Sacrifice In A Tale Of Two Cities

Sacrifice is a word of loss for one side and joy for another. In Charles Dickens’ book, A Tale of Two Cities, sacrifice is shown through the parallel of the French Revolution and Sydney Carton. The French Revolution took many lives, in the same way that Carton’s life was taken in his sacrifice for Darnay. Carton’s supreme sacrifice gave both a sense of loss and a sense of joy to Charles Darnay, Lucie Manette, and their family. While Darnay was overjoyed that his life was saved and he could support his family for a long time, he was sad at the loss of his friend. Though Darnay thought Carton had made a sacrifice in place of Darnay, Carton had really made the sacrifice out of love, selflessness, and hope for Lucie Manette. Carton could have made his sacrifice

As Carton wanders through the streets of Paris, he mutters “I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, shall never die” (Dickens 385). He constantly reminds himself of his protector (Christ) and as Carton dies, he believes he will go to Heaven. Carton is a good man of faith, close to Christ and His love thereof, and like Christ, Carton sacrifices his life for others. In his last words, Carton sees a “beautiful city and a beautiful people rising from this abyss” and foreshadows him looking down from Heaven on the French people rising from the French Revolution (Dickens 386). The story also parallels the Bible through Carton being a hero without thinking of himself, as Christ sacrificed his life as a hero without caring for His own life. As Carton knew of his selfless act, he thought of it as being “’a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to then I have ever known’” (Dickens 386). Carton knew the better life in Heaven would raise him out of his misery in the revolution and create a new, hopeful life for