Rebellion

    We learn about the French rebellion in school and we also learn about many other rebellions, so I really like how Dickens writes about a subject that happened many times before and after the French revolution. I can connect to France and the Jacques wanting to become independent because my Grandparents are from Northern Ireland, and Northern Ireland is currently trying to gain it’s independence from the United Kingdom. My family is pro-irish, and I believe Dickens is in favor of the Jacques. 

   Dickens wants us to be on Defarge’s side, one example of this is in the passage on page 229 where is says, 

   “Saint Antoine’s blood was up, and the blood of tyranny and domination by the iron hand was down-down on the steps of the Hotel de Ville where the governor’s body lay- down on the sole of the shoe of Madame Defarge where she had trodden on the body to steady it for mutilation.”

   The first words I notice are “tyranny” and “domination” in the first line. Tyranny means to have an oppressive or unjustly severe government on the part of any ruler and domination means an act to rule over. So the unjustly government that has ruled over France up to this point. I take the word “blood” to be referring the spirit of both Saint Antoine and the Tyranny, and the spirit of the tyranny is down because they are being “mutilated”, which mean to injure or disfigure.

   Through the making of the rebellion we have seen it through the Defarge’s point of view, so we can see their opinions of the government, which of course we know they don’t like because they are planing to over throw them. So Dickens wants us to not like the tyranny because all we have read about the people in power have all been mean, like Monsieur the Marquis who only wants things his way and doesn’t care about the poor citizens. We also read about these mean governors running over these poor citizens both metaphorically and theoretically. Dickens wants us to see the government through Defarge’s eyes so we are happy when they are overthrown. 

   I hope one day Northern Ireland can belong to the rest of Ireland again, so my Grandparents can be happy. I’ve heard them talk about Northern Ireland pride and  they talk about how terrible the UK is, so I’ve grown up wishing for Northern Ireland to gain it’s independence. Sometimes looking through one point of view isn’t always the best way to look at things, but I think in the case of the French revolution it is a good thing for Dickens to do because his readers are happy when they’re overthrown. 

Childhood to Highschool (Extra Credit)

     I read many books when I was little,  fun books like Junie B. Jones, The Fudge books, Cam Jansen; but my favorite was Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s. When I read about Miss Pross I imagined her like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s.

      In the passage on the top of page 100 Dickens describes Miss Pross as:

      “...beneath the surface of her eccentricity one of those unselfish creatures- found only in women- who will, for pure love and admiration, bind themselves willing slaves to youth when they have lost it, to beauty that they never had, accomplishments that they were never fortunate enough to gain, to bright hopes that never shone upon their own sombre lives.”

      Dickens knows Miss Pross would do anything for Ladybird (Lucie Manette), and I really think this passage shows the reasons why she is so jealous of Lucie’s relationship with her father. She loves Lucie like an devoted nanny should, and although Lucie is old enough to not need a nanny anymore, she will still care for her, because she wants Lucie’s bright light to brighten her gloomily life. 

     This passage brings me back to my childhood memories of the stories of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s. I think it’s really cool that I can make these connections between books written so far apart, and that shows this book really is a timeless classic. If a high school level book can be compared to a first grade level book, it must be written very well, and even better if it was written two centuries prior. 

      Although I’m to old to read Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s, I can still remember it through Tail of Two Cities, and that makes the book easier to read. 

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Sidekicks vs. Heros

     We all know Batman, we’ve seen the movies and watched the cartoons, but no one pays as much attention to Robin, his sidekick. We don’t necessarily say he is less important, but we’ve grown up knowing Batman is the tough guy, the “man”, the head- honcho, and Robin doesn’t get much credit. But who’s to say Batman couldn’t beat his villains without the help of Robin. Sydney Carton is like Robin, he is the sidekick to Mr. Stryver. He works along side him, but doesn’t get any of the credit. I have this sympathy for Carton, that I think he has for himself, but more importantly that Dickens wants us to have. In the passage at the bottom of page 90 Dickens writes,
      "Sydney Carton would never be a lion, he was an amazingly good jackal, and that he rendered suit and service to Stryver in that humble capacity.”
      Although this passage is in Dickens’ eyes, I can tell Carton thinks of himself the same lousy way and I can infer that from other passages. This is from when Carton was working on papers with Stryver, and we can tell Styver is more of the courtroom-lawyer, while Carton is the behind the scenes lawyer. But which is the real hero? I can debate that Carton shows he is a luminary in the case, but just having the decency to work on Charles Darnay’s case regardless of his feelings for him; and that is a heroic act in itself.
       This passage is meaningful because we all know that “sidekick”, maybe we are ones ourselves. This passage made me look at the world through a different point of view: Jackal vs. Lion; and I wondered, would I be a lion? Or is there is chance I could be a jackal? Maybe a little of both? I believe Dickens wants each of us to connect to a character in the book, because of the details he adds about each character, details that are not only characteristics for book character but for real people. Some of us may connect with Stryver, the lawyer who is tough and can always win; or Carton, hopeless, useless, drowned in self pity. I’m not quiet sure which character I connect to yet, but maybe I will by the end. Having a connection to a character in a book really helps in pulling the reader into the plot, because we all want to read about something we can relate to. When there are no connections we may ask, “so what” or loss attention to the book; and when you’re not fully into a book do you learn from it? I don’t think you can.
Wether you’re Batman or Robin you’re just as important to taking down the Joker, and both Carton and Stryver were important in the victory case of Charles Darnay.








                                                                                                                              Batman and Robin

“Sneak Peak"

   Fore·shad·ow 

verb (used with object): To show or indicate beforehand. I find it very interesting how Dickens foreshadows the French Revolution in chapter five. He uses the “joker” character in a very meaningful way to draw attention to the detail of the French Revolution that is soon to come.

On the middle of page 32 Dickens writes, “...and one tall joker so besmirched... scrawled upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy wine less - BLOOD. The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there.”

I think the word “besmirched” was a good choice to describe the joker. Besmirched means to soil, and I believe the joker is looking down at these poor citizens and making fun of them, but this makes the foreshadow of the French Revolution even more important. These people are poor and they’re on their knees for a small sip of wine while the wealthy smirk at them, and soon they’re going to want freedom from this starvation. I like how Dickens compares the muddy wine in the street to the blood from the rebellion, it grabs your attention.

Foreshadowing is a great way to grab and pull you into the book. I want to keep reading to find the significance of this short scene with the joker and how it ties into the main story of the book. I think Dickens voice is really empathetic for these poor families and I am curious to why he focused so much on this scene, so I read on. You can infer the blood has something to do with the French Revolution because of the time this is taking place, but you wonder why he is putting this detail in the start of a chapter. 

Although I have to read on for class I really don’t consider it a homework assignment because I am excited to know what is going to happen. Any author should want that for readers and I think Dickens does a great job using foreshadowing to keep you engaged in your reading.