Journals
Journal1. Recalled to life
As soon as I read this novel, I was highly attracted by Charles Dickens' writing style. In book one, he used a metaphor full of significance to indicate the turning point of Doctor Manette’s life. That is, he likened Doctor’s being released from prison to digging out the dead from the grave. This metaphor is interesting and sharp. Through the description of Doctor Manette, we can feel that because of the unjust imprisonment, he became exceedingly numb and lost the ability to think and hope, just like a dead person who is pale and senseless. By using this metaphor, Dickens strongly pointed out the darkness of that society from which ordinary people suffered a lot.
This part highly attracted me to read on for I began to be interested in this poor guy’s miserable past and what would happen to him or to the people around him in the future. And I think this is also the charm of Dickens’ works for he is skillful in choosing and depicting personages and expressing his ideas pointedly even at the beginning of the novel.
Journal2. Parental love
In Manette family, the brilliance of parental love is really touching.
As for mother’s love, in order to keep Lucie from worrying about her father’s bad situation, Doctor Manette’s wife tole a white lie to Lucie. But the mother, herself, never stopped looking for Lucie’s father. She wanted her daughter to live a healthy and happy life, so she carried all the sorrow and suffering alone until she died. As a Chinese old saying goes, a woman may be weak, but a mother is tough. After Doctor Manette was unjustly imprisoned, the fate of this family plunged into darkness. They were helpless. Thus, if it were not for Mrs.Manette’s strength and courage, Lucie would not have well grown up and would have lost the opportunity to meet her father.
As for father’s love, Doctor Manette’s affection for Lucie is also moving. Doctor Manette is not only an excellent doctor, but also a classical humanist. He was full of sympathy and just, so when he saw the evil deeds of Evremonde brothers, he wrote to the king of France to denounce them. Unfortunately, it was the Marquis St.Evremonde who received the letter, Doctor Manette was then put into the prison without any trial. He spent eighteen years in the Bastille which was like a tomb, suffering unimaginable pain and sadness there. Therefore, when he got out of the prison and regained his memory finally, he bore great resentment against Marquis St.Evremonde. But when Charles Darnay, Marquis St.Evremonde’s nephew, expressed his love to Lucies and wanted her to marry him, the doctor overcame his hatred and accepted the marriage with a broad mind. For daughter’s lifelong happiness, Doctor Manette, a father, was willing to hide his grievance and pain in the bottom of his heart. He tried his best to forget the experience which tortured him as long as eighteen years like a nightmare and accept enemy’s offspring to become his son-in-law, only to fulfill his daughter’s happiness. Over hundreds of years, we can still see the struggles and compromises of that strong father, and no words about fatherhood seem to be enough here. Father’s love may be silent, but is always considering and deep.
Doctor Manette and Mrs.Manette are great parents through which Charles Dickens has the wish to evoke citizens’ goodness and kindness, for parental love is always magical and has strong power to melt the ice in people heart.
Journal3. Sydney Carton
In the whole novel, Sydney Carton left the deepest impression on me, so I really want to write something about him.
Sydney Carton, an English lawyer, is a tragic figure in that era. He was brilliant, intelligent but allowed himself to degenerate for he hated that squalid society yet had no power to fight with it. He had a very ordinary way of showing up in the plot. Lazy, silent, always staring at the ceiling and was nothing like a qualified lawyer. If he hadn’t looked like Charles Darnay, actually no one would notice him in the court. Before he met Lucie, his muddled along without dreams, floating and sinking in the torrent of history. But after he fell in love with the girl, although his life had not changed that much, a beam of emotion in his heart was ignited. He started to have something to pursuit and regret what he had done. He’s willing to do anything good to that beauty then. He was the first to detect Lucie’s sickness in court and asked for help; He regularly visited Doctor Manette to have the chance to meet her; When his partner who was arrogant wanted to marry Lucie, he confided his thoughts to her and helped her to get rid of the trouble without asking anything in return. Clearly knowing his own condition, which is dark and inferior, he had no inclination to be Lucie’s life support. Because in his mind, he could only bring her misery, sorrow and repentance. But his love was undying. Lucie's tenderness and understanding made this poor man who was totally unloved get the precious warmth in that era, so he devoted himself to care for her and finally sacrificed himself to realize her happiness.
Taking Paris and London during the French Revolution as typical environments, Charles Dickens conceived touching events with artistic methods and created a series of typical characters with a strong tragic color to show his believes. In his era, in which Britain might go the way of France, he uses this novel to promote humanitarianism and praise the essence of humanitarianism-philanthropism. This quality is Dickens’ great spiritual pursuit, and he makes it the core idea of A Tale of Two Cities. In my opinion, Sidney Carton is the most typical representative of this thought. This sorehead lawyer always thought about others, made concessions and sacrifices for others, with nothing left good for himself. The action which gave his life in exchange for the lives of three generations and four members of the Manette family is actually an exaggeration of philanthropism. In other words, Carton’s sacrifice is not only the love for Lucy and her family, but also the love for the whole human race. In a time full of turbulence, Dickens wants to appeal to his contemporaries and the public through these stories that, the crisis is at stake and tyranny can only lead to violence, people should be merciful, because bloodshed can only cause more bloodshed while benevolence can save the havoc. Sydney Carton was the pioneer, and he was also the character that Dickens wanted to be most before his writing.
Journal4. Different attitudes of love in A Tale of Two Cities
Chapter ten to chapter thirteen of book two The Golden Thread revolve around the three man, who are Charles Darnay, Mr.Stryver and Sydney Carton, around Lucie. The three of them appeared at the same time in a treason trial in London, England in 1780. Charles Darnay was charged with treason and appeared in court as a defendant; Mr.Stryver was a lawyer, present as the defendant’s defender; and Sydney Carton was one of the judges in the court. It was after this trial that the three young men often showed up at Doctor Manette’s house. One year later, the three men expressed their love for Lucy in various ways, from which we can see their different views on love through their attitudes towards love, ways of expressing love, treatment of lovelorn and so on. And here I want to make a com
parison and analysis.
Mr.Stryver, an arrogant and insolent man, thought love can be a condiment to his ordinary and boring life. He didn’t love Lucie, only regarding her as an attractive present and would make him look good. To him, reputation is the most important element in his life. Out of this view, he believed that his marriage to Lucie was a generous charity to Manette family, and he even blamed the Manette after he was refused. Mr.Stryver’s love was capricious, causal and selfish. In other words, he only loved himself and didn’t know how to love others.
Charles Darnay, who was not bound by that dark era, cherished and respected love very much. In his eyes, a good marriage should be full of positive emotions and blessings from people. So when he fell in love with Lucy, he did not express his love directly to her, but first had a long conversation with Doctor Manette, Lucy’s cherished father. He treated people with warmth and sincerity, so treated love, and he held the view that love is a two-way street where lovers promote each other. It is these qualities that make Lucie finally chose him as her husband.
To Sydney Carton, love was sacrifice, and it was his life experience that made him think so. Just as he described himself as “incorrigible”, he had no pursuit and used wine to escape from the reality. Before he met Lucie, he even didn’t know the significance of life. He knew he didn’t deserve her love, so he satisfied himself by donating all he had to the one he loved without asking anything in return. In his opinion, real great love is to be selfless, even to be extreme, to the beloved as well as the people around her. Just as what he promised to Lucie, “If my career were of that better kind that there was any opportunity or capacity of sacrifice in it, I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you.” Actually, his love was humble and self-moving and was not compatible with modern times where love should be equal, but in the era when Charles Dickens depicted this character, this view of love was the most appreciable one.
Journal5. Conclusion
Charles Dickens’ novels, especially his early works, are generally loose and lengthy. Among all his masterpieces, it is widely accepted that A Tale of Two Cities is the most rigorous and complete one in structure which has no complicated branches and miscellaneous leaves unrelated to the theme. The plot, though complex and dramatic, is basically under the background of the French Revolution. It centers on the family of Doctor Manette and the Saint-Antoine district led by the Defarge couple, the former mainly expresses love and good deeds while the latter mainly reflects hatred and revenge. Through the conflict between love and hatred, the author wanted to reach his writing purpose which uncovers evil and promotes kindness.
In addition to the theme, the language in this novel is also worth appreciating. Charles Dickens is a master of language, his language is colorful, clear and vivid. For example, when he wrote about the suffering of Doctor Manette, the words were bitter and dim; When he wrote about the vanity of the nobility, the words were humorous and ironic; When he wrote about the deep conversation between the father and the daughter, the words were gentle and soft; When he wrote about Mr.Carton’s courage towards death, the words were strong and firm. Good writing style can bring life to the work, and this is also the charm this novel holds.
Though because of different value standards and aesthetic state, A Tale of Two Cities has received controversies since its has been published, this novel is still recognized as a representative work of Dickens and is welcomed by readers all over the world. All this shows that Charles Dickens’ position is unbreakable and the value of A Tale of Two Cities cannot be denied.
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