In chapter 16, Madame Defarge registers John Barsad as one of the men marked for death. Since John Barsad is not a part of the Jacques, she thinks that he is a spy and warns the customers of the wine shop of the spy by placing a rose on her bonnet. As she did this "the customers ceased talking, and began gradually to drop out of the wine shop. Also within the wine shop, "heaps of flies, who were extending their inquisitive and adventurous perquisitions into all the glutinous little glasses near madame, fell dead at the bottom. Their decease made no impression on the other flies out promenading, who looked at them in the coolest manner, until they met the same fate." Why did no one care that dead flies were landing in the glasses? Were they living that low of a standard of life that it didn't matter? I think that the flies dieing as they were is foreshadowing the many deaths that will occur in the near future during the French Revolution.
A customer of the wine shop compliments Madame Defarge on her knitting. "Decidedly. May one ask what it is for?" By this it seems that the customer is very well mannered, and, unlike others residing in the area, has good grammmar. She replies, "Pasttime." I don't think that this is completely true. She may knit as a pasttime, but I also think that she knits as a symbol of her hatred, her hatred of the government and, as it is shown earlier, spies.
In chapter 17, Lucie and her father spent time together. They sat together under a tree. Lucie says, "You are happy, my dear father?" Her father replies, "Quite, my child." I don't necessarily believe him because I don't think that any father is happy the night before their daughter is going to get married. Doesn't every father feel like they are losing their daughter, their little girl when they walk them down the aisle? I don't think that Lucie completely believes him either, that is why she went to her father's room when he was sleeping. She was making sure that he was asleep and not shoe making because she knew that his shoe making was his way of making his mind more content when he was mentally stirred.
In chapter 18, Darnay reveals to Dr. Manette what his real name is and that he is going to be the new Marqui because the late Marqui was stabbed and died. "The door of the Doctor's room opened, and he came out with Charles Darnay. He was so deadly pale--which had not been the case when they went in together--that no vestige of colour was to be seen in his face." This portrays to the reader that Dr. Manette is disturbed by this news that Charles Darnay just revealed to him. I think that he thinks that since Darnay is the new Marqui, Darnay will be able to take his daughter away from him just as what happened many years earlier before he went to prison. Because of what Darnay said to Dr. Manette, he starts his shoemaking again which shows his disturbed conscience about it.
In chapter 19, the shoemaking equipment is destroyed with Dr. Manette's permission. Dr. Manette refers to the shoe making tools as "such an old companion." Mr. Lorry insists to Dr. Manette that he should get rid of it and not use it anymore. He is against the idea until Mr. Lorry says, "I would recommend him to sacrifice it. I only want your authority. I am sure it does no good. Come! Give me your authority, like a dear good man. For his daughter's sake, my dear Manette!" Dr. Manette then replies, "In her name, then, let it be done; I sanction it. But, I would not take it away while he was present. Let it be removed when he is not there; let him miss his old companion after an absence." This shows the reader how truly important and how much he loves his daughter, even though the reader should already know this. Why does Mr. Lorry go from saying "you" to saying "he" or "him?" It seems as if he gets them mixed up.
In chapter 20, the reader see the best side of Lucie and that she is able to forgive. Also, by somewhat pitying Carton, Darnay does not get jealous, instead he becomes more attracted to her by her goodness and her virtuous qualities. Lucie doesn't only pity Carton though, I think that she respects him also. She respects him because of his love for her and his being able to pronounce his love for her even though he knew he could never be with her. Most of all, she wants Darnay to be nice to Carton because Carton promised Lucie that he would do anything for her even if he never got to be with her. To me, that would attract me to the person who said that. It would create an internal conflict and possibly complicate Darnay and Lucie's relationship. Do you think that Lucie is having internal conflicts about what Carton said? Or do you think that she has merely accepted that he loves her and only wants to be close friends?
In the final chapter of this week, chapter 21, the revolt in the French Revolution begins. By this time, Lucie and Darnay have had a child of their own. So it was a few years later. The echoes as it says in the title of the chapter are the footsteps that can be heard and felt from Paris to London because they are so extreme and real. Also in this chapter, Defarge discovers something at 105 North Tower where Dr. Manette prison cell was located. I think that this discovery will be another turning point in the novel. This revelation will be one of the more major ones in the novel because I think that it is something that Dr. Manette didn't mean for anyone to see until at least after his death. He thought that he would be in the prison until his death, but obviously it was not true.
No comments:
Post a Comment