Essay #15

Cooper Feltes

English 9

Mr. Salsich

February 16, 2011

Unforgettable:

The Unforgettable Characters, Scenes, and Ideas in A Tale of Two Cities

The writing and style of A Tale of Two Cities create some of my favorite moments and techniques in literary history. Charles Dickens is such a professional writer, that in A Tale of Two Cities alone, there may be endless scenes or themes to cherish and applaud. The story itself, along with the themes and motifs, offers boundless moments of creative writing to call your favorite. My favorite unforgettable moments in the book, however many I enjoyed or appreciated, are whittled down to just a few.

One of the most memorable moments in this book was the emotion that the ending wrung from the towel of our souls. Sydney Carton sacrifices himself to save the husband of the woman he loves, and to let her live her life in peace and harmony. If I had only read the ending of the book, this action would have comparatively little meaning. However, when put together with the drama, former attitude, and previous personality of Sydney Carton, there is not a better way to show that a he has changed, and to create an unforgettable scene. Moreover, I think that the ending lines of the book are remarkable. These lines explain the peaceful death of this man who sacrificed his life, not only to save Darnay, but to save Lucie from the pain of being a widow as well. The lines perfectly describe this man whose life is ended without a bang, and who was willing to die for what he thought was the best thing to die for. Sydney Carton's legacy will never slither out of my memory.

The use of themes in this book surpasses that of any other book I have read. One of my particular favorite themes is colors. Over and over again, Dickens uses the color red to describe blood or wine, and, throughout the book, continues this analogy. Whenever there is a scene with blood, you will most likely see the word “red” and “wine” repeated. Another favorite theme of mine that I will never forget is the use of mist. Mist, in many scenes in the book, expresses mysteriousness of the situation. The many uses of mist and fog obscure the scene to make the reader think that something bad could happen at any time. This theme, along with many others, reoccur throughout the book to tie together loose ends, and bring the book in a circle.

There are many things in this book that I will never forget. From themes and motifs to characters and scenes, many ideas and situations are hard to let go from your brain. The drama and intense emotion of the book sticks to my mind like sap sticks to a tree, and is hard to pry apart. This book is certainly unforgettable in and of itself, but the many smaller ideas and scenes inside it will be in my mind until I die.

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Self Assessment. 

One of the troubles I had with this particular piece of writing was thinking of my favorite unforgettable moments in the book, for there were so many to choose from. I do like my paragraph, in particular, about Sydney Carton, for he was my favorite character in the book. I need to get better about not repeating my own ideas over and over again, which sounds redundant and takes away from the quality of the writing.

Personal grade: B