*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week5.

In the final reading of A Thousand Splendid Suns, the reader encounters the most prevalent theme of motherhood. Mariam and Laila faced the greatest test of “motherhood” in the end of the book, when Mariam gives up her life so that Laila can live freely. Not only does Mariam show kinship, but Laila also does when letting Mariam turn herself in for killing Rasheed. Laila must “think like a mother” and do what is best for her children, just as Mariam does with Laila. Hosseini illustrates the importance of family through the experiences that Mariam and Laila’s family goes through. Hosseini also exemplifies how one’s family does not have to comprise of blood relatives, but a family can be any person that one would risk his or her life for.

Hosseini also portrays family through the letter that Jalil leaves for Mariam. The letter was meant to signify as a closure for Mariam to forgive her father, but now serves as a closure for Laila as she now knows about Mariam’s life and family. An allusion is made to “Pinocchio”, a movie that Jalil left for Mariam, symbolizing the lies he told Mariam, and how he wished to rectify what he did. The box left from Jalil serves as a remembrance for what Jalil did, and a closure to forgiveness.

As Mariam enters jail, she is forced to sign a contract for them to kill her. The only other time that Mariam has “ever signed her name” was when she “married Rasheed.” Mariam having only signed her name twice in her life symbolizes the cliché of Mariam “signing her life away.” Literally signing her life away when signing for her to die, and metaphorically when she signed to marry Rasheed, which meant signing away her freedom and innocence.

While in prison, the women that Mariam share a jail cell with “idolize” Mariam for why she was put in jail. Hosseini demonstrates female empowerment with the satisfaction that the entire women feel towards Mariam for standing up to the men in society. In Afghanistan, the Taliban portray women as a sort of creature in the world—not worthy of having freedoms that men do. However, Mariam changes the way that men are portrayed in society as she stands up for not only herself, but the entire female population when she murders Rasheed. This leads to the feeling of content that overcomes Mariam before she is sentenced to death. Mariam realizes that she made a difference in Afghanistan, and was “loved and loved back.” Mariam made a difference not only in Laila and Aziza’s life, but in the entire female population in Afghanistan.

The final pages of A Thousand Splendid Suns signify a new beginning in Kabul. The beginning is foreshadowed through Laila visiting Mariam’s home, which creates closure from the past to move on to a new beginning. The true meaning of A Thousand Splendid Suns is for the people in Afghanistan to “find a way to survive, to go on” after being “marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief.” Mariam is what causes Laila to view the true “thousand splendid suns” of Kabul- to look past the grief and misery that the two women did experience, and to move on and see the beauty in Afghanistan. Not only does Mariam signify a new beginning, but also the new orphanage that Laila works at as a school teacher, Laila marrying Tariq and experiencing the family she always dreamed of, and now another pregnancy, to bring a new life into the world of Kabul. Hosseini demonstrated the importance of moving on in one’s life after tragedy, and to see what the true “splendid suns” are in the world.

*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week4.

As rules and regulations alter in Afghanistan in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, lifestyles begin to change for the women. The list of rules that Afghan women must obey, relates the reader back to those rules that Rasheed induced upon Laila and Mariam. Rasheed forbade the two woman to ever leave the home without wearing “a burqa at all times” and neither of the women could leave the home without being “accompanied by a mahram”, or a male relative.” Not only do the laws coincide with the beliefs that Rasheed previously enforced, but after the laws were conceived, Rasheed was “not at all bothered by the Taliban”, but embraced the laws. Rasheed symbolizes a microcosm of everything the Taliban stands for. Not allowing any freedoms for women, and holding men to the upmost superiority over all others.

While Rasheed is a microcosm of the Taliban, Zalmai is the epitome of his father’s personality. “Zalmai” means “young” in Afghanistan, which correlates with Zalmai being the “young” and youthful version of Rasheed- as he “easily held grudges” and “persisted in mischief” only around Laila, yet never did wrong when Rasheed was around. Rasheed contributes to Zalmai acting the way he does, as Rasheed bribes Zalmai with gifts such as a “new TV” which Rasheed never did with Aziza. The bribery and beloved emotional connection that Rasheed and Zalmai have foreshadow that Zalmai will turn out exactly like Rasheed—egotistical and abusive. The relationship also symbolizes a bigger picture- the power that the Taliban men have over the women and the negative, unfair, and bias treatment that the men have over the women.

Just as Rasheed has almost killed Mariam and Laila already in multiple ways, Zalmai is now denoted as possibly causing the death of them. When the Titanic becomes popular and widespread throughout the area, Aziza compares herself to Jack and Mariam to Rose, while Zalmai is the “iceberg” that caused the death of Jack and Rose. Zalmai being metaphorically compared to an iceberg denotes his icy and deadly personality and power in which Zalmai could possibly end up holding the future of the women. Laila then says that “everybody wants Jack to rescue them from the disaster” but, “there is no Jack…Jack is dead.” The true “Jack” symbolizes both the men in society, and that there is no one man that will stand up for the unfair treatment of the women. “Jack” also symbolizes the chances of the women ever being rescued from the miserable life they are living.

As Aziza is put in a orphanage, Zamen teaches her multiple facts in school, such as “tectonic plates” and how they “slide past each other, and release energy which travels to the earth’s surface and makes it shake.” Laila notices a “stutter” in Aziza as she speaks, which makes the reader realize the anecdote of Aziza’s studies symbolize more than what is on the surface. The “fractures” symbolize the pain one feels “deep down” but how all people see on the “surface” is just a “slight tremor.” The reiteration that Aziza speaks of symbolizes how she is trying to show her exuberance towards Laila so that she doesn’t feel bad about leaving her in the orphanage, but deep down Aziza is lonely and afraid.

Tremendous growth is illustrated in the characters of both Mariam and Laila. Mariam experiences growth when she learns the recurring motif of “endurance”—a lesson she learned from her mother. Mariam portrays motherly instincts as Laila is getting ready for birth a second time, and is forced to go to a “women doctor.” Mariam calls Laila her “daughter” which conveys the nexus the women have formed between each other. After the doctor says that there is no anesthesia available, Mariam volunteers to travel elsewhere to find some, just so Laila is not in so much pain. Mariam has grown from a bitter women afraid of Laila stealing away her husband, to a women devoted to empowering Laila and doing whatever it takes to make sure Laila and her children are taken care of.

Laila portrays growth when faced with the tough choice of abortion. Although Laila does not wish to give birth to something that is part Rasheed’s, Laila refuses to take the “bicycle spoke” and kill her baby. The selfless act of keeping the baby that Laila does not want depicts the morals that Laila has, even though the Taliban does not. Laila refuses to lose her morals even though everyone around her has.

The growth and connection that Mariam and Laila have formed between each other illustrates the power of the Afghanistan women. Standing up to Rasheed and taking brutal beatings along with Laila outlasting beatings from the Taliban just to see her daughter for an hour or two exemplifies the motif of “endurance” and the tenacity of the Afghanistan women. Hosseini illustrating the ruthless treatment that women face in Afghanistan everyday helps the reader understand what the women go through every day. Not only is Hosseini demonstrating the cruelty that women face, but also the strength of women through empowerment and endurance.

Although Mariam and Laila exhibit endurance, it is not always easy for the women. Laila has a dream that she is forced to bury her daughter, and can “taste the soil” as she dumps it over Aziza’s body. The dream that Laila has foreshadows that possibly in the future Laila will have to sacrifice her daughter perhaps to save her from the harsh treatment of the Taliban or the men in society. Or perhaps Laila will have to choose between her daughter and the man she loves, Tariq? If Tariq wishes to see Aziza, and Rasheed does not allow it, Rasheed may come after Tariq and kill him. Will Laila have to sacrifice her daughter in order to save the man she loves?

*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week3.

Once again, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, the reader delves into a melancholy tone. The war continues on in Afghanistan, and although moments of gaiety occur when Laila’s parents agree to move from Kabul, the jovial tone is interrupted with a “whistling” and then a “flash of white” and an explosion that sends Laila “twisting and rotating in the air.” When Laila lands, she sees a “bloody chunk of something” and on it, the “tip of a red bridge” illustrating the death of Laila’s dad due to the war. Once again, when a character was so close to perfection in life, it is brutally interrupted. The death of Laila’s parents leads Laila into guilt, which shows the parallel between Mariam and Laila. Just as Mariam felt guilt for her mother’s death, Laila feels culpable for Hakim’s death because Laila believes that she “should have been the one inside the house when it happened.” The correlation that the reader discovers in Mariam and Laila advances the reader into the upcoming events of Mariam and Laila living together.

Since Mariam and Rasheed are the couple that discover Laila, Laila then lives with the two, and ultimately is asked if she will marry Rasheed, even though Rasheed is “much older” than Laila. Surprisingly, Mariam and Laila do not get along at all. At first, the reader thinks that maybe this is because Mariam doesn’t agree with the wretched and iniquitous manner of Rasheed’s and Laila’s marriage. However, the reader then understands Mariam’s reasoning for disliking Rasheed having another wife and “stealing [her] husband.” Because of Mariam’s past of not having a true father and losing her mother, Mariam is afraid that Laila will “steal” Rasheed away from Mariam. Although Mariam does not truly love, or really even like, Rasheed, he is all that Mariam has ever had. However, when Rasheed attempts to “whip” Mariam with a “leather belt”, Laila steps in front and “holds back Rasheed” protecting Mariam over herself. It is then when Mariam realizes that Laila married Rasheed not to steal him away, but to protect herself from the war and from loneliness, just as Mariam did. This is just the beginning of the relationship between Mariam and Laila.

As the reader continues, the relationship between Laila and Tariq grows stronger. Tariq symbolizes protection and comfort for Laila, and now that Tariq is gone, the protection is gone, along with Laila’s parents, home, and innocence as it was taken from the marriage to Rasheed. Just like Mariam believed her mother’s death was her own fault, Laila blames Tariq’s death on herself, because of her “lack of emotion” and sorrow when her brothers died. Laila believes that she is being punished because she wasn’t able to correlate to Fariba’s feelings and help Fariba during her time of sorrow. Tariq dying symbolizes the end of Laila’s protection, as she is now truly alone.

Before Laila and her family moves, Hakim reminisces back to a line he remembers in a poem about “the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.” Up until this point, the reader could not make a correlation from the title to the novel until now. Hakim remembering the town of Kabul as a “thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls” symbolizes that through all the grief and pain that one suffers in Kabul from the war and personal vendettas, memories will always remain in Kabul, even if the good memories appear to “hide.” The line also foreshadows that although Laila is unhappy in Kabul right now, that eventually Laila will realize a bigger meaning to her life, and figure out the “thousand splendid suns” that exist in Kabul.

*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week2.

As the reader encounters Part II of A Thousand Splendid Suns, a new character, Laila, is introduced. Laila serves as a sort of duplicate to Mariam, as both girls have many characteristics and events in life in common. Although Laila has two brothers, she is technically an only child in that she lives alone with her mother and father because Laila’s brothers are older and in the war. Mariam, too, is an only child, just like Laila, which makes the personalities and effects of parental influence upon the girls more distinct. Before Mariam wed, she wished to obtain an education, but Mariam’s mother disagreed, and believed that “woman [didn’t] need an education.” Laila also wishes for an education, but unlike Mariam, Laila’s family is supportive of Laila learning and acquiring an education. Laila and Mariam both have mothers with a “sickness.” Mariam’s mother had “jinn”, which was a mental illness that caused seizure whenever Nana was stressed or upset. Laila’s mother, too, has a similar condition in that Mammy stays in bed throughout the entire day “under the covers” in a “dark room” and sleeps until “three in the afternoon.” Since neither women show any “physical signs” of ailment, the reader can conduce that the illnesses are caused from displeasure in life. While both characters mothers are laggards, Mariam and Laila both turn to their father for support and guidance. Jalil is a character that symbolizes the “outside world” for Mariam, and Laila’s father is the one that guides Laila to an education. The comparing personalities of Mariam and Laila impose the reader to question importance of their kindred relationship.

The dysfunctional relationship between Jalil & Nana and Fariba &Hakim illustrate the iniquity of forced marriages. Fariba and Hakim portray the relationship that was forced into marriage, and are now unhappy together, causing Fariba an illness that was all in her head. With the relationship between Jalil and Nana, Hosseini depicts the wrongdoings of forced marriages by not being with each other. If Jalil would have not married the other nine women, perhaps Jalil would have married Nana and Nana would still be alive. Hosseini also conveys the transgression of forced marriage in the unhappiness of both Mariam and Rasheed.

Mariam and Rasheed depict a struggling relationship, with many ups and downs. In the beginning, Mariam was unsure of the nexus between the two, but after becoming pregnant the relationship between Mariam and Rasheed blossomed. Mariam was so excited that “everywhere she looked,” Mariam saw “bright colors” as if a “rainbow had melted into her eyes.” Rasheed, too, was filled with gratitude “drumming his gloved fingers and humming a song.” However, by now the reader realizes that with every positive event in the story is followed by a wretched occurrence. The elation shown from the pregnancy foreshadowed the miscarriage that Mariam had in the “hamam.” Mariam then had a miscarriage “six more times in four years.” The miscarriages symbolize Mariam’s inability to be nurtured, therefore not able to nurture something herself. The miscarriage also foreshadows the displeasure that Rasheed has in the marriage, leading to the violence and abuse towards Mariam and forcing her to “chew” the “mouthful of grit and pebbles.”

“Endurance” is a recurring motif throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns, along with the color green. The color green and endurance coordinate with each other, in that the color green symbolizes feelings of endurance. In the first reading, Nana told Mariam that “to endure” is “all that women have.” As Mariam grows up, she begins learning the importance of endurance. The snow that falls upon the road during the time of the miscarriage signifies the “sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman” somewhere in the world, and how “we must endure all that falls upon us.” Mariam occurs the motif of endurance again when burying the “blue coat” that was meant for her baby. The burial not only contributes to the motif of endurance, but also symbolizes how Mariam is able to “bury” her past and move on, whereas Rasheed is not able to. Signs of Rasheed failing to move on are shown with the picture of his wife and child in his room and also refusing to be a part of burying the coat.

The color green strengthens the motif of endurance in the characters of Mariam and Laila, as both characters encounter the color green multiple times in the novel. Mariam has “green eyes” and when living with Jalil, Mariam’s room is “green” suggesting how Mariam must “endure” the death of her mother and the new living arrangement. When Mariam gets married, she has a “green veil” showing the endurance she must undergo in order to adjust to her new life yet again. Not only does the green symbolize stamina, but also youthfulness, as Mariam was very young when each event took place in her life. Thus far, the reader denotes the “green eyes” of Laila as signifying the nexus between Mariam and Laila. Yet, the reader does not know thus far what the connection will be between Mariam and Laila.

*A Thousand Splendid Suns--Week1.

Commencing the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini establishes a detrimental tone through the character of Nana. The mother of the main character of Mariam, Nana brands Mariam as a “harami” conducing “unwanted thing.” The reader learns that Mariam is denoted as a “harami” because Nana became pregnant with Mariam and was not wanted by Jalil.

Although Nana is Mariam’s mother, Nana does not convey a nurturing nor solicitous personality towards Mariam. The “Jinn” that takes over Nana’s body at difficult times depicts the remorse that Nana has towards Mariam. From religious believers who entrust in Allah, a Jinn was created from fire whereas human beings are believed to be created from clay. Jinns are invisible to the human eyes, however, the Jinn can see us. The Jinn that enters Nana’s body is a dark spirit, one which symbolizes punishment for the result of Mariam. The Jinn conveys not only a burden on Nana, but also Mariam, as it reminds her of the “lingering pain” she puts upon Nana.

While Nana signifies a pessimistic outlook, Jalil appears a foil character to Nana. Nana’s anecdotes to Mariam educe a feeling of burden. Even simple stories such as the birth of Nana forced “recrimination” and “burden” upon Mariam, as she apologized for her own birth. Little did Mariam know at the time the “unfairness of apologizing for her own birth.” Jalil, however, retorts the stories in a manner antithesis to Nana’s. In the first meeting of Jalil, he portrays a wholesome father- one that makes Mariam feel she is a “good daughter.”

Nana and Mariam’s house is “two hundred yards upstream, towards the mountains” and in the “center shade of the willows” is the “clearing” of Nana and Mariam’s home. The seclusion that the two live in conveys the feelings that Jalil has towards the two- that they should be isolated away from Jalil’s other “nine wives” as Nana and Mariam are sort of the “embarrassments” of the family. While Nana realizes the selfishness that Jalil portrays, Mariam fails to see that side of Jalil. To Mariam, Jalil represents the “world at large.” The existence of “presidents, trains, soccer, and museums” outside of the remote “kolba.”

Mariam quickly discovers the misinterpretation she had of Jalil and her mother. Nana’s reasoning for bashing Jalil was because she was afraid of Mariam leaving her. Hosseini foreshadows Nana’s suicide in the very beginning of the book with the “shattering” of Nana’s mother’s “Chinese tea set.” The “porcelain piece” that “slipped from Mariam’s fingers” foreshadows the death of Nana was from “slipping” through Mariam’s fingers when Mariam chose Jalil over Nana.

The next instance of foreshadowing occurs in the jinn that overtook Nana whenever Jalil was involved in her life. Whether or not Nana was falsifying the religious spirit and was really just a “disease” that could “be cured with pills”, or if the jinn actually occurred in Nana, the reader can induce that Nana nuanced Jalil with a “dark spirit.”

Once Mariam made her own decision to see Jalil, Nana was found “dangling” from “rope drooping high at a branch.” The death of Nana symbolizes the “death” of Mariam’s childhood, as she is now forced into making her own decisions and living for herself. Mariam chose to disobey Nana, and the death of Nana exemplifies the new, adult life that Mariam must now undergo.

Before Mariam left Nana for Jalil, one of Mariam’s games was to take pebbles, each representing one of Jalil’s children from each wife, and would arrange them in “four separate columns.” Rather than arranging all the pebbles altogether, the separation of the columns implies that Mariam does not belong with the others. This point is clearly shown when Mariam is rejected from Jalil to see him, and while leaving, the pebbles “spill from her pocket.” The spilling of pebbles imply that Mariam is not wanted nor meant to be a part of Jalil and his other wives family which foreshadows the forced marriage that occurs later in the novel.

Throughout the book thus far, Mariam has witnessed the feeling of not being wanted from her mother, her father, and now the women that Jalil live with. After Nana’s death, Mariam lives with Jalil for a short period of time, but soon discovers she is not wanted there. Jalil’s wife force a marriage upon Mariam to a man named Rasheed. Now that Mariam no longer has a mother or father, she is completely on her own

The man that Mariam marries, Rasheed, is a complete antithesis to Mariam. Starting with appearance, Rasheed has a “big square, ruddy face and a hooked nose…watery, blood shot eyes, and bush eyebrows” compared to Mariam who has a “narrow chin” and a “long, triangular face.” The personalities of the two also differ, as Rasheed expects Mariam to do all the cooking and cleaning. The marriage between the two depicts the basic routine in Afghanistan of forced marriage. Rarely in Afghanistan is a woman not married by the time she is 16 years old, which Hosseini shows through the young age of Mariam and the old age of Rasheed. Along with age, Hosseini conveys the problem with forced marriage when Rasheed expresses his feelings that Mariam’s job is to do the cooking, cleaning, and the “job of a wife” in which Rasheed believes is sex. The unpleasantness and uncomfortable feelings that Mariam constantly feels in her marriage to Rasheed depicts the negativity of forced marriages. In bed, Mariam “looks at the frozen stars in the sky and a cloud that draped the face of the moon like a wedding veil” a metaphor that denotes Mariam’s feelings on her marriage in which she is “frozen” in her marriage-- frozen with fear, regret, remorse, and disappointment.

Along with Rasheed’s inhumane outlook on marriage, he also forces Mariam to wear a “burqa” that completely covers her face and body from other guys looking at her. Rasheed hates the “married women” that walk around without enough clothing on. Hypocritical to what Rasheed says, Mariam discovers “magazines” in Rasheed’s room that show “beautiful women who wore no shirts, no trousers, no socks or underpants.” The hypocritical views of Rasheed shows the controlling side that Rasheed has over his wife, making the reader wonder if Rasheed had something to do with the death of his previous wife and son and makes the reader wonder if Rasheed will “control” Mariam too much and again make Mariam feel unwanted ultimately resulting in Mariam being left by Rasheed along with her parents.

*Death of a Salesman--Day 6.

In the final reading of Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller concludes the play with a somber, yet promising tone for a new beginning. Before Willy ultimately ends his life, the reader views Willy in his garden “planting seeds.” The seeds symbolize a new beginning, and a nurturing side that Willy wasn’t able to exemplify for his children and wife. Because Willy wasn’t able to “produce” a wealthy business as a salesman, the garden that Willy plants portrays another chance for Willy to provide money for his family.

In the garden, Willy speaks to Ben about the “massive funeral” that people would come to from “Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey” just to honor Willy at his funeral. The death of himself, Willy believes, will prove to Biff how many people “liked” Willy and how “well-known” Willy is. If Willy commits suicide like he has planned to, then Biff and the rest of the family will receive the “proposition” which is “twenty thousand dollars on the barrelhead” of Willy’s premium. The suicide of Willy enables a new future for the Loman family, as they are able to make “the last payment on the house” and are “free”—free from the burden of house payments and also from the unhappiness of Willy. The death of Willy proposed a new beginning for his family as a way to move on and live each one’s own life.

In the end as Willy speaks to Ben, Ben again comments about how “the jungle is dark but full of diamonds.” Not only do the “diamonds” that Ben speaks of portray wealth, but also equate to Willy. A diamond has a shiny appearance, one like Willy wishes to have, but a diamond is also “rough and hard to the touch”-equating to the personality of Willy ultimately conveying the message that although something may appear to glisten on the outside, the inside is “rough.” Along with a diamond’s appearance, the diamond in the “dark place” symbolizes that Willy believes that he must die in order for his family to prosper.

An occurring motif throughout the play is false portrayal of oneself. All three of the Loman men portrayed a life that was a facade from reality. Willy was not the successful “well liked” business man that he claimed to be, Happy was not the “assistant buyer” but was an “assistant to the assistant” and Happy and Willy attempted to make Biff believe that he was a high-end business man when in reality he was just a “shipping clerk.” Biff finally speaks up and lets the family know that they haven’t told the truth for “ten-minutes”- but that their lives have all been “phony.” Each character made-up the ideal life so as not to disappoint the other. However, in the end, the only way each could move on in life and truly live the “American Dream,” was to seize reality, which Biff helped each character do.

*Death of a Salesman--Day 5.

In the commencement of the play Death of a Salesman, writer Arthur Miller implements various items that the reader does not understand the deeper meaning of until the play progresses. The “laugh” of “the woman” is not understood until further on in the play, and when the reader does unearth the meaning, the reader discovers the woman was Willy’s mistress in Boston. The reason Willy always hears the woman laughing in his memories, is because the woman was laughing when Biff saw her with Willy. Another symbol used to foreshadow Willy’s infidelity is the stockings. Previously in the play, Linda was mending her “stockings” and Willy became upset with her and told her to “throw them out.” The simple use of stockings denotes a deeper meaning within Act II. Stockings, being an undergarment, symbolize something sensual- therefore symbolizing Willy’s infidelity. When Biff catches Willy and the woman together, the woman is asking Willy for the stockings he promised to bring her. The reader then correlates the distress occurred in Willy when Linda was mending her old ones. Willy wants Linda to have new stockings to she has a better appearance to her- an image like Willy’s mistress.

Thus far, the characters have been dealing with a constant struggle of fighting with memories from the past. Falsifying reality is the main characteristic of Willy thus far, and is also occurring in the characters of Happy and Biff. When meeting with strangers, Happy recites that his family is “successful” and “wealthy” and that Biff is the “quarterback for the New York Giants” and that Willy is a great salesman. When Biff meets with Bill Oliver about working for bill, Biff realizes that he never actually was a “salesman for Bill” in his past, but was a “shipping clerk.” The Loman’s wanted the appearance of success so badly, that they made Biff believe that he actually worked for Bill Oliver. Biff is finally realizing that Happy and Willy are trapped in their demented minds of the past, and cannot move onto the future and what is happening now. The reader can predict that Biff will be the one Loman that will move forward and life and hopefully help Happy and Willy move forward also.

*Death of a Salesman--Day 4.

Act II in Death of a Salesman envelops the reader into the theme of appearance. Previously in the story, Willy chose to purchase a refrigerator based upon the appearance of the fridge in a magazine rather than studying the brand and reliability of the refrigerator. Sure enough, the refrigerator soon breaks, and Willy blames the “junkyard” refrigerator upon Linda. The morning that Happy and Biff leave on business, the house smells of “shaving lotion”, an aroma that Linda adores. The fragrance of the shaving lotion indicates the imperativeness that Willy and Linda feel towards personal appearances.

Along with physical appearances of tangible items, Willy also acquired the job of a salesman because of the “perfect” appearance of the job. Willy was offered a job in Alaska, but rejected the job because of an “eighty four year old” man named Dave Singleman who “drummed merchandise into thirty-one states.” The image of Dave Singleman attracted Willy to the job, based solely on the fact of the appearance of Dave Singleman. Although Dave Singleman appears to be a great salesman, and “hundreds of salesman and buyers” went to Dave’s funeral, the people were only there because they planned to buy items from Dave-they weren’t there because he was “well liked.” Willy discovers that being a salesman is now “cut and dried”- there are no “camaraderie,” “respectability, and “friendship” in sales “these days.” Through the story of Willy becoming a salesman based on image, Arthur Miller presents the theme of appearance, and how just because an item, person, or job appears glamorous, it really is not all that great if one doesn’t have the heart to put effort forth into it.

Willy is soon fired from his job from lacking motivation, and goes to Charley for financial help. Charley’s son, Bernard, shows Willy a “recorder” in which his son recites states and capitols. Throughout the play thus far, Arthur Miller uses objects to remind Willy of memories in life which provides clues to the reader about the unhappiness of Willy. The recorder, for instance, causes Willy to reminisce back upon the memory of another reason why Willy rejected the job in Alaska and also why Willy is bitter towards Biff. The day of Biff’s football game at “Ebbet Field,” was the day that Willy was supposed to leave for Alaska. However, Willy knew this game was important, and therefore stayed. As Willy speaks to Bernard more, Bernard questions as to why Biff did not go to summers school after “failing math.” Biff returned home, and burned his “University of Virginia sneakers” behind the furnace. The reader then understands why Willy chose to attempt suicide from the furnace- because it was Willy’s fault that Biff did not go to summer school. The attempt of suicide in the place that Biff “killed” his dreams signifies the guilt that Willy feels towards the failure of Biff. The question the reader has yet to unearth is what is Biff’s reasoning for not going to summer school? What did Willy say that day in Boston that prevented Biff to follow his dreams?

*Death of a Salesman--Day 3.

As the reader continues in Death of a Salesman, one begins to understand the reasoning for Willy being in the mental state he is in. Willy feels as if his life has not been successful as he hoped, therefore, Willy is living out his life through Biff. Willy falsifies his own life by making it seem as if he is an optimum salesman, when in reality the company Willy works for “took his salary away.” The constant struggle that Willy feels within himself induces perfection upon Biff. Biff does not wish for the life that Willy wants for him, so Biff never “tries to please people.” The “whistling” spoken of that Biff does while on the job symbolizes the lack of interest within the jobs Biff has, ultimately symbolizing how Biff correlates with his father in that neither are pleased with their lives.

Not only does the title “Death of a Salesman” come from the “death” of Willy’s American Dream, but the reader learns that Willy experiences suicidal thoughts. Willy is so unhappy with the achievements he has failed to accomplish and that his sons have accomplished, that Willy has attempted to take his own life. Although Biff often becomes frustrated with his father’s behavior, at the end of Act I, Biff is seen removing the “rubber tubing” from “behind the heater” in which Willy used to attempt suicide.

Before Act I comes to an end, Willy is reminiscing to Linda about the younger years of Biff. Meanwhile, Biff is down in the kitchen, as a “golden pool of light” is elucidating him. As Willy’s story proceeds, he speaks of how the “sun was around him” and there were “three representatives” from colleges standing by that were going to recruit Biff. Willy deduces how a “star like that…can never really fade away” as the imagery of “light” on Willy begins “fading.” The light illuminating Biff shows content that Willy had towards Biff’s accomplishments, however, once the realization of Willy’s dream for Biff faded, the light fades on Willy as the “gas heater begins to glow” symbolizing the reason for Willy being suicidal is from the loss of the American Dream that Willy envisioned for Biff.

Although Linda portrays a kind, caring character, in reality Linda is not doing any good for Willy. The sensitivity Linda has towards Willy is ultimately driving him towards suicide. Without a stable person in Willy’s life to remind him of where his life is going, all Willy has is the remembrance of his past rather than someone to help him look towards the future. Linda accuses her sons of causing Willy to be the way he is, when in reality Linda should be speaking with Willy about the way he is. Will Linda be able to talk and help Willy before it is too late?

*Death of a Salesman--Day 2.

In the second reading, the reader begins to unearth more reasons as to why Willy is the way he is. Willy strives to live the perfect “American Dream,” and by doing so, Willy must make his life appear flawless. Willy is so desirable of his own happiness and self achievements that Willy continues to hallucinate recollections of the past, and altering the memories to make his family appear “better.” In one recollection, Willy recalls Charley, whom Willy remembers as being not very “well liked” by the majority of the population. However, after Willy’s past remembrance, the reader finds out that Willy once again contradicted reality, as Charley is better liked than Willy is.

Not only does Willy wish for himself to appear successful, but also his two sons. Bernard, Charley’s son, is in reality more successful when it comes to studying, as Biff is almost “failing math class.” Willy tells his children that they will be more successful not because they are book smart, but because they are more “well liked.”

One of the main characteristics of Willy thus far is the constant struggle for himself to be “well liked.” Willy’s brother and father leaving and becoming more successful than Willy exposed an emotion in Willy that he wasn’t good enough and could not live up to the standards of his family; therefore, Willy constantly battles self resentment. In Willy’s memories, he alters the true memory to seem as if everyone enjoys his company. However, when Willy recalls back onto present life, he realizes that people know him as a “fat walrus” and that he is not as superior of a salesman as he wishes he was—Willy barely makes enough money to support his family. Throughout all of Willy’s constant inner battles, he has ultimately attempted to commit suicide more than once. Will Willy achieve success and be satisfied with the way his life and his family’s life is going, or will the disappointment prove too much for Willy?

*Death of a Salesman--Day 1.

The opening of the play “Death of a Salesman” illustrates a home of lesser quality. The home is lit only by the “blue light of the sky” which illuminates a scene of a kitchen that has the basic necessities, but no “fixtures.” Beyond the kitchen, is a “draped entrance” that contains a living room, and then a bedroom, “furnished only with a brass bead stand and a straight chair.” The simplicity of the home does not necessarily denote that the family that occupies the space is pitiable, but perhaps that the family is just unadorned people. To the viewer, the home is “transparent” and the roof-line is “one-dimensional” again denoting the simplicity of the family.

As the reader is introduced to the first character, Willy, an “exhausted” man of “sixty years of age” the reader gains insight of the lack of mentality Willy has. While driving, Willy all of the sudden begins “goin’ off the road” from daydreaming. Confusion emerges when Willy starts speaking of his “lazy bum” son Biff for not working, but then a couple of lines later, Willy goes on speaking of how Biff is “such a hard worker” and if there is one thing about Biff, it’s that “he’s not lazy.” Ironically, Willy then complains to his wife how he is “always being contradicted”, yet Willy contradicts each statement he makes. As soon as Willy spoke about opening the windows in the truck, he soon says that the “windshields don’t open on the new cars” and then goes on reminiscing about how he believed he was driving his “chevvy” today. The reader begins to wonder what is wrong with Willy and why his mental state is so amiss.

Another contradiction within the play thus far is the character, Happy’s, name. The reader would think that someone with the name of “Happy” would be joyous and content with one’s life; however, Happy is unstable with the life he is living thus far. Although Happy has a nice job, he doesn’t enjoy what he does, and only finds peace in sleeping around with women. Happy has gone as far as sleeping with a girl that is “engaged to be married in five weeks.” Although Happy feels “disgust” with himself, he also gains satisfaction , as if it is a sort of “competition” and Happy has won and overachieved what the “vice president” has accomplished.

Happy’s brother, Biff, also does not feel satisfaction from his life. No matter the job Biff has, he has not felt content with his accomplishments. Thus far, the story has been a constant struggle with self happiness and achievement.

*Tale of Two Cities--Week Seven.

The ending of Tale of Two Cities is somber, yet hopeful for a rejuvenation of the upcoming years post-Revolution. The character of Sydney Carton has evolved immensly throughout the course of the story that Carton is now viewed of as a Christ-like figure. The selfless act of Carton tricking Darnay into exchanging clothing so Darnay’s appearance resembles Carton so Darnay can be freed is an incredible endeavor, which honors Carton as a Christ figure. The seamstress that holds Carton’s hands and is executed right before him, claims that Carton was “sent to [her] by Heaven.” In comparison with Jesus, who died so that all of us could live, Carton conveys the same selfless act for not only Darnay, but for all the others. Carton is the true “Resurrection” and “Life” of the story, for whoever “liveth and believeth in [him] shall never die.” Before Carton’s death, he sees a “child upon [Lucie’s] bosom who bore [his] name” along with a peaceful world for his family, in remembrance of him. Carton went from “Jackal” to a well rounded and true hero of the story.

As for Madame Defarge, the reader discovers the stem of her true hatred toward the wealthy, upper-class society. Madame Defarge was the sister of the woman the Marquis raped, and the sister and daughter of the boy and the man that was killed by the Marquis. The “basin” that “fell to the ground broken” as water “flowed to the feet of Madame Defarge” symbolizes and foreshadows the fate of Madame Defarge, all due to the “staining blood” on her “feet” that had brought her there. The reader could say that karma happened to Madame Defarge, as she was shot by Miss Pross. The shooting and death of Madame Defarge along with the serene death and acceptance that Carton had towards the ending of his life symbolizes the ending of the Revolution, and a rebuilding era for the people of France.

Although the Revolution proved brutal and inhumane for the country of France, the characters symbolized rejuvenation that the Revolution provided the country. Many characters transformed throughout the novel, due to the Revolution. Jerry Cruncher realized the consequences and transgression of the job he was associated with, and discovered the art of praying and its importance. Sydney Carton flourished from a character of somnolence to a Christ like character who gave his life so the woman he loved could be with the man she loved. John Barsad, also known as Solomon Pross, realized his wrongdoings as a spy, and helped free Darnay, and also went along with Carton’s plan to help Darnay and Lucie live a happy life. Through the evolution of the characters, Dickens manifests that the wretchedness of a country’s barbaric actions can lead to an era of rebuilding to better the country as a whole.

*Tale of Two Cities--Week Six.Day3.

Previously in A Tale of Two Cities, the character of Sydney Carton was viewed as a “Jackal”—a lazy drunk. As the story progresses and Carton enters the city of Paris, the reader begins to see a metamorphosis in Sydney Carton. In Paris, Carton does whatever possible to make Lucie Manette happy, which means that Carton must help free Darnay. When comforting Darnay’s friends and families, the characters notice a “true feeling and respect” in both Carton’s “tone and in his touch” that the neither the characters nor the reader “had never seen the better side of.” The repetition of the phrase “I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die” relates back to the motif of “Recalled to Life.” The reader discovers that the true resurrection man within the story is not Jerry Cruncher, but is Sydney Carton. While walking, Carton spots an “eddy that turned purposeless, until the stream absorbed it, and carried it onto the sea” a metaphor that depicts Carton’s life thus far. Until Carton find a true purpose in his life, he was simply a “purposeless eddy”, however, Lucie gave Carton a purpose and a reason to try with life. As the phrase “echoes” in Carton’s mind, the realization appears to Carton that he is Darnay’s last hope, and also Lucie’s last hope.

The reader discovers a shocking clue within the upcoming chapter about Charles’s family. A note that Dr. Manette wrote back in the 1750’s reveals secrets about the Evremondes. Charles’s father, the Marquis at the time, wished to be with a woman that was a peasant for the Evremonde’s. The woman was already married, so the Marquis murdered her husband. The woman’s brother reported the event to the woman’s father, who died shortly after. Marquis then killed the woman’s brother, which is why the woman repeats “My husband, my father, and my brother!” The Marquis then raped the innocent woman. At the end of Dr. Manette’s letter, he wrote that all of the Evremonde’s family heritage should be executed. The Marquis then put Dr. Manette in prison for writing the letter and knowing too much about the family. That is why Dr. Manette was in prison and that is why Charles Darnay is going to be executed.

*Tale of Two Cities--Week Six.Day2.

Healthier than ever, the reader is pleased to find that Dr. Manette has strangely not relapsed back into shoe making, even though memories have reoccurred as Dr. Manette has relived experiences in the Bastille. Dr. Manette is no longer “One Hundred and Five, North Tower” anymore after the accomplishment of the “task he had set himself.” All it took to free Dr. Manette of his imprisonment was to redeem his promise of saving Charles, and prove to his family that they could “lean upon him.” Dr. Manette’s triumph freed himself of captivity, but what will happen to Dr. Manette now that Charles has been returned back into the “tribunal”? If Dr. Manette cannot prove Charles innocent, will Dr. Manette relapse again?

Just as soon as Charles was released from prison, he was charged and was forced to be put into prison again. The footsteps that Lucie had heard previously in the book, foreshadowed this very moment when she again heard “strange feet upon the stairs” and “four rough men in red caps” enter the room and take Charles. Charles has been accused by the Defarge’s and one other man, whom the men are not allowed to disclose until the next day at the tribunal. However, later on in the story, Miss Pross surprisingly stumbles upon her son, Solomon! However, Solomon Pross is not the man he claims to be.

It was not until Mr. Cruncher spoke up from remembering Solomon by the name of John that we discover that Solomon is now who he says he is. When Sydney Carton unpredictably enters the story again, Mr. Carton recognizes the man by the alias of John Barsad- a man the reader previously met in the story as the man who attempted to put Charles Darnay in jail for treason, and also who Madame Defarge knitted on her registry because John Barsad is a spy. The reader then discovers, from Jerry Cruncher, that Roger Cly, the man that Jerry Cruncher previously attempted to dig up but found only “paving stones and earth” in Cly’s coffin, faked his own death! Because of Carton’s wit, he played the “right cards” and now has John Barsad on his side to help get Charles out of prison.

The reader knows that the Defarge’s were two of the three people that accused Charles the third time, but there was one other character who aided. Was the character that helped the Defarges Barsad so that he could be redeemed and get his name off of Madame Defarge’s registry? If so, will Barsad keep his agreement with Carton and help Charles?

The reader grasps the theme of “doubles,” as thus far five different characters have pretended to be something they are not. The first encounter was Jerry Cruncher, when the reader learned the man’s true “business.” The second man is Charles Darnay, when the reader discovers the true name of Charles’s last name as Evremonde who has hid his true identity for the sake of himself and his family. The third character is Solomon, who the reader more specifically correlates as John Barsad- a spy. The fourth character is Roger Cly, who faked his own death to save himself from being murdered for being a spy. The final character(s) are Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay. Carton freed Charles once from being imprisoned because of the identical physical resemblance the two men share. Although Carton has not pretended to be anyone else thus far, the reader can predict that Carton will pose as Darnay within the upcoming chapters to save his life. After all, Carton will “sacrifice his life” for the happiness of Lucie Manette.

*Tale of Two Cities--Week Six.Day1.

Book Three is when the violence begins to strike and affect France in terms of the Revolution that has begun. The imagery used by Dickens aids in insight that the reader gains of what happened during the time period of the Revolution and the brutality that took place. Many people throughout the world can relate to the importance of the cross and the symbolism and effect that the cross instills on people. However, back in the Revolutionary time period, a new symbol began to take over. The Guillotine soon became a “sign of regeneration” for the “human race” as the Guillotine took the place of the once sacred cross. Society viewed the Guillotine as a light hearted joke, “jesting” that it was the “best cure for a headache” as it was the “National Razor which shaved close” and prevented “hair from turning grey.” Dickens personifies the guillotine, as if it has taken place of the King and overruled the country. Constantly catering to “slave her devouring thirst,” the Guillotine As the cross was refurbished into a new symbol of torture and violence, the country began in a transformation of sadism.

The once, pure white snow that softly covered the ground was soon reddened with “the prevailing Republican colour” as the revolutionaries marched the ground in their “red-caps” and brought the prisoners to the guillotine. The stain of the red clothing garments soon turned to a “deeper dye” with blood from the victims of the treacherous guillotine.

As if Madame Defarge needed any more of an eerie tone to her, Dickens uses Madame Defarge as a threat to Lucie and her child. When first meeting Lucie, Madame Defarge pointed her “knitting-needle at little lucie” as if it were the “finger of Fate.” Personifying “Fate,” Dickens conveys that Madame Defarge holds the fate of the country within herself-she controls who lives and who dies. With one stitch of a needle, Madame Defarge has the power to control the Fate of all the people around her. The “shadow” that Madame Defarge’s silhouette casts down upon Little Lucie that falls “threatening and dark” foreshadows the atrocity Madame Defarge has upon Lucie and her family. Even though Charles Evremond (Darnay) has been “acquitted,” Madame Defarge’s “shadow” proves that an event may occur later on, and that Charles and his family are not free from Madame Defarge.

*Tale of Two Cities--Week Five.

“Echoing Footsteps “is the motif in Chapter 21, in which Lucie consistently hears throughout the days. The resonance of the footsteps “upset” Lucie, as she is caught between “fluttering hopes and doubts.” Within the footsteps, Lucie hears the “sound of footsteps at her own early grave” as sadness is all the echo of the footsteps brought her. The footsteps that Lucie hears foreshadows the soon coming Revolution, footsteps that are “not easily made clean if once stained red” with blood, which the reader is introduced to in the following chapter.

The reader sees that all of the turmoil and Revolution stems from the Defarge’s wine shop. They all meet at “Defarge’s wine-shop” where Defarge was already “begrimed with gunpowder and sweat” as he “issued arms” out to people to begin war. The secret symbol for the Jacques is a “red-cap” which the reader sees in chapter 1 of book 3 when Darnay is imprisoned by the people in the red-caps and is sentenced to be kept “in secret” which means that Darnay will be isolated in a prison cell just as Dr. Manette was.

Lucie’s child, Lucie Jr., shows aspects of Lucie and her father Darnay, in that she speaks the “Two Cities of her life.” Speaking English from Lucie, and the French of Darnay—the part that Darnay’s family does not know of. Perhaps further on in the reading, Lucie Jr. will be forced to choose her father’s heritage or her mothers. Or perhaps Lucie will be a symbol that England and France can intermix and be created into one.

As the Revolution begins, the reader is introduced to a new character, “The Vengeance” who is Madame Defarge’s “lieutenant.” The Lady’s name epitomizes what the Jacques are about- “inflicting injury, harm, humiliation, and revenge.”

Chapter 22 embodies the violence during the late 1700’s. The sadistic pleasure that the Defarge’s and the others feel from the “hanging,” “beating,” and “murdering” of the wealthier population and the celebration of “dancing” that they feel portrays the unruliness of what the Jacques aim to accomplish. The irony in all of the killing is that the Jacques thought violence would better their own lives, yet they were all left with “children wailing and breadless,” empty “bakers’ shops,” and “scanty insufficient suppers.” However, the work that the Jacques accomplished made the “human fellowship” infuse some “nourishment into the flinty viands” which produced “sparks of cheerfulness” within the people. The people thrived on violence as their source of “nourishment.”

*Tale of Two Cities--Week Four.

As the reader proceeds in A Tale of Two Cities, the reader is again introduced into foreshadowing of the upcoming Revolution. In the beginning of “Knitting”, people enter the Defarge’s wine shop and view people as they perform tedious activities such as “card games”, drawing “figures on the tables with spilt drops of wine,” and “dominoes.” Dickens uses the simplicity of pastimes within the wine shop to foreshadow the upcoming Revolution. The “towers” of “dominoes” symbolizes the building up of the country, only to see a chain reaction of the country fall and crumble piece by piece. Also the “figures on the tables” drawn from “spilt drops of wine” foreshadow the blood that will soon be painted on the country.

Gaspard, brutally executed by “soldiers” and “workmen” who gladly built a “gallows forty feet high”, was hung above the fountain, “poisoning the water.” Previously in the book, the fountain symbolized purity and the fate of the people as the fountain “ran” the “day ran into evening, so much life in the city ran into death” symbolizing how the fountain was a token of fate for the people. However, after Gaspard was hung and the fountain was stained with crimson blood, the fountain now symbolizes the impureness and vindictiveness that was exhibited during the time period along with the fate that will soon become of the people- violence and war.

Previously in the book, the mention of stone faces was seen in the Marquis home. In chapter 16, the reader again sees imagery of the stone figures. This time, the people who pass by the stone figures see that the “expressions” have been “altered.” It was said that when the Marquis was struck with the knife, the faces changed from “faces of pride” to faces of “anger and pain.” Also, when the “tall man” was hauled up “forty feet above the fountain” the stone faces transformed again, and bore “a cruel look of being avenged.” The stone figure by the bedroom where the Marquis was killed, now mysteriously has “two fine dints” chiseled into the “sculptured nose.” The stone faces on the Chateau symbolize the people that have experienced death by the Jacques, and are now “stone” as they look upon the town. Although the Marquis had a “stone” personality- one lacking compassion and altruism, the people metaphorically turning into stone also symbolizes the personality of the Jacques that killed the Marquis.

“Judiciously show a cat milk, if you wish her to thirst for it. Judiciously show a dog his natural prey, if you wish him to bring it down one day” a metaphor used by Dickens to portray how the Defarge’s wish for the Mender of Roads to become a part of the Jacques. If the Defarge’s let the Mender of Roads meet the King and Queen and see what they are truly like, he will wish to “hunt” them down with the Jacques. Madame Defarge then asks the Mender of Roads questions, as to if he were “shown a great heap of dolls”, if he would “pick out the richest and gayest” and if “shown a flock of birds” the Mender of Roads admitted he would “set upon the birds of the finest feathers” conveying how the Mender of Roads will fit in perfectly with the Jacques, as he is willingly to execute the richest and finest items if he was given the choice.

Knitting has been a recurring motif throughout the story, and in chapter 15, the reader finally begins to discover the true meaning of Madame Defarge’s stealthy habit. The knitting that Madame Defarge does is a “registry” of names that is “doomed to destruction.” All of the names that Madame Defarge knits includes people from “the chateau and all the race” along with all of the “spies” that are against the Jacques. When John Barsad, a spy, enters the wine shop, Madame Defarge knits his name upon her registry, foreshadowing the killing of John Barsad, along with the others sewn upon the registry. The cruel needlework of Madame Defarge conveys the treacherous outcome of her adversaries as she knits their fate. Ironically, Madame Defarge says that she knits “shrouds” a garment that dead people are buried in.

Imagery is used in chapter 16 to equate flies to the people of the country. The “heaps of flies” that were “extending their inquisitive and adventurous perquisitions into all the glutinous little glasses near Madame, fell dead at the bottom." The “decease made no impression on the other flies” who looked at the other flies “in the coolest manner until they met the same fate” those flies being the nobility of the human race, who are “oblivious” and do not concern themselves with the pain of others, until they, too, “meet the same fate.”

Confident that the Jacques will have an impact on the country, Madame Defarge reassures Mr. Defarge by metaphorically comparing their task to that of an earthquake. Although it takes “a long time” for an earthquake to form, when an earthquake is ready, it “grinds to pieces everything before it” its strike is vengeful, and so will the Jacques when the Revolution finally breaks out.

*Tale of Two Cities--Week Three.

In the preface of “Monseigneur in the Country,” the reader is divulged into imagery of a desolate countryside, deplete of vegetation. The repetition of “poor patches” of vegetation reinforces the image of the lack of food the country faces. to reiterate the poor conditions the people face, Dickens then depicts the “crimson” glow of the sun upon “the occupant”, the Marquis. The red glow upon the Marquis foreshadows the upcoming war, along with the cause of the war being the dichotomy between the “high breeding” and the “poor.” When the Marquis ran over a child, he tried to buy the child’s father’s forgiveness by simply throwing a “coin” at him. The instance of …. Is again shown when the Marquis comes upon a woman who “petitions” the Marquis to place a “morsel of stone or wood with [her] husband’s name” upon the “heap of grass” in which her husband is buried under, for each of the mounds of grass looks the same, and the woman cannot tell which mound of grass contains her husband. The indistinguishable “puffs of grass” symbolize how the wealthy viewed the less fortunate- each one the same, and not worthy of help, shown by the Marquis as he rode off in a “brisk trot” leaving the woman “far behind.”

The color red is spotted again, as the “water of the chateau fountain seemed to turn to blood” and the “stone faces” in the Marquis house “crimsoned.” The reference to red and “blood” not only foreshadows the war, but also the death of the Marquis. One could say that karma strikes the Marquis, as he is found dead. A reference to “stone faces” is mentioned multiple times in “Gorgon’s Head” which symbolizes the “stone” personality of the Marquis towards others, and what the Marquis ultimately turns into.

When Charles Darnay, the Marquis nephew, enters into his home, Darnay decides that when the home is renounced to him, he will “abandon it” and live “otherwise and elsewhere.” Darnay, unlike the Marquis, understands the true value of wealth, and understands it is not associated with money. Darnay finds the home to be a “crumbling tower of waste, mismanagement, extortion, debt, mortgage, oppression, hunger, nakedness, and suffering” – the opposite of what most would correlate with a wealthy home. Darnay believes in “labour” rather than “gold” and “beds of roses” to prosper. Does Darnay truly have strong morals or is there an alternative reason for him giving up his inheritance, perhaps Miss Manette?

Ending the chapter, the Marquis, referred to as a “stone figure”, was a “knife” driven “into the heart.” Upon the knife, was a “frill of paper” in which a note was scrawled, “Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques.” The reader assumes that perhaps Darnay is a member of “Jacques”, who killed the Marquis, which foreshadows the upcoming war, brought upon by the members of “Jacques.”

Not only has the reader found out the nexus between Charles Darnay and his association with Jacques and the Marquis, but now the reader unearths the discovery that Charles Darnay is not his real name. When Charles tries to tell Dr. Manette his real name, Dr. Manette gets weird acting, like previously when the word “DIG” is brought up. When Lucie comes home, Dr. Manette and herself “walked up and down together for a long time” and later found all of Dr. Manette’s “shoemaking tools” out, which means that Dr. Manette had another relapse of his previous state of mind.

As the love triangle between Lucie, Carton, Stryver, and Darnay becomes more convoluted, the reader gains more knowledge of Lucie’s personality. Lucie’s main mission in the book thus far was to aid in the recovery of her father and “recall him to life.” The motif is again used in chapter 13, “The Fellow of No Delicacy” when Lucie must “recall” Carton back “to life.” As the motif was originally meant to denote the “business” that the men were in such as digging up bodies for money, the motif now takes on a different meaning. Perhaps Lucie is a character that must “recall” characters back to life, from the doubts and regret the characters have in their life.

The title of chapter 14, “The Honest Tradesman,” is ironic due to the fact that the reader finally discovers the true business that Jerry Cruncher is involved with. Thus far, the novel has been replete with foreshadowing of what Jerry Cruncher’s true business association is. When Jerry’s son follows Mr. Cruncher and three other men out during the night, the reader discovers that the men “dug” up bodies from the ground. Returning home, “Young Jerry” then asks Mr. Cruncher what a “Resurrection-Man” is, and what one does. Mr. Cruncher replies saying that they deal with “scientific goods” foreshadowing the true business of Mr. Cruncher- which is “digging” up people’s bodies and selling them to science for money. One mystery that still remains is who are the three men with Mr. Cruncher?

*Tale of Two Cities--Week Two.

As a Tale of Two Cities progresses, more secrets, clues, and mysteries begin to unravel. Commencing the plot of this week’s reading in a court room, a man named Charles Darnay is accused of treason in that he supposedly administered information from the English King onto the French King. Being a witness, both Miss Manette and Mr. Manette along with Mr. Lorry were questioned, and said that both had seen Mr. Darnay on the train. Was Mr. Darnay one of the passengers that was in the train in chapter one?

The court room provided a sort of “entertainment” for the town, as if it were a “play in the Old Bailey.” The violence and inhumanness that the town portrays is depicted through the description and imagery that Dickens uses when exemplifying the personality the people have towards court cases. Not only do the court cases serve as entertainment, but if the suspect was found innocent, or if there was any chance that the suspect “stood in peril of a less horrible sentence,” the onlookers lost interest. Each person was only there for the “ogreish” sentence to see someone “butchered and torn asunder.” Violence and the slaughter of mankind was a pastime, so to speak, for the English people, again reiterating the harsh crime and punishment which led England into a revolution.

Dickens expresses his opinion of the sadistic English behavior upon criminals with a “disease” that occurs within the courtroom. The diseases were claimed to have “came into the court with the prisoners” and affected the “Lord Chief Justice himself.” The whole courtroom was a “disease” along with the people in it- a contagious “morbid condition of the mind” that consisted of the pleasure society felt from the vulgar treatment—as if the “entertainment” the people had towards it fueled the disease as it soon started infecting everyone.

Continuing on, Darnay is found “acquitted” which is where chapter three gets its title “Disappointment”; disappointment that the “ogreish” society does not get to see someone be “quartered”, “butchered”, or torn apart, the people then had to go on as “baffled blue flies dispersing in search of other carrion.” One man testifying, Roger Cly, who had worked for Darnay, and also the other witness testifying had known Darnay, but was “merely a coincidence”, and not a “peculiar coincidence.” The obviousness the two men portray oddly represents mysteriousness- as if the two men worked with Darnay in whatever scheme he was a part of.

The reader soon starts speculating whether another man is in on Darnay’s plans, as the character of Sydney Carton is introduced. Sydney makes unusual comments such as “it’s not so long ago since you were pretty far advanced on your way to another “making it sound as if Carton has a part in Darnay’s past such as saving him from getting the death sentence previously. At the end of chapter 4, Carton speaks to himself in a mirror, pondering whether he is envious of Darnay since he reminds Carton of what he has “fallen away from, what [he] might have been!” The very last sentence creates an image of Carton with his “hair straggling over the table” and a “long winding-sheet in the candle dripping down upon him.” The winding sheet signifies the “death” that Carton feels towards himself, being unhappy with the choices he has made in his life and where he has ended up.

In Chapter 5, Sydney Carton is referred to as a “Jackal,” which refers to “a person who performs dishonest or base deeds as the follower or accomplice of another” (dictionary.com). The importance of Carton being referred to as a jackal belittles Carton’s reputation, illustrating how Carton caters to the wants of Mr. Stryver, a “lion.” Mr. Stryver being a “lion” attributes to the power that he obtains over Carton.

The “business” that Mr. Lorry always speaks of multiple times begins to make the reader wonder if perhaps he is covering up for alternative matters that he is involved with, especially in chapter 6. Mr. Lorry speaks of having “business” with Doctor Manette “many years ago.” In the middle of the night, the business that Dr. Manette was a part of is haunts him, for he “gets up in the dead of night” and will “walk up and down” in his room. The repetition of “walking up and down” adds effect to the anxiousness that Dr. Manette exhibits. The reader then unearths the discovery of the word “DIG” engraved upon a jail cell, in which the mere discussion of this makes Mr. Manette uncomfortable. Does Mr. Manette have something to do with the word inscribed upon the wall? Does the “business” spoken of from Mr. Lorry deal with more than what he is letting on?

In the conclusion of chapter 6, the reader understands a deeper meaning of the title “Hundreds of People.” As the “rain drops” fell, “large” and “heavy,” the drops sounded like “a multitude of people” that were “in a great hurry in the streets speeding away to get shelter before the storm broke.” Being that no one was truly there, the rain sounding like people scrambling about symbolizes the upcoming war. The question asked if the “footsteps destined to come to all of us, or are [they] to divide them among [themselves]” and the last sentence of depicting how the men might “see the great crowd of people with its rush and roar bearing upon them” makes the reader wonder if perhaps the war is because of this group of people? A remark was then made by Mr. Lorry that the night could have brought “the dead out of their graves” an evident foreshadowing and clue into the true “business” the men perform.

*Tale of Two Cities--Week One

Before one begins reading Tale of Two Cities, By Charles Dickens, one must first have an understanding of what was going on pre-French Revolution. Before the French Revolution, the country of France was in a period where monarchy had corrupted which caused social and political upheaval. At the time, Louis XVI was king, but had run into a financial crisis, which weakened much of France. France “rolled with exceeding smoothness downhill” when it came to spending money, and also practicing inhumane treatments such as “sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off, his tongue torn out with pincers, and his body burned alive.” England, on the other hand, also could not “justify much national boasting” as “burglaries took place in the capital itself every night.”

With knowledge of the hardships of the two countries, the reader is introduced with a contradictory statement “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” the first ten lines of the story provide insight that even though there is “wisdom,” there is also “foolishness.” Although a country has “hope,” a country will also be filled with times of “despair.” Also, in times of “light”, comes times of “darkness.” Dickenson, through the technique of poetic lines and repetition, shows the dichotomy that each country, along with good times, will experience times of hardship.

To aid in the eerie tone of the novel, Dickenson creates an image with “steaming mist” that covers the air “like an evil spirit” that was “dense enough to shut out everything from the light.” The darkness that Dickenson creates adds to the tone and adds to the element of a gothic novel. In chapter three, Mr. Lorry depicts a town with “darkly clustered houses” in which each house and person encloses its own “secrets” and “mysteries.” Lorry also speaks of death and the mystery that goes along with death, again contributing to that of a gothic novel.

In chapter five, the reader is brought into a town in Paris on a “narrow street” where “red wine” had spilt and “stained the ground.” Being of a poor town, each person stopped in the midst of what he or she was doing to drink the spilt wine off of the ground. The frantic scurry for tasting a single drop of wine not only contributes to the poverty stricken tone of France, but the wine itself shows symbolism. The wine being “red” contributes to a connotation of blood, which adds effect to the turmoil that France is dealing with before the French Revolution, as the “time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones” foreshadowing the war that France is soon to encounter, in which “the stain of it would be red upon many there.”

Another clue to the foreshadowing of the war and also to add to the tone of an unprosperous community, is in the town on each shops there were merely “grim illustrations of Want.” The diction of “Want” being capitalized shows how important “wants” are to the people and how badly the people wished for more than what each obtained.

Also in chapter 5, when Mr. Lorry and Miss Monette enter the wine shop and men are speaking to the owner, Monsieur Defarge, the men refer to each other as “Jacques.” Jacques Necker was a French statesman who helped with finances while Louis XVI was king, during the time that this book took place. Jacques is known as being an affluent man during this time period, and would have became controller of finances if he was not protestant. However, because of his affluent reputation, the men referring to each other by “Jacques” shows how each of the men think they are of higher standards and more prosperous than others in the community.

In chapter 3, Mr. Lorry dreams of a “white haired man” who had died and been buried, and it was Mr. Lorry’s duty to dig the man out. The reader learns later on that Mr. Manette has white hair, and is in a condition much like the man that Mr. Lorry dreamt of, which makes the reader wonder if perhaps the man in the dream is Mr. Manette. The girl that is referred to in the dream must be Miss Manette, Mr. Manette’s daughter. The idea is confirmed more so later on when the real life meeting of Mr. Manette and Miss Manette happens much like Mr. Lorry’s dream, where Mr. Manette is confused as to who his daughter is. Lorry then feels as if he has to “dig” the man out, foreshadowing that Lorry feels as if it is his duty to help Mr. Manette “dig” him out of the emotional state he is in.

Repetition is used many times throughout the reading thus far, which aids in the ability for the reader to see the problems in both countries. The first occurrence of repetition the reader sees, is of the word “now” followed by problems in the country such as “hanging up criminals” and “burning people…by the dozen.” In Chapter three, “digging” is seen multiple times in Mr. Lorry’s dream to metaphorically show how Mr. Lorry must “dig” for the truth. The phrase “worse than useless” is used later on in the story, which again adds to the negative events taking place during this time.