him. Darnay writes letters to everyone, except for Carton because Darnay believes that Carton is not worth writing to, as throughout the novel, Dickens alludes Carton to be a lackadaisical, and unreliable character who cares for no one. Darnay’s behaviour is timeless as once a person forms an opinion about an object or someone, it becomes very difficult to change that opinion. Relevancy is created as readers can view their own unconscious behaviour through reading about Darnay’s horrendous treatment of Carton because of the judgment Darnay forms about Carton early on, in this historical drama. Without the