Free Sample Essays > European Literature
Tale Of Two Cities
towards Sidney Carton. When Sidney kisses Lucie"'"s daughter, also called Lucie, goodbye after Darnay was rearrested, he whispers to her, '"'A life you love.'"' This brings the reader back to Carton confessing his feelings to Lucie when he says that he would be willing to die to keep a life she loves beside her.
For all who still didn"'"t realize what was going to happen, Dickens clears everything up in the end when Carton, led by Basard, goes to visit Darnay. He drugs Darnay and puts on his clothes and sends him off with Basard enabling him to escape. Carton remains behind in Darnay"'"s place. Then, at the day of his execution, Dickens quotes the bible in which may have been one of the most meaningful and symbolic references that he makes in the book. '"'I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.'"' This is not directly stated as being said by Carton, but whether or not he said it directly does not affect its meaning. Dickens introduces the Christian ideal of living through death. Sidney Carton is really living for the first time through his death.
While Dickens never says that Sidney Carton is or is anything like Jesus Christ, he cleverly puts in this quotation about the Resurrection and the Life to let the reader"'"s mind do the rest. Jesus Christ died on the cross to save his people, and Sidney Carton is sacrificing himself to save those who he loves. By bringing up the quotation from the bible, Dickens indirectly stirs up notions relating Sidney Carton to Jesus Christ. This relation not only makes Sidney Carton a very likeable character in the eyes of many, but it also makes him rise above any other character in the novel. '"'I see the lives for which I lay down my life…I see her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name. I see her father, aged and bent, but otherwise restored…I see the good old man, so long their friend…I see that I hold a sanctuary in hearts…etc. (Dickens, 367)'"' At this point to close out the novel one sees a sudden shift from Dickens"'" third person narration of the story to Carton"'"s narrations of things to come. This makes it seem that Carton is not only the main character of the book, but that he has also surpassed Charles Dickens himself.