Justice And Vengeance In A Tale Of Two Cities

Justice and vengeance have slight differences, making them easy to confuse. In Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, the French Revolution starts in the name of justice but progresses into a hunt for vengeance. The peasants set the Evrémonde chateau on fire because they hate French nobles: “Soon, from the score of the great windows, flames burst forth, and the stone faces awaken, started out of fire” (Dickens 238). This hate blinds the poor into taking their anger out the Evrémondes' possessions. It is irrational to take out anger on possessions, especially since the poor could use the house and valuables they are destroying. The insurgents' emotions blind them into making irrational decisions, which shows they want vengeance. Justice is rational …show more content…
Justice gives people the punishment they deserve: no more and no less. For justice to exist, an impartial party and an established code of punishment must be present. The mob does not fulfill either condition during Foulon's capture or immediate execution. Furthermore, the insurgents stuff Foulon's mouth with grass as revenge for his earlier comments. Both the unjust execution and revenge show that the revolutionists are fighting for vengeance. While storming the Bastille, Jacques Three is unhappy because he learns he will not witness any violence: “Jacques Three, with his usual craving with him, and evidently disappointed by the dialogue taking a turn that did not seem to hold the promise of bloodshed, held by Defarge’s arm as he held the turnkey’s” (224). Before the French Revolution, the French peasants were powerless in