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Essay / A Tale of Two Cities: Resurrection Theme
Resurrection is a term often used to describe the rebirth of a person, not only after death, but often as a new person within their own lifetime . In A Tale of Two Cities, a novel written by the famous English author Charles Dickens, the idea that love and devotion leads to resurrection is demonstrated from beginning to end. Above all, it is clear that love has a huge impact on Dr. Manette, who starts out as a broken and haunted man. His daughter Lucie devotes her time and love to him, ensuring that he becomes the man he once was again. In addition to Dr. Manette, Jerry Cruncher finds himself resurrected from his life of grave robbing thanks to his love and devotion to the members of House Manette. Finally, we see how Sydney Carton's devoted love for Lucie leads him to her sacrifice, after which he is reborn into Lucie's son, Sydney Darnay. Each of these men is a perfect example of how love and devotion lead to resurrection. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayIn 1757, Dr. Alexandre Manette was arrested and held as a political prisoner in the Bastille, left to rot, knowing himself only as “A Hundred and Five, North Tower” (46). He is placed in solitary confinement where he goes crazy from lack of human contact, love and natural light. When he finally gets out of prison, the doctor is a troubled man who has turned to compulsive shoemaking to calm himself. When he and his daughter Lucie meet for the first time, her love for him has an instant physical impact on him, even if he is unaware that this young lady is actually his daughter. Doctor Manette “does not yet trust the tone of his voice, [while] she sits on the bench next to him. He steps back, but she puts her hand on his arm. A strange shudder hits him when she does and passes visibly over his body” (48). After being imprisoned for so long, Dr. Manette is not used to physical or emotional contact. In just a few minutes, Lucie shows her father that she loves him, and this already triggers a change in his behavior. At first, he doesn't know how to react when she sits next to him and he moves away from her. Unwilling to give up, Lucie makes light physical contact with him which makes him shiver involuntarily, demonstrating that Lucie's love incites a change in him. Lucie continues to speak with her father and eventually reveals that she is his daughter. She plans to return to England because she knows that staying in France, the country where the doctor was unjustly imprisoned, will do her no good. Lucy promises that she “will be faithful to him in all [her] duty and in all [her] faithful service” (50). Wanting the best for her father, Lucie devotes her life to her father's resurrection. She knows that this paranoid and damaged man is no longer who her father was and is ready to help him become the respected and well-known doctor he once was. Lucie builds them a house where they can both live, ensuring that “as simple as the furniture is, it [is] enhanced by so many little decorations, of no value except for their taste and their fantasy, that the effect was delicious (98). Lucie's dedication has created a warm atmosphere in which she and her father can live. After spending so much time in an isolated cell, coming home to a nice little house, like the one Lucie created, is good for the Doctor. spirits. Lucy's commitment to improving her father's health and mind ultimately leads to his resurrection, which we see occurred when "For the First Timethe Doctor felt, [], that his suffering was strength and power” (280). Doctor Manette has regained confidence and is once again recognized as a respected doctor. He realizes that he may be able to reward Lucie for her unconditional love by saving her husband from the guillotine. He says that “as [his] beloved child was useful in restoring [him] to [himself], he will now be useful in restoring to [him] the dearest part of herself” (280). This magnificent revelation affirms that Doctor Manette was truly “called back to life” (14) by the love and devotion of his daughter. Mr. Jerry Cruncher is introduced as a messenger from Tellson's bank, who receives the message "recalled to life" (14) from Jarvis Lorry. Almost immediately, Mr. Cruncher is recognized as being associated with the idea of resurrection. Mr. Cruncher is involved in the business of illegally selling bodies to doctors. Currently, there is no legal way to sell corpses to doctors or surgeons, and so he deserves the title of resurrection man. While Cruncher, Carton, Barsad and Lorry are at Tellson's bank, they discuss whether or not Roger Cly's funeral was a scene. While John Barsad, a spy, insists that he buried Mr. Cly himself, Jerry Cruncher admits to his past as a grave-digger when he accuses Barsad of "burying cobblestones and dirt in this coffin” (313). . As a result, Mr. Lorry becomes rather upset that Jerry has "used Tellson's respectable and large house as a blind man" (316) for his criminal behavior. Being a devoted friend of Mr. Lorry, Jerry suggests that he "go down the path of regular digging and repair what he would not have dug" (317). By offering to stop digging graves and become a regular digger from now on, Jerry Cruncher shows that his devotion to his good friend sparked his desire to resurrect himself. His promise to end illegal grave digging is an indication that Mr. Cruncher is ready to make a change for the better. He wants a better life for his son, that he wants to "keep his father's place and take care of his mother" (317), indicating that his devotion to his family is another reason for him to stop digging. graves. A final example of how love and devotion leads to Mr. Cruncher's resurrection occurs when the Darnays have escaped from France and he approaches Miss Pross. He asks her if she would do him a favor, and "take note of two promises and wow, what are my wishes to record in this crisis here" (373). The “first… [is] that these poor things got out of there. I will never, ever do it again! (374). Here, Mr. Cruncher promises Miss Pross that he will not dig any more graves, although she does not know what he is promising her not to do. The second promise he makes to her is: "Never again will [he] interfere with Mrs. Cruncher's flop, ever again!" » (374). Mr. Cruncher's two promises indicate that his love and devotion to the members of House Manette, as well as his love for his wife, convinces him to be a better man. Cruncher used to curse and yell at his wife for failing; accusing him of praying against their child. He now realizes that the way he reacted to his wife's failure was wrong and promises not to treat her that way again. Mr. Cruncher's primary association with the resurrection by being nicknamed "the resurrection man", and his own resurrection during his life, sparked by his love and devotion to his own family and the Manette family, prove that love leads to resurrection. While resurrection often occurs in a metaphorical sense, such as the idea of Dr. Manette being called back to life after being buried alive in a figurative sense,,.