The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel that begins before, and ends in the heat of the French revolution. The novel addresses social problems, mainly the divide between the rich and the poor, while creating a middleman, Charles Darnay, who is an aristocrat, but disagrees wit their lifestyle. Although through his actions alone, Charles Darnay could be seen as an evil or immoral character, the contrast with his family, desires, and change in lifestyle makes the reader react more sympathetically than they otherwise would. Some see Charles Darnay as a completely immoral character because he risks his family to return to England to save his steward, Gabelle, imprisoned by the French revolutionaries that later results in the death of this friend Sydney Carton. Such a perception is short sided, however, because it fails to consider the higher morality of the actions of Gabelle. After Darnay’s uncle had died, Darnay instructed Gabelle to work for the people. Gabelle did not collect rent, and forgave the people of their debt under the …show more content…
He recognizes that his family history does not favor the people, and wants nothing to do with it. He goes as far to change his name from Charles St. Evremonde to Charles Darnay. Darnay is his mother’s name, and her dying request was to right the wrongs that the Evremonde family has done to the people of France. Darnay changing his name symbolizes his commitment to work to fulfill his mother’s desire. Darnay also refuses to become the Marquis of France when his uncle dies and therefore does not inherit the money or the house associated with it. His refusal of the position shows the reader that Darnay would rather work for a living instead of sitting in a palace. This causes the reader to react more sympathetically toward Darnay because desire is the first step toward being the change, and because Darnay’s character demonstrates that something good can eventually come from a long line of