PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

****SPOILER ALERT****

"I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die!"

A Tale of Two Cities has become an icon of classic literature, unrequited love, and the perfect christological allegory. Despite Dickens writing with mostly flat, stereotypical characters; we see one character take on a completly dynamic role as he transforms from "Dissapointed drudge" to Christ-figure.

"They said of him, about the city that night, that it was the peacefullest man's face ever beheld there. Many added that he looked sublime and prophetic. One of the most remarkable sufferers by the same axe - a woman - had asked at the foot of the same scaffold, not long before, to be allowed to write down the thoughts that were inspiring her. If he had given any utterance to his, and they were prophetic, they would have been these:"

Being the first paragraph of the real "end" of the book, we find out what his words would have been to the seemstress who is also being executed. His words are described as "prophetic" and "inspiring".

"I see Barsad, and Cly, Defarge, The Vengeance, the Jurymen, the Judge, long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old, perishing by this retributive instrument, before it shall cease out of its present use. I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long, long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out."

Carton begins to reflect upon his life not only on those who have touched his life, but on this whose lives he has touched. He sees the fall of the "old" ways and the rise of a new "city". Which could be taken in the literal sense of the rise of France after the Revolution or perhaps the rise of the Kingdom of God that he will enter and bring upon the Manette/Darnay families. He notes the natural birth of this time, implying it too must die.

"I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. I see Her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name. I see her father, aged and bent, but otherwise restored, and faithful to all men in his healing office, and at peace; I see the good old man, so long their friend, in ten years' time enriching them with all he has, and passing tranquilly to his reward."

He begins to speak about those in which he is laying down his life for (Lucie, Little Lucie, Charles, Dr. Manette) and the peace that may be brought forth to not only them but to England, his home. He also speaks about a child who "bears his name" (Lucie will name her next child after Darnay). He speaks about Dr. Manette and his faithfulness to the goodness of humanity and he talks about Mr. Lorry as he is their friend and enriching the family with knowledge.

"I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done, lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honoured and held sacred in the other's soul, than I was in the souls of both."

He realizes that he will forever be in their hearts, held sacred that he has been fufiled. He sees them in their "earthly bed" (dead) and he knows that never will an act be more honored than that in which he will do. An act of love consemated by their love and sharing.

"I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, foremost of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place - then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement - and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice."

Finally, he sees the child who bears his name, living a life in which he could never live. A boy with golden hair like his mother's that was forever beloved by the world. He hears the boy telling the story of his sacrafice as it will live on forever. Charles Darnay never had purpose to his life, he was always a disapointed drudge, and in truth, he still is. He himself however endows his life with purpose in this final act of maryrdom. And I leave you with this..."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."