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Britton Stark
Ms. McManigal
Advanced English 2, Period 1
13 February 2014
Born From the Ashes
During the french revolution people said that they couldsee a beautiful city and a
brilliant people rising from [the] abyss (Dickens 379). This line is a way of expressing the hope
for the rebirth of not only Paris but all of France after the revolution. This idea of rebirth is one
of the prominent ideas in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. This book is about how the
peasants of Paris and London are affected by the aristocrats and the french revolution that is
started because of their terrible abuse of wealth and power. This book features a wide variety of
characters and motifs which are literary devices that involve an element or a segment of text that
is repeated to emphasize the theme of the work. Charles Dickens uses the motif of doubles, such
as Darnay and Manette, and the recurring setting of darkness to reinforce the theme of rebirth
through destruction.
Charles Dickens uses the motif of the mirror images between Darnay and Manette to
reinforce the overall theme that great destruction forges the way for great rebirth. One of the
great examples of how the motif of parallelism can show the theme is the parallel event of both
Charles Darnay, a man born a French aristocrat but rejects his family name, and Doctor Manette,
an expatriate that was unlawfully imprisoned for eighteen years, being thrown in prison for an
unknown reason without any reasonable cause. When Doctor Manette was brought to [his]
living grave (336) it was so that he would not reveal what was in the letter [he] had written
that could condemn the aristocrats that were responsible for condemning him (335). When

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Manette was sent to the Bastille it was in a sense a way for the Marquis to lock away a problem
so that he would not have to deal with it. This experience was easily enacted by the Marquis but
was highly destructive to the social and mental stability of Doctor Manette. This turmoil in
Manettes life eventual leads to him being aged and bent, but otherwise restored, and faithful to
all men in his healing office, and at peace which takes about as many years to happen as he was
in prison for in the first place (379). To parallel this event perfectly there is the instance where
Darnay is put into prison for an elusive reason. Darnay is in La Force to ensure that Madame
Defarge has her revenge on Darnays family for killing her own. While in Prison Charles is
visited by Sydney Carton but by this point Darnay has lost hope and believes that there is no
escaping from this place and that that he will be executed soon (354). By now the destruction to
Darnays hope is at its highest and he believes there is nothing left in this life for him. While
Darnay is in this state of mind however, Sydney has a plan that saves Darnay allowing him to go
back to his family and redeem everything he has done to hurt Madame Defarge. In this case the
major rebirth comes not to Darnay but to Carton who [lays] down [his] life to save Darnay and
his family (379). Carton who has done nothing right in his entire life so far has given his up to
redeem himself. Now that he has done so he is confident that he has redeemed his soul with this
rebirth of character. He believes that It is a far, far better thing that [he does], than [he has] ever
done; it is a far, far better rest that [he goes] to than [he has] ever known (380). This final act of
redemption is a great sign of rebirth that is caused by Darnay being sent to prison. Carton
completely changes who he is but it costs him his life. These two examples of rebirth would not
have been possible if it were not for the great destruction in their lives. The turmoil and pain that
is caused to them forges the road for their rebirth.
The recurring motif of darkness is used to reinforce the theme of destruction brings

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rebirth. Darkness is seen throughout every part of this book. Even some chapters have names
such as The Substance of the Shadow that gives a feeling of foreboding to the chapter before it
has even begun (322). This helps to establish the theme by creating a situation of great
destruction. More than that the shadows make the reader want to look for rebirth to make the
setting more friendly. One such occasion is at Tellsons Bank, a bank that plays as a sanctuary for
aristocrats. The narrator refers to the bank as a dark place which sters bad feelings in the reader
(59). The feeling created by the banks description is not friendly and leaves the reader wanting
to redeem the quality of the scene with a more pleasant situation. This bad feeling can be
completely wiped away by the comforting fact that bankers who work in the dark are
spectacularly poring over large books and happy doing what they are doing (59). This
recreation of the scene was small but it still shows how the good words outway the bad. Before
this there is a dark situation that is later redeemed. Jerry Cruncher is a character who digs up the
bodies of the dead and is gone with the night before anyone can do anything about it (166).
This is a dark and disturbing subject to say the least. The most common reaction to the topic of
death and decay is that of rejection. Jerry is a character that the reader does not look kindly upon
until he later confesses that never more will [he dig up bodies] which is comforting to the
reader (367). The dark business that Jerry gets himself into corrupts his life no matter how pure
his intentions may be. The corruption inside him is the very thing that he recognizes and desires
to erase in himself. This rebirth of Jerrys character is brought about by the dark business that he
gets himself into. When dark situations such as these are brought to the light it helps to show
rebirth in everything that happens not only in those dark places but the entire environment that
they are in.
Charles Dickens uses the motif of doubles and the common setting of darkness to

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emphasize the theme of great destruction precedes great rebirth. The parallel events between
Manette and Darnay show the rebirth that can follow destruction and the setting of darkness
forces the reader to examine the book for situations of rebirth. This theme is not just that the
person whose life is destroyed receives the benefit of rebirth. Sometimes the act of destruction
creates an atmosphere where everyone has the opportunity of rebirth. With that in mind, rebirth
is not something that just happens as a result of a destructive environment. Rebirth is something
that someone has to want and use that desire to propel them forward in their goal of rebirth.
Remodeling your own personality is not easy and often the very thought of it can deter people
from even wanting to try it at all. The characters show that readers can accomplish that which
seems impossible, to overcome the fear of experiencing even more destruction.