Tale Of Two Cities Corruption Essay

Corruption causes a complete imbalance of power and a people group who are taken advantage of and exploited. This exploitation of the people often causes unrest and outbursts for justice and equality. We can see prevalent throughout the novel a tale of two cities written by Charles Dickens, the causes and effects of corruption and how they can shape lives and also how they can end them. Throughout the novel Dickens uses it to show that corruption will lead to tyranny and that tyranny will lead to corruption and that the only way to end the cycle is forgiveness.

Initially Dickens uses the motif of footsteps to showcase a corrupted society and the negative effect it has on people. We can see this throughout the novel by exploring the abuses

Through the forgiveness of the corrupted, only then is the cycle of tyranny broken. This is presently shown through the sad sacrifice that Sydney Carton undertook to save the life of his friend Charles Darnay. Charles Darnay was once a part of the French nobility, however he revoked his family and their wealth because he wished to discontinue the corrupt legacy his family was known for. Even though Charles had rejected his family name, he was still charged with death for the crimes his family had committed. Carton however, not wanting Lucie to be without her husband, planned to switch bodies with Darnay so that he may live. He hatched a plan to switch bodies within the prison Darnay was in, and once the switch was made Carton waited to die. Dickens details the prison as he made the switch, “keys turned, doors clashed, footsteps passed along distant passages” (338). Dickens uses the motif of footsteps in this instance to illustrate that the footsteps of the revolution due to carton's sacrifice have become more distant because he was able to help end the cycle and save an innocent man. Again, we can see the end to the cycle of tyranny with Sydney Carton right before he is executed. Dickens expresses that,” the pressing of many footsteps in the outskirts of the crowd, so that it swells forward in a mass..all flashes away.” (359). Dickens uses the motif of footsteps to express the end of the corrupted tyrannical cycle with the ultimate sacrifice for the betterment of Charles Darnay, a man caught up in the corrupted revolutionaries and unjustly condemned to death. This motif of footsteps expresses an end to the cycle and how a forgiving nature is the only way to real revolution and lasting change within a corrupted society. Another example of the cycle breaking because of forgiveness is presently shown through Dr. Manette. At first he was thrown