2 Cities #1

Rachel Simmons

12/27/14

A Tale of Two Cities

Chapters 1-5

My Dearest Abigail,

A Tale of Two Cities is a book I have been anxious to read for quite some time. However, now that I have started it, I realise that I do not know much about the language types that Charles Dickens employs. During the first three Chapters I was more confused than I have ever been while reading any book. The author starts the book off very generally. He does not introduce any characters and I did not even know who the main character was until chapter four. That being said, his writing is poetic. The extremely popular first sentence, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”,  was beautiful and showed the contrasting mindsets of society at that time period (7).

The man who appears to be the protagonist is Mr. Jarvis Lorry. He was described as having “a healthy colour in his cheeks, and his fave, though lined, bore few traces of anxiety” (21). Despite living an apparently stressful life and working at the bank “digging” people out of financial messes, he has not yet developed many wrinkles or gray hairs (except for his wig). Thus far, through indirect characterization, the mail trip, and his interactions with Miss Manette, we can assume that Mr. Lorry is educated, middle aged, well respected, and high enough in social position to be one of the chosen ones to escort the mail. What is your impression of this business man?

Miss Manette, on the other hand, seems less mysterious. She, being an orphan, is trying to collect any money or property left to her by her deceased mother and father. However, her father is not dead. If this revelation was supposed to be some huge surprise, it did not incur the amount of hype I think it was intended to from Miss Manette, or me. Also, why did this seventeen year old come by herself? She then conveniently is allowed to be with Mr. Lorry as her protector. I did not think her decisions wise. The fact that Lorry is an old friend is very advantageous for our young girl. Would you upon first meeting your banker trust him to watch over you? Times have changed quite a bit.

Another very interesting point that Dickens repeats is the year and the relations one country has with another. The year he repeats is 1775. Dickens mentions the revolution in the new world and how it has made a greater splash in the pool of politics than expected. It sparks disturbances in France as the lower class starts debating following the colonies example. England is in a bit of a frenzy and both sets of nobility has a lot to deal with, but chooses to ignore it. I think that the political going-ons will become a huge factor in the future of this book, especially uprising. Do you think politics will play a large factor in the progress of the story or not? Why?

Good Luck!