Criminal activity gone unpunished, wrongful imprisonment, the conviction of an innocent man. These injustices are all present in A Tale of Two Cities. Injustice is a recurring theme in the book by Charles Dickens, and was seen all throughout the French Revolution. In A Tale of Two Cities, the novel starts with a doctor named Alexander Manette who has just been released from an eighteen-year imprisonment. A man named Charles Saint Evremonde, who has renounced his family name and taken the name “Charles Darnay”, grows close to the family after they stand witness at a trial. He later marries Doctor Manette’s daughter, Lucie. Among the Evremonde family is Charles’s uncle, a noble known as the Marquis. The Marquis has nothing but disdain for the
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Dickens himself experienced injustice in his life, all men and women do. Perhaps Dickens is telling people to prevent this kind of injustice when they see it, and ensure it does not get out of hand. Mankind has a responsibility to fight against injustices, like those committed by the Marquis. Such heinous crimes must not go unpunished, regardless of the offender’s station. The murder of a child, and of a family, must not go unpunished. There must be limits to power; no one is above the law. However, in addition to punishing the guilty, the innocent must not be convicted for the actions of others. Charles is an innocent man who only wishes to live his life. He denounces his family and their actions, and should not be convicted of a crime he did not commit. One of the crimes his family did commit was imprisoning Doctor Manette, another innocent man. Doctor Manette was imprisoned for eighteen years, and through his character Dickens expresses the anguish of a man that was unjustly denied his freedom for two decades. This world is a cruel, unfair place, and in A Tale of Two Cities Dickens communicates that it is the responsibility of every individual to fight injustice wherever it
Dickens himself experienced injustice in his life, all men and women do. Perhaps Dickens is telling people to prevent this kind of injustice when they see it, and ensure it does not get out of hand. Mankind has a responsibility to fight against injustices, like those committed by the Marquis. Such heinous crimes must not go unpunished, regardless of the offender’s station. The murder of a child, and of a family, must not go unpunished. There must be limits to power; no one is above the law. However, in addition to punishing the guilty, the innocent must not be convicted for the actions of others. Charles is an innocent man who only wishes to live his life. He denounces his family and their actions, and should not be convicted of a crime he did not commit. One of the crimes his family did commit was imprisoning Doctor Manette, another innocent man. Doctor Manette was imprisoned for eighteen years, and through his character Dickens expresses the anguish of a man that was unjustly denied his freedom for two decades. This world is a cruel, unfair place, and in A Tale of Two Cities Dickens communicates that it is the responsibility of every individual to fight injustice wherever it