Dickens portrays the social classes as abusers of power to show the way in which different groups of people take advantage of power in similar ways. After Monsieur the Marquis’ carriage runs over and kills an innocent child, he tosses a coin to the boy’s father, Gaspard, as if it could pay for the damage done. The coin is then thrown back at the Marquis out of bitterness and he threatens “[to] ride over any of [the peasants] very willingly, and exterminate [them] from the earth” (Dickens 112). The temptation power has over the Marquis leads him to believe that possessing power is an excuse to make use of it. With the idea that he is capable of doing anything he pleases in mind, the Marquis is willing to go to extreme circumstances in order to physically ‘exterminate’ all peasants. These …show more content…
After discussing the topic, the question of what will occur in the future comes up. When discussing, Defarge declares, ‘“[…] one must stop somewhere. After all, the question is still where’ madame replies, ‘At extermination”’ (Dickens 344). The word choice of the peasants and the nobles is fairly similar when talking about one another. The passing of power back and forth brings out the evil and oppression in both classes. This helps demonstrate how power leads to the same outcomes and is abused in the same way by different groups of people. The desperation to possess power for as long as possible without a loss causes the peasants to go to extreme measures, similar to how the nobles did. Now that they have started they cannot stop, and the temptation of power causes them to settle for nothing less than extermination. These circumstances can remain true for almost every situation, not just one. In his writing, J. M. Rignall discusses how the techniques implemented by Dickens play a part in the way he tells