My Thoughts on the Book

At first I was more or less uncaring about this book as it would be my final book to read for this book blog assignment. I chose this book because it would be a relatively easy read as I knew what the story was about for the most part. Upon reading it however, I became entranced by the story line as it shows the changes of both society in 18^th century France and the changes in the people of the story (namely Carton). The character of Carton was one of my favorites of this story after I finished it because he showed how his life to him never leads up to anything until he made the choice to sacrifice himself. His character also makes the point that no one is ever unimportant as his final action lead to the salvation of an entire family. Overall I liked the book and found it very insightful to the changing times of the era it was set in. 

Motifs in A Tale of Two Cities

·        The use of alter egos in the story. Evremonde is essentially the dark opposite of aristocracy in comparison to Darnay. Both are of high status but are opposites in their thoughts on the lower classes. Carton also works as an alter ego to Darnay as where Darnay sees the worth in his life and strives to be the best he can be for himself and others, Carton is a depressed and unhappy person who sees his life as wasted.

·        Imprisonment in the story is a major motif as much of the lives of the main characters are spent in a prison. Doctor Manette spent a long time of his life in the Bastille and develops habits that show again as a form of foreshadowing when Darnay tells Manette of his family ancestry. Darnay himself is imprisoned and isolated in France’s prison and is taken out of the main story. This shows how even the prisons can take out the omnipotent power of the narrator. 

Memorable Quotations from A Tale of Two Cities

• "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known."
• "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. . . ."
•  "A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other." 
•  "I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out. . . ."

Important themes in A Tale of Two Cities

• the possibility of resurrection, shown with Carton's change in his outlook on life at the end of the book, and the "resurrection man" digging up the corpses of others for science experiments.
• the need for sacrifice- shown with Carton's willingness to go die in the place of Darnay, and in the Defarges' need for any Evremonde to be held accountable and punished for their family crimes. 
• the use of violence and oppression in the revolutionaries- throughout the novel the revolutionaries fight their oppressors and killed them in a public fashion 

Character Archetypes

Charles Darnay- He is the hero archetype in the story. His noble actions like renouncing his family name due to their cruelty and his willing to go into danger to rescue others are examples of his heroism.

Lucie Manette- she is an archetype of innocent/compassionate in the novel as she is able to get Sydney Carton to change his view on his life.

Sydney Carton- Carton is the opposite of Darnay for most of the novel and is the anti-hero. He sees no future for himself as he feels his life has amounted to nothing. In the end, he is able to surpass Darnay in heroism by giving his life for Darnay to escape.

Doctor Manette- He is easily representative of the Father figure archetype. He is shown to be a loving father to his daughter and cares for Darnay as he does everything in his power to get Darnay released from prison  even though it was Darnay's family that had him locked up in the Bastille.

Madame Defarge- she is most like the witch archetype as much of what she does is get back at the Evremonde family (which includes Charles Darnay) for past crimes committed to her family.

Monsieur Defarge- his role most closely resembles the wise old man archetype. Unlike his wife, he seeks no personal revenge on Luice for what Darnay's family has done.

Marquis Evremonde- Marquis Evremonde acts as the alter ego to Charles Darnay. Both are French nobility and of the Evremonde family. Where Darnay is kind and honorable, Evremonde is cruel and uncaring especially to the peasants in France.