*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.