A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Book Report/Review Example

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens “A tale of two cities,” is a history fiction book that was written by Charles Dickens. Charles wrote this fiction book in 1859, and it was his twelfth text after others such as “The pickwick papers.” “A tale of two cities,” narrates how the French Revolution affected Paris and London cities; the revolution mainly took place in Paris where the poor citizens fought for equality because they were tired of being oppressed by the rich few. The author uses London to represent a rescue place where the oppressed citizens from Paris would go to; in this city, the individuals received fair treatment and experienced a piece of mind from the dictatorship in France. This essay is a book review of “A tale of two cities,” and it mainly discusses what the author thinks about the French Revolution. Dickens supports the needs of the poor people of developing laws that promote equality and end the aristocratic leadership that was present in France at that time. The author describes how the French revolution took place between 1789 and 1793 and affected the lives of individuals in Paris and London, in England. The story begins in Paris where Dr. Manette was released from the Bastille prison (Dickens 2). He had been imprisoned by the French aristocratic government for eighteen years for dishonoring the English Crown yet he had not undergone any trial all that time. Dr. Manette met his daughter Lucie, who he had not seen for almost two decades, and who thought that he was dead for all that time. The compassionate reunion between the father and the daughter was enhanced by Mr. Lorry who knew that Dr. Manette was the father of Lucie. Lucie tells her father that she would take him with her to England where she lived for all those years that Dr. Manette was in prison. Lucie described England as a place of refuge where there was no oppression and unfair treatment like the one that was in France, and that was caused by the French aristocratic family of Evremonde (Dickens 44). The author further discusses how the dictatorship and unequal treatment in Paris caused people to flee from the country in the next section. In this section, Charles Darnay, a French citizen who belonged to the ruling Evremonde family was charged for disloyalty. Charles was charged for being disloyal to the French state by moving to England to conduct secret business that was said to be against the then French rules (Dickens 117). The defendant was sentenced to the guillotine, which was a machine that the dictatorial rulers in France used to behead the disobedient and disloyal pitiable members of the society. The state used to behead these citizens so that they would not be able to fight for their grievances. This is because when one person was beheaded, the others would obey the state for fear of being sentenced to beheading through the guillotine (Cole, Symes, Coffin and Stacey 916). However, things change in the courtroom when a man known as Carton offers to suffer the punishment on behalf of Charles Darnay. Carton sacrificed himself to die so that he would prove to Lucie that he loved her and would do anything for her (Dickens 356). The author narrates how the turmoil in Paris continued to increase in contrast with the peace that was in England. The author argues that the disorder in France reached its peak when angry citizens murdered Marquis Evremonde, the aristocratic leader (Dickens 361). Defarge who was the leader of the peasantry citizens was the one who murdered the king with her knife. The author recounts how Defarge hated the ruling family with all her heart that she did not regret murdering the king. The angry mobs continued to kill everyone who was associated with the dictatorial leadership in the streets with the aim of finishing all of them. While this takes place, Charles marries Lucie in England, but when they return to Paris, Defarge arrests and tries to kill him; until the night that she killed herself for trying to arrest Lucy, Mr. Lorry, and Dr. Manette for being associated with Charles Darnay (Dickens 389). The Author’s Point of View The author’s stance throughout the novel was that he supported the French Revolution and wanted it to take place fast so that the lives of peasants in France would improve. Dickens demonstrates how French peasants were poor to the extent that they fought for a sip of wine: from the casket that a Good Samaritan had thrown in front of Defarge’s shop (Dickems 20). The author also argues that the state had imposed taxes on the peasants until they became bankrupt. The state was also beheading the peasants who disobeyed their rules and orders to instill fear on others (Cole, Symes, Coffin and Stacey 942). The recount of these events indicates that the author is unhappy about the situation in Paris and he wants everything to change for the better. The author also shows support for the revolution when he argues that the charges against Darney and other peasants like Dr. Manette was unfair. The author argues that the execution of numerous French citizens was unfair because they deserved it even if a few of them deserved to die (Dickens 328). The writer also supports the revolution when he justified Defarge’s anger towards Marquis Evremonde and all his family members. This is despite the fact that some of the like Darney were not in support of oppression and dictatorship in their family. However, Dickens shows that he does not support the peasant’s urge of killing aristocrats when he fails to sympathize with Defarge’s death. Charles also shows support for change in France when Darney renounces his identity as a member of the Evremonde family. Darnay renounces his identity and fails to reveal that he is a member of the aristocratic family toe Lucie and Dr. Manette. However, Darnay reveals his identity to Dr. Manette on the day of his wedding with Lucie. Charles Darnay also shows his support for the peasants when he urges Marquis to change his ways and stop oppressing the citizens on the night of his death. Darnay refuses to take his inheritance on the grounds that his family had committed numerous wrongs to the people of France (Dickens 303). The book, “A tale of two cities,” does not give accurate recounts of the events that took place during the French Revolution. The book is a fiction whose characters are not real people who took part in the real revolution; the author has just created unreal characters to help him narrate his story. The author does not give accurate recounts of the political environment that was in present at that time and he does not also narrate the exact grievances of the peasants. The author only uses his novel to show readers how the social lives of people were affected during the revolution. However, despite the fact that the novel does not provide accurate recounts, it helps to understand the poverty in which peasants lived and why they needed change to take place. The novel does not give the recount of the whole of the French revolution because it ends in the middle of the event. The author does not narrate how the peasants achieved their goals through the revolution and how peace came to prevail in France. Therefore, a historian of western civilization may require another text to get an accurate narration of the French Revolution. Works Cited Cole, Joshua, Carol Symes, Judith G. Coffin, and Robert C. Stacey. Western Civilizations: Their History and Their Culture. New York: Norton & Company, 2012. Print. Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. New York: Sheba Blake Publishing, 2014. Print. Read More