A Tale of Two Cities starts off with very little information about plot, characters, or setting. You want to know who the characters are and what their stories are. You also want to know the setting and what is going on during this time so that you can understand why characters are making certain decisions. It takes a while to comprehend everything that is going on in the book, so when you begin, you have many questions.
One of the biggest questions that appears in the first several chapters of the book, is why Dickens chooses to repeat the idea of a man being buried for 18 years over and over again. Dickens, at least three times thus far in the book, has said: "'Buried how long?' 'Almost eighteen years.' 'I hope you care to live?' 'I can't say.'" There are several questions that come from these few sentences. You could ask: Who was buried? Why were they buried? And even, what does Dickens define being 'buried' as? Most of these questions, however, were answered rather quickly by the author. We find that Mr. Manette was the man who was buried, and that 'buried' actually means being in prison. As for why Mr. Manette was 'buried,' we have only been given slight hints, but we can form some ideas based on the information we do know.
Not only does the previous excerpt from the book raise many questions, but it evokes a kind of pain in the reader. Eighteen years is a long time, especially for someone to be in prison and away from their family. When asked, Mr. Manette said he wasn't sure if he wanted to live, which is a sad thing for anyone to hear. In these moments, it seems as though Dickens wants us to feel bad for Mr. Manette. I know i did.
I like how Dickens uses repetition to get his point across. I think it is really interesting and he does it more than once. The 18 years is important for many reasons but I think it is mainly so the reader knows what time this was all taking place, Lucie’s birth, her father’s arrest, and Mr. Lorry being in France. Dickens also uses repetition with the phrase “Recalled to Life” and he makes you focus on it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Katie. It is very unclear what Dickens is talking about in the beginning of this book when he discusses the man being buried for eighteen years. However, The questions I asked myself were, is he speaking figuratively? I could not tell if he was talking about a real person, or an inanimate object. Also, if he was speaking figuratively, the thing being buried could have been an idea, or something that wasn't material. When Dickens does make clear that the thing buried for eighteen years was Mr. Manette, I, too, was sad that he spent such a long time in isolation. Dickens was successful in evoking emotions out of me as well.
ReplyDelete-Alexis
Katie, I also had these questions in the early chapters of the book. I wonder, however, why Dickens decided to use the word "buried". I don't know why he wouldn't just say that Mr. Mannette was just imprisoned, or in jail. Maybe, the reason he used buried was because of why he was imprisoned, which we do not have much info about. The only thing it says is he was a political prisoner. Maybe later in the book it will greater describe why he was in prison and it will shed some light on why he used the word "buried".
ReplyDeleteMy question, Katie, is HOW did you make the inference that "buried" was figurative and not literal? For example, when you write, "We find that Mr. Manette was the man who was buried, and that 'buried' actually means being in prison . . ." how and when did you make the inference that it meant being in prison?
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