Resurrection Of Sydney Carton Essay

The Resurrection of Sydney Carton

In “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, one character stands out from the rest of the pack in a profound way. Sydney Carton is one of the characters Charles Dickens uses to invoke the theme of change of character in “A Tale of Two Cities”. For the most part in the novel, Carton spent his whole life as a hopeless dunk in search of life to give him a chance. Carton realizes too late that life does not just handout second chance with no consequences. In the end, despite his good intentions, he has to pay for all the wrongs he committed earlier in his life. In “A Tale of Two Cities”, Dickens uses the complex character of Sydney Carton to exemplify the theme of hope and the ability to change.

Dickens

Carton all the way until the end is proven to care for no one except for himself. He says, “I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence.” (Dickens, book three, chapter fifteen, page seventeen) Even though it may seem like Sydney Carton is doing the right thing by backing off of Lucie Manette, he is doing it for the completely wrong reason. Carton does not care that Lucie Manette is dating Charles Darnay. He believes he is the beneficiary from the situation by getting the family’s loyalty. Sydney Carton cares for no one, maybe not even himself. With the quote, “I am a disappointed drudge sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me.” (Dickens, book two, chapter four, page four). The unconfident persona is again prevalent in this quote by Carton. Sydney Carton shows his depression with him saying no one on earth cares for him. However, he also shows his self-centered attitude by saying he cares for no one. Dickens used this attitude to push Sydney Carton’s character further into the darkness of being a villain. Carton is now presented as a self-centered, egotistical person who contradicts the normal personality of one like that with having self-esteem issues. Carton’s life at that pointwas certainly not a honorable

Since Sydney Carton had done nothing good in his life up until that point, Carton decided to make a change in life and save Lucie Manette’s fiance. Dickens brilliantly used Carton’s dark past to show Sydney Carton needed to change before he died with a terrible life. Dickens makes it obvious he is promoting the theme of “brought back to life” with tittling book one of “A Tale of Two Cities”, “Recalled To Life”. Dickens even quotes a verse in the bible as Sydney Carton’s final words: “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live: and who ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (Dickens, book three, chapter 9 page 7). By quoting a verse in the bible, Carton has made it evident that he has changed his life for the better. Sydney Carton finally has something he can be proud of in life. He says, “Perhaps in death I receive something I never had in life- I hold a sanctuary in the hearts of those I care for.” (Dicken, book one, chapter six, page four). Carton is overjoyed by finding some closure in life. This further proves the theme of hope and the ability to change by showing how bad Sydney Carton’s life was, yet in the end, despite his shortcomings, Carton was still happy of the life he lived because of