Compare And Contrast Stryver And Sydney Carton

Mr. Stryver and Sydney Carton both come from similar backgrounds having attended the same school. Yet it is clear that both have built different lifestyles. Stryver, makes his way as a successful lawyer whose accomplishments can be credited to his way of “shouldering his way up in life” (137). His manner is loud and far from delicacy––his being referred to as “the fellow of delicacy” in chapter twelve is a sarcastic term in which it is clear Stryver is certainly not delicate. His presence is “too big for any place” (250) and his large, bullying movements caused him to be described as shouldering his way through life or pushing his way to the top like a “great sunflower pushing its way at the sun” (149). Stryver is a bully of the worse kind––a …show more content…
Carton is the weaker of the two––he is easily shouldered and pushed into completing Stryver’s savaging and dirty work on cases. He is referred to as the jackal––the scavenger for the lion. A night of work for the two consists of “the lion [composing] himself on his back on a sofa...while the jackal [sits] at his own paper-bestrewn table” (152). Clearly the relationship of the two is not one of equality with Stryver preying off the work of Carton while injuring the character of Carton as he does so. Stryver’s manner of bullying is noticeable when he tells Carton, “your way is, and always was, a lame way. You summon no energy and purpose. Look at me” (155). Stryver’s bullying relies on pointing out the flaws of Carton’s character while exemplifying his superiority which demonstrates Stryver’s arrogance in himself and his determination for ensuring Carton believes Stryver is the superior. Stryver puts Carton on a level lower than himself in ways such as demonstrating disappointment and embarrassment in Carton by bluntly stating, “Your manners have been of that silent and sullen and hangdog kind, that, upon my life and soul, I have been ashamed of you” (243). Yet Carton carries a great deal of the workload for Stryver whose success is ultimately due to Carton, although Stryver would never admit it or give Carton any credit. He does, however, occasionally refer to Carton as his “memory” …show more content…
His desire to keep Carton beneath him influences his decision to ask for Lucie’s hand despite her lack of property. He even gloats to Carton of his intentions as he dismisses Carton’s feelings towards Lucie by stating, “If you had been a fellow of any sensitiveness or delicacy of feeling...I might have been a little more resentful of your employing such a designation; but you are not” (245). Carton must listen as Stryver as he is told he is “in a bad way” and to “find out some respectable woman” since he has “no enjoyment of women’s society” (247). Still, Carton puts up no fight. In Stryver’s arrogance, he believes Lucie will accept him because she will gain “a man already pretty well off...a man of some distinction...a piece of good fortune for her” (246) despite his lack of showing any interest in Lucie or attempting to court her. Carton does not put up a fight because he believes he is not worthy enough to compete with Stryver’s so called advantages. This makes the magnitude of Stryver’s bullying clear. Because of Stryver, Carton believes he can never hope to marry anyone decent if he should marry at all. Even the manner that each reacted after they knew Lucie would not have them speaks of their inner character. Stryver reacts by insulting Lucie, calling her a “mincing fool” (253) thus showing that his affections for Lucie were nothing but desire to