The Importance Of Mobs In 'A Tale Of Two Cities'

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Register to read the introduction… When Darnay first enters the court room the crowd shouts “’Take of his head!’...’an enemy to the Republic!’”(375). They are a very angry crowd and will seemingly stop at nothing for Darnay to get what he deserves- to be killed. However when it was shown that Darnay was related to Dr. Manette and was acquitted the crowd quickly switched the motives and many rushed towards him and gave him hugs. However Darnay “knew very well, that the very same people, carried by another current, would have rushed at him with the very same intensity, to rend him to pieces and strew him over the streets” (379). This a scene where I think Dickens really wants to show his disapproval of mobs because of the way that they went from being so angry and then changed so quickly. He is pointing to the dangerous changeability of the mobs. Dickens is very clear on his opinion of mobs in A Tale of Two Cities because of his portrayal of them throughout the book. He points out their bloodthirsty behavior when the wine casket breaks. He notes their true danger during the funeral procession for Cly, and he shows the reader how changeable a mob is during Darnay’s trial. With the combination of these and many more, Dickens criticizes mobs during the French

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