Necessity Of Sacrifice In A Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens

The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel in which sacrifice and violence are prominent themes. In a Tale of Two Cities, the necessity of sacrifice is a common theme woven throughout the novel.  This is noticeable when a man gives up love, a woman loses her hearing to protect those she loves, and another person dies so that a family can be happy. The idea of giving something up is shown when a man gives up his love so the person he loved would not be dragged to his level.

To begin, sacrifice was shown when Sydney Carton gave up love . Sydney Carton knew that if he married Lucie Manette,the woman that he loved, he would only push her down to his level so at the end of his confession he said, “ I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you”(117) . In the story Carton was always seen drinking and never really cared about anything. He knew that if he married Lucie nothing good would come out of the marriage and she would have a happier life if she did not marry him. So decided to give up his love.  That was how sacrifice was with Carton. This is not the only scene that sacrifice and showing it's also shown when a woman loses her hearing to protect the people she loves.

To start,sacrifice was illustrated when Miss Pross loses her hearing to protect the people she loves. Miss Pross was fighting Madame Defarge, and it started getting more intense, Miss Pross said, “I'll hold you to one or other of us faints or dies”(287). Madame Defarge was at the apartment where the Manette lived to collect evidence that the Manette's were with Evremonde , Convicted for being against the Republic, but the Manette were leaving France and it would be dangerous if somebody found out and they started arguing . They had a language barrier, Madame Defarge cannot speak English and Miss Pross could not speak French and they both got frustrated, and they started fighting. At the height of the fight Madame Defarge got angry and  pulled a gun but instead of the bullet hitting Miss Pross it had hit her and Miss Pross ended up losing her not hearing.Miss Pross perfectly illustrated the sacrifice in this way. However, another example of sacrifice is when a man is killed so that his friends would be happy.

In fact, sacrifice was illustrated when Sydney Carton died so the people he loves could be happy and live. As Carton was about to get guillotined his last words were , “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” ( pg 293). Evremonde was meant to be guillotined that day but Carton wanted Lucie  to be happy and live a  good life. So he tricked Evremonde into switching clothes with him and instead of Evremonde dying Carton ended up dying. Carton looked like Evremonde so nobody would notice at the execution that it was not Evremonde. As Carton died the Manette , Miss Pross, Evremonde, and Mr. Cruncher were able to leave french without anybody noticing .That's  why Carton was the example of selflessness.

Finally, In a Tale of Two Cities, the necessity of sacrifice is a common theme woven throughout the novel. The three distinct moments when Carton gave up love not to push Lucie  b,l , 98down to his level , when Miss Pross lost her hearing to save the Manette , and when Carton died to let Lucie be happy with Evremonde.  It is clear from the three moments that sacrifice is a theme in the book. But what other moments were shown in A Tale of Two Cities?