A Change of Fate in A Tale of Two Cities

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A Change of Fate in A Tale of Two Cities

Authors may use one character to instantaneously change the fate of another character. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities presents such situations through the characters Lucie Manette, Dr. Manette and Charles Darnay. Lucie, unaware of the existence of her supposedly dead father, Dr. Manette, suddenly discovers through Jarvis Lorry that her father still lives. Lucie learns of the optimistic plans to return her beloved father back to a healthy condition and her future involvement in her father's life. Dr. Manette, after 18 years of imprisonment and harsh treatment, experiences detrimental harm to his mental state and loses his ability to lead a normal life. However, Lorry reunites Dr. Manette with his daughter and travels with them to England in hopes of brightening Dr. Manette's future and improving his deteriorated condition. Later, Charles Darnay, a prisoner in England on trial for treason, receives an acquittal, barely escaping death. Darnay avoids a highly expected guilty verdict with the assistance of his defense lawyers, Mr. Stryver and Mr. Carton. By examining Lucie Manette, Dr. Manette and Charles Darnay, the reader comes to see that through the assistance and intervention of others, one's fate suddenly changes to benefit him.

Lucie Manette experiences a positive change of fate with the sudden intervention and assistance of Mr. Lorry. Lorry unexpectedly notifies Lucie of the existence of her father, as he describes his plans and her role in reviving Dr. Manette to a healthy state. "But he has been found. He is alive...Your father has been taken to the house of an old servant in Paris, and we are going there: I, to identify him if I can:...

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...tance of other characters. Mr. Lorry reunites Lucie with her father, Dr. Manette, brightening the future of both of them. Lucie, deprived of a father during childhood, suddenly discovers the existence of her father and her golden opportunity to bond with him. Dr. Manette, troubled by years of harsh treatment, begins his once unimaginable path to recovery. Later, Charles Darnay, a prisoner suspected of treason, avoids a highly expected guilty verdict with assistance of his lawyers, Stryver and Carton. Dickens masterfully depicts that one's fate can change at any instant to benefit him. Hopefully, such a sudden and beneficial change of fate will occur to people worldwide, especially to those living in a constant state of fear and violence.

Work Cited

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. The Oxford Illustrated Dickens. 1949. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987.

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