Scrutinizing Oppression in A Tale of Two Cities and Hong Kong Essay Sample

📌Category: A Tale Of Two Cities, Books, China, World
📌Words: 645
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 13 June 2022

In both Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities (1989) and the Hong Kong protests, oppression is shown as a driving factor for profound societal transformation. Although one is a novel and the other is a historical account, both show how the government may be corrupt in how it treats its citizens. The revolt in A Tale of Two Cities was ignited by the wealthy's harshness towards the lower classes, but the protests in Hong Kong were sparked by the Chinese government's determination to strip people of their rights. Citizens in both situations, however, wanted their needs to be heard and the public to be informed about what was going on. Largely, both A Tale of Two Cities and the Hong Kong uprisings demonstrate how recognition of mistreatment fuels societal development.

The lower class in A Tale of Two Cities recognizes they are being starved and robbed for the prosperity and well-being of the proletariat, and this realization of injustice ignites a fire of hatred and vengeance within the lower class, propelling them into a bloody revolution against the wealthy. Simply, the French Revolution was a struggle between those who had everything and those who possessed nothing. Furthermore, as the lower classes rebelled, they sought vengeance on the French proletariat by bringing them to the guillotine and publicly humiliating them after death, as they "held him, and his head was soon upon a pike, with grass enough in the mouth for all Saint Antoine to dance at the sight of," which shows the lower class uses their death as a form of mockery towards the wealthy (Dickens 227). The lower class seeks payback on the upper class since they have been treated badly, living in poverty, while the wealthy dwell in luxury. To elaborate, the proletariat sparked the revolt by using their wealth to exert influence over all elements of the French government; if they had not used their power, "there could have been no such Revolution, if all laws, forms, and ceremonies had not first been so monstrously abused" and if they had treated citizens more fairly, for example, by helping them out of poverty, they may not have had a vengeance against them. In conclusion, the French Revolution was largely sparked by the awareness that the lower classes were oppressed, prompting them to fight for social change.

The Hongkongers swiftly began to protest after understanding their time of freedom was quickly running out, demonstrating how knowledge of oppression spurs social change. Alex Ward, POLITICO's National Security Reporter, argues that the Chinese government is tightening rules in Hong Kong, including a bill that “applies retroactively, meaning thousands of people who may have angered mainland China with a supposed past crime could be at risk of facing trial in mainland China” (n.p.). Due to China's dictatorial government, Hongkongers may be treated harshly and unfairly for speaking out against them as a result of the passage of this bill. Furthermore, as soon as the bill continued moving forward, Hongkongers rushed to the streets to protest the oppression they had been subjected to and to strive for social reform. Carrie Lam, the lawmaker who introduced the bill, indicated through demonstrations that she would postpone it, but according to Christina Thornell et al., an alumnus of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Hongkongers “are not accepting the suspension, however, and have started demanding its withdrawal"(n.p.). Despite the fact that the bill has been postponed, Hong Kong residents continue to campaign for complete judicial system independence from China. Hongkongers have used their injustice to show that it can be a powerful motivator for social change.

When oppression is faced, like in A Tale of Two Cities and the Hong Kong uprisings, it fuels the fire of social reform. These are two examples of facing our issues head-on rather than being intimidated by them. Furthermore, there will never be a solution to the issue if we always run away from the difficulties that confront us. Rather than allowing injustice to bring us down, these teach us to stand up for what we believe in and to work for social change. Largely, as both of these examples show, acknowledging our oppression may be a tremendous drive for environmental reform.

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