Family In A Tale Of Two Cities

Finally, the authors similarly use the division and reconciliation of family as synonymous with suffering and subsequent enlightenment respectively.
Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities places significant emphasis on family as it details the lives of the Manettes, Defarges and Evermondes. However, these stories are interwoven with the duel narrative of the amassing revolutionary forces insinuating that family comes from a shared ideal rather than shared genetics. The growing idea of fraternity was favoured by the Enlightenment Age of the 18th century, which saw a collective of like-minded thinkers forming factions based on ideals and beliefs rather than previously established family ties. This antitraditional representation of the family unit would

The condition of the Tallis family is mirrored by state of the reoccurring myth-like Meissen vase motif. Part one of Atonement details the journey of the vase, as it breaks “with a sound like a dry twig snapping…into two triangular pieces which dropped into the water…and lay there, several inches apart, writhing in the broken light”, which foreshadows the breakdown of the Tallis family. The allusion to nature through the “dry twig snap” onomatopoeia and the fragility of a china “vase” suggests that this fragmentation will be inevitable, which enables McEwan to create a fatalistic tone comparable to Dickens’. The significance of “two pieces” can represent to Robbie and Cecilia’s positions in their relationship as they are separated through Briony’s lie, however, they could also represent Cecilia’s withdrawal from the family/Briony or they could portray the factions that the Tallis family will form - either in support or opposition of Briony’s lie. Irrespective of the representation, the sufferable “writhing” and unnaturalness of the “broken light” underlines that the division of family is something abnormal and blasphemous as it harms “light” - a sacred part of nature required for the functioning of all living things. This dependence on the family unit reflects the views of the 1930s where the Depression forced families to become closer (both metaphorically, as they had little else but the family bond, and physically, as larger families downsized their houses to save money). Family was a key part of identity in Prime Ministers, Chamberlain and Baldwin’s policies at time as they attempted to unite the Homefront against the Axis powers of WWII to boost morale. This follows Dickens’ portrayal of the revolutionaries as a joined force against oppression as it creates a stronger, seemingly