Questions on A Tale of Two Cities

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1. One thing I found lacking in A Tale of Two Cities was that the plot was not too interesting. I understood that it was supposed to be exciting, but I felt Dickens planned everything out too perfectly. Darnay got out of going to jail because Carton looked exactly like him, which brought doubt into his case, and he couldn’t be convicted. In France, Darnay was convicted of being a royal, but Carton sacrificed himself at the guillotine so he and Lucie could live together. I don’t think this could happen in the real world, which made me enjoy the book a lot less than I would have if it would have had a less exciting plot. For example, Great Expectations got boring toward the end, but I still enjoyed it more than A Tale of Two Cities.

2. This book made me rethink what I thought about how people forgive others and move on with their life. It did take Dr. Manette five years to return to being a normal person, but when he found out Darnay’s family had been the ones keeping him prisoner, he was able to overcome his family’s injustice. This is somewhat of a contrast from what I had thought people normally did after being in jail for eighteen years. In Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is made to believe he was a bad person for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s family, which he ends up believing and scars him to the point that he stole silver from a bishop. This is what people generally think of prison. A petty offender who probably means no harm ends up becoming a hardened criminal who keeps getting him or herself into trouble. However, when Dr. Manette came out of jail, he was more of a broken person than a hardened criminal. He couldn’t be outside and spent most of his time pacing his room. However, he eventually...

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...o are comfortable with novela-type plots, but I might think twice if they are not too comfortable reading old fashioned English. The beginning was pretty confusing to me, but if they can get past it, I would absolutely recommend A Tale of Two Cities.

7. This novel was pretty good. On a scale of four stars, I would give A Tale of Two Cities three stars. The book was somewhat dense to get through, and the beginning wasn’t all that great, but once you get over the plot letdown, it’s not such a bad book.

The song I chose for my personal connection was “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles. I picked this song because it reminded me of Dr. Manette. When he was released from prison, he was broken and had gotten so used to being locked up in his cell that he didn't leave his room. However, his daughter's love was all he needed to be the person he used to be.

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