A Tale of Two Cities: Reflection

I've always willing to read Charles Dickens and I finally took the chance to read through A Tale of Two Cities-which my friend recommended to me. Even though Dickens is using so many metaphors, which I mostly did not understand, and even his English was really old and hard, that cannot be any obstacles for understanding this book. By reading this book helps me reflect on my life and it taught me one main lesson, LOVE.

Ultimately, "A Tale of Two Cities" is about SACRIFICE, and that is the reason why I love the character of Sydney Carton. Anyway, I admire Carton  because of his udying love for Lucie Manette, even though he will never be with her because she chose Charles Darnay, who happens to look like Sydney Carton. Both people are completely different from each other, almost opposites. On one hand, you have Charles, who seems young and perfect and happy. On the other hand, you have Sydney Carton, the depressed drunck who has a negative outlook on life from being neglected.

Despite his negativity, Carton still loves Lucie and will do anything for her, just to make her happy. The man switches places with her imprisoned husband who is going to be executed. Carton knows that Lucie would be miserable if Darnay was beheaded by Guillotine, so he takes his place and makes the ultimate sacrifice. Without his love towards Lucie, he could never make that kind of decision. Because he loves her, he sacrifices himself.

All in all, I suggest reading "A Tale of Two Cities." Even though I was forced, I would read it again. The only disclaimer I have is to read it carefully and pay attention to all the metaphors. And I better read it more than once so I can find all the foreshadowing.

Good thing I have my own copy of the book besides the the one I borrow from school library. Then I can read it as many times as I want.

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A Tale of Two Cities: Main Characters

Describing the goals, dreams, and motives behind a main characters:

Charles Darnay is a French aristocrat by birth, and he chooses to live in England because he cannot bear to be associated with the cruel injustices of the French social system. Darnay displays great virtue in his rejection of the snobbish and cruel values of his uncle, the Marquis Evremonde. He exhibits a admirable honesty in his decision to reveal to Dr. Manette his true identity as a member of the infamous Evremonde family. So, to prove his courage in his decision to return to Paris at great personal risk to save the imprisoned Gabelle.

Sydney Carton was a alcoholic lawyer who works with Stryver. Carton has no real prospects in life and doesn't seem to be in interested to any. However, fall in love with Lucie, and his feelings for her eventually transform him into a prospective man. At first, you will think that Carton has opposite situations and personality, but in the end Carton morally overcome the man to whom he bears a striking physical resemblance.

Lucie Manette is a young French woman who grew up in England, she was raised as a helper of Tellson's Bank because her parents were known as to be dead. Her love has the power to hind her family together, in the book often called her as the "golden thread." Futhermore, her love has the power to transform those around her. It enables her father to be "recalled to life," and it sparks Carton's development from a "jackal" into a hero.

Dr. Manette is Lucie's father, he was imprisoned for 19-years as a prisoner in the Bastille. In the beginning of the book, he does nothing but make shoes, a hobby that he adopted to distract himself form the tortures of prison. As he overcomes his past, he proves to be a loving father who prizes his daughter's happiness above all things.

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A Tale of Two Cities: Timeline

 

A Tale of Two Cities

 

A Tale of Two Cities: Cover Page

Four Events: 1. Mr. Lorry getting a letter that has "Recalled to Life" written on it.
                        2. Lucie finds her father, Dr. Manette, who was Shoemaker.
                        3. Charles Darnay get convicted.
                        4. Carton sacrifice himself to save his love, Lucie, and her family.

A Tale of Two Cities: Summary #4

BOOK 3: THE TRACK OF A STORM

Chapter 1-15 (p.g. 303-462)

The French Revolution breaks out in all its fury with the storming of the Bastille, which was lead by Monsieur Defarge.

Charles come back to France from England, but he finds that things are very different from when he left. As he gets closer to Paris, Charles start to be concerned as prisoner, though he has done nothing, and soldiers take him to Monsieur Defarge. Charles asks Defarge for help but he refuses, and Defarge secretly jails Charles.

The King and Queen of France are headed by guillotine, and as time goes by, they cannot seem to get Charles freed. After a while, Carton tells to Mr. Lorry that is Charles is found guilty, he will smuggle into Charles's cell, and Carton tell Lorry not to tell Lucie about the plan. Carton visits a pharmacy and buy mysterious packet of drugs that the chemist warns. During Charles's trial, the court was in chaos, because they have found a letter hidden in the chimney, which was at Dr. Manette's old cell.

As the crowd celebrates Charles's conviction in the streets, John Barsad, who is taking Charles back to his jail, he lets Lucie meet her husband for the last time. Charles says farewell and asks her to kiss their daughter. Lucie faints, and her daughter begs Carton for help. He hugs her, and before he leaves, he kisses unconscious Lucie and whisphers, "A life you love." Then he says farewell, blesses Lucie, and leaves.

In the prison, Charles was waiting for his execution date. Charles writes a final letter to Lucie. Suddenly John Barsad opens the jail door and lets in Carton. Carton tells Charles to change his clothes with him. Then Carton waves the packet of drugs under his nose, and Charles passes out. Barsad carries Charles, now disguised as Carton, back to Mr. Lorry. One of a young woman, which is also innocent prisoner, realizes that he is not Charles, and she askes, "Are you dying for him?" "And his wife and child," Carton replies.

Charles and his family flees back to England while Carton sacrifices his life for him. Three carts rumble through the Paris streets carrying the prisoners to the guillotine. There were full of spectators to see Charles Darnay. The young woman is going to beheaded before Carton. When her time comes, they kiss, and she goes to the guillotine. After her execution, it's Carton's turn. He says "I am the resurrection and the life." Carton stands on the platform, and the guillotine crashes down on his head.

A Tale of Two Cities: Summary #3

BOOK 2: THE GOLDEN THREAD

Chapter 5-24 (p.g. 104-301)

Years pass, and both Darnay and Carton fall in love with Ms. Lucie. Carton was a lawyer who spend his life with drinking. But first, Carton denies about his feeling by describing her, "blond doll." However, he start realize the love against Ms. Lucie.

Four months after the trial, Lorry have a dinner with Manette family. After the dinner, Dr. Manette and Lucie went out from the house, Lorry start to talks with Ms. Pross, who comments on and dismisses all the suitors who constantly call on Lucie. She said that her brother, Solomon Pross, is only guy that perfectly matches to Lucie. Lorry didn't say about about it even he knows the true personality of him. Later on, Mr. Carton also comes to the party.

The story begins with Marquis, a strong, powerful, and rich French Noble. He only cares about his power. He gains and satisfy with the power which he take it from the peasants. A little girl was runs over and killed by a carriage, but the owner of the carriage, Marquis the Noble, scolds the people who didn't take care about their children, and he tosses a gold coin to them.

After Marquis returns to his house, the trouble he made was spread to the whole village and through the country. One day, Marquis was drive passing a graveyard and suddenly one woman jumped out and asking him for help. But he ignore the woman and drives away.

At his castle, Marquis was waiting for his nephew, Charles Darnay, which is coming from London. Charles tells to Marquis that he support the new philosophy, which is Enlightenment thinking,  but Marquis scoffs at Charles' idea and tell him to accept the natural destiny and go to bed.

A year passes, and now Charles is living at London working as French teacher, and Charles also went to visit Dr. Manette. During the visit, Charles tells him that he's in love with Lucie, and Charles also tells him that he is not gonna separate them and keep them as close as he can, and Dr. Manette agrees with that.

Outside of Tellson's Bank, Jerry sees a funeral going on. An angry crowd were shouting "Spies" to the dead man, Roger Cly. Jerry come back to home and he scold his wife about her praying again. At night, Jerry went to the graveyard that Roger Cly is buried and start to dig his gave. Then he fishes his dead body. He was a grave robber.

Lucie Manette marries with Charles Darnay.

A Tale of Two Cities: Summary #2

BOOK ONE: RECALLED TO LIFE

Chapter 6 (p.g. 49-61)

The shoemaker is dressed in tatters. When Defarge asks him his name, he answer "One Hundred and Five, North Tower." Mr. Lorry then asks the shoemaker if he recognizes anyone. The shoemaker seems thinking very carefully, but his face quickly changes. Lucie walk closer to the shoemaker. He asks who she is. Noticing her blond hair, he removes a necklace he is wearing and reveals a scrap of paper containing some golden hair, it was his wife's hair, he was imprison for many years. The shoemaker was Luice's father, Dr. Manette.

BOOK TWO: THE GOLDEN THREAD

Chapter 1-4 (p.g. 63-103)

Tellson's Bank is situated by Temple Bar. It was an old-fashioned, small, and ugly building. Employees that are working in the bank are old men, and they were very conservative. In this chapter, Jerry Cruncher is at home lying in bed. He is angry with his wife and throwing his boot at her shouting that her prayers are like a curses to him and his son. After that, he has been called to the bank by one of the bank's messengers.

When he arrives at the bank, the secretary tells Jerry to go down to the courthouse, the Old Baily, and wait for Mr. Lorry. The secretary gives him one message that he supposed to give it to Mr. Lorry. When he arrives to the Old Baily, there were large amount of spectators has gathered outside of it to see someone. Inside the court, there was a serious criminal there call, Charles Darnay.

The prisoner, Charles Darnay, has been accused of being a traitor to George III, king of England. He's job was to get the information that what forces the English have to send to Canada, but he sell the secret information of England to France. However, he has decide to put more loyalty to his country than his friend. Lucie was testified by the detective about the prisoner, and she say that first time she meet Darnay was five years ago, when she was crossing the England to France.

After the judgement, Charles Darnay have found out his innocence and everyone congratulate for that, and he fall in love with Dr. Manette's daughter, Lucie Manette. Darnay kiss her hand and her father saw that. Dr. Manette start to look at Darnay with dislike eyes. Mr. Carton also dislike him because he was too attracted to Lucie.

A Tale of Two Cities: Summary #1

Book One: Recalled to Life

Chapter 1~5 (p.g. 4 - 48)

The narrator begins the story in the year 1775 with the sentence, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and it conclude that what is going to happen in this story.

The year is 1775 and settings are London and Paris, two lands are ruled by monarchs. England is on the brink of the American Revolution. The French Revolution seems unavoidable, and the spirit of rebellion silently infecting the countryside. Similar problems are common across England, with increase of highway robberies and thievery were reaching all the way into high society.

Mr. Jarvis Lorry, a confidential clerk at Tellson's Bank of London, is on his way to Dover in a mail coach. The coachman and his passengers fears about highway robberies. Jerry Cruncher, odd-job-man who work for Tellson's Bank, stops the Dover mail coach with an urgent message for Mr. Lorry, giving him a paper message and tell him to wait at Dover for young woman, Mam'selle, and Lorry responds with the mysterious words, "recalled to life."

Mr. Lorry was taking nap in the coach, imagining the comforting environment of Tellson's Bank. He dream about a man who has been buried for eighteen years and has dug his way out, and that man has been buried for eighteen years.

When Mr. Lorry arrive in Dover, he checks into a hotel and went to have breakfast. He ask employee for the room for a woman who is coming to meet him.While he's having a dinner, the waiter came to tell him that Ms. Lucie Manette, which is Mam'selle, has arrive here and willing to meet him. She tells Mr. Lorry that he have to escort her to Paris because of her father's death. But her father was alive.

The setting change Dover, England to Saint Antoine, a poor suburb of Paris. One of a wine cask falls to the street and everyone rushed to drink it, but there was one man dips his finger into muddy wine-less and scrawls the word BLOOD on a wall. Mr. Lorry was displease by Dr. Manette is locked in.

A Tale of Two Cities

A Tales of Two Cities

By. Charles Dickens

Spectator Sport: My House

My room is a big square-like room next to the living room. The other rooms are opposite my room. When every family member goes to bed in his or her room at night, it becomes a quiet serene place where i can concentrate on my study. Inside the room, all other things in the room look new but the wallpaper has lost its hilarious color. That is because we have lived for almost 5 years already. You can see a aggrandize space with only little furniture when you enter my private room. The first thing you can notice on the right is my secretly locked laptop on its desk. I got the archaic computer desk for free when I came to this house. Now it is partly covered with dirt. Across from it, there is a walnut bookshelf full of books. it is newly bought to take care of books piled up high in my room. It's still has enough space for books and there is a antique closet right next to it.

My favorite place in my house is my lovely garden. Last summer, my family worked intrepidly together for a month to change normal land into fabulous garden. The place always used to be the messiest, ugliest, and cliched place carelessly stacked up with all multifarious stuffs we haven't used for a while but is still good enough to use. Now it has totally changed from a wild land to a lovely place ever. Along the exorbitant garden thee is a deep brown colored wooden fence stands that my dad made by himself. I like them because they show the texture of the wood so well. On the back row of the garden, there are small tiny little trees. I hope that we live here for long time, taking care of the place.

       I got it HERE

 I got it HERE



One word that describe me

“Describe yourself in one word”. It was a question, which Ms. Amy asks to students in English class. The first moment I heard that I thought, ‘is it really possible to describe myself with only one word? ’ This question makes me very stressful because when I try to think out a words that can describes me, there are thousands of words, but if I have to choose one, that will be ‘honest’.

                I do not know how my friends and family thinks about me, but I think I am honest. Of course my family will disagree with my decision, what my mother always told me was I am a slow, bad, and lazy boy, because when my mum tell me to do something I always procrastinate it. However, I never lie to my friends or parents and I always tell the truth to them. I try my best to send my homework and assignments on time. By showing my honesty to the people, they start to trust me, believe me, and like me.

                "It always seems to be so hard to give. Honesty is such a lonely word, everyone are is so untrue. honesty is hardly ever heard, but mostly what I need from you." This is one part of a song called 'Honesty', sang by Billy Joel. This song really touches me and it's the best song that can represents me too. A word honesty can be a advantage to me and sometimes it can be a disadvantage to me too. However, it's a word that describe me and it's my personality!