Tale Of Two Cities Passage Analysis

Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities observes the growth of the French Revolution as it effects the cities Paris and London, and specifically focuses on the impact it holds for a family and those in their lives. When Charles Darnay is arrested for the last time, Sydney Carton sacrificially takes the place of Darnay who has been sentenced to death. Carton’s journey is illustrated in the “Six Tumbrils Roll and Rumble” passage, where the passage of the carts that are carrying the prisoners to the Guillotine for execution is described. Through this, the reader is effectively placed at the end– both the end of the life cycle by discussing the approaching event of death and also establishing the beginning of the end of the story as the novel draws to its conclusion. The end of the book allows for the reader to take action on what they have just read and this particular passage invites the reader to consider how by one’s individual actions, …show more content…
The reader is reminded through multiple instances of cyclical imagery that the Revolution has occurred and will arise in the future should changes not be made. The audience has almost reached the end of the novel when reading the “Six Tumbrils Roll and Rumble passage” and the proximity to the end of the novel means they are that much closer to being able to act on what they have recently read. Dickens has successfully demonstrated that with endings beginning will also happen, but it is dependent upon the individual’s actions whether the new cycle is positive or negative. Had Sydney Carton not taken the actions he did, the cycle would’ve ended in death and continued the cycle of violence, rather than ending in death but allowing for life. The Victorian audience for which the novel was written for has been given a recipe for success in evading their own French Revolution; Dickens is reminding his audience that change must start with