Charles Darnay Biography

Picture this. A good-looking 25 year old dressed in all black and grey with a small ponytail tucked at the back of his neck.His character is that of which is great with confidence, love, and virtue. This man is Charles Darnay, a teacher in the novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by: Charles Dickens. We see these characteristics in him in the novel and can be proven by Dickens descriptions of him.First, Dickens states “ He was otherwise quite self-possessed, bowed to the Judge, and stood quiet” (Dickens;46).
In this quote, it shows how Darnay is very confident in the fact that he will be proven not guilty and in general. It also says he was self- possessed which shows how well he is confident in himself as he enters the court and does a good job radiating his confidence throughout the courtroom for everyone to see. His confidence makes him look less as a criminal and more as an upright and strong man. Confidence is something Darnay has a lot of and helps him a lot! Next, Dickens says “ … Charles Darnay’s way- the way of the love of a woman. He had loved lucie Manette from the out of his danger” (Dickens;99). This quote reveals to us Darnay's love for Lucie Manette. It shows how he is loving for he said he loved her the beginning he got out of trouble. We also figure later on he does not only love Lucie, but he also loves the relationship Lucie and Dr.Manette have and would never dare to break it. All these actions show his love towards anything surrounding Lucie. Also, when Dicken says Darnay's way- way of his love for Lucie, it shows that it's only his way of love Lucie and love he has is very special. Finally Darnay replies to his uncle about taking his position after him by saying,
     “If it ever becomes mine, it shall be put into some hands better qualified to free it slowly (if such a thing is possible) from the weight that drags it down, so that the miserable people who cannot leave it and who have been long wrung to the last point of endurance, may, in another generation,suffer less” ( Dickens;95).
This shows how Darnay is not like the rest of his family. His family is selfish and don't care about anyone other than themselves. Darnay on the other hand, if given the throne, though he said he would never actually do it said that he would give all his inheritance to others who are miserable so that maybe one day they would be less miserable. This shows how much virtue and kindness he has throughout humanity and he doesn't want to people to think of him as a nonvirtual person so he leaves the land where he believes is a curse and goes to England to change his name and live a place where nobody connects him with them. So, we see here that Darnay is a good person and virtuous. We all know the quote “ Never judge a book by its cover” and when we first visualized Charles Darnay and figured out he got in trouble, we let our head get the best of us and assumed that he wasn't a good person. But as we move forward, we see that the man Dickens presents to us is a very lovingly, confident, and virtuous young man.

Light and Darkness

              Charles Dickens uses light and dark to the tone of hopelessness into hopefulness for Lucie and Dr. Mannettes' kinship in chapter 6 of A Tale of Two Cities. First, Dickens writes, " Darkness had fallen on him in its place" (Dickens;32). This quote expresses Dickens hopelessness through darkness. When he says " Darkness had fallen on him" , he is stating that hopelessness has been put in Dr. Mannette and his surroundings. Being locked up in a jail cell for 18 years, Dr. Manette didn't encounter people and lost hope. Next, Mr. Lorry states " You can bear a little more light?" And then Dr. Manners then replies saying " I must bear it if you let it in" (Dickens;30). Mr. Lordy has been Dr. Mannette's business partner when Dr. Mannette was not in jail and goes to the jail cell with Dr. Mannette's daughter he has yet to meet. So, when Mr. Lorry asks him if he could bear anymore light he didn't literally mean light. He meant his daughter, Lucie. Lucia is implemented as the light because she is the only one who could find the hope he needed inside him. Finally, Dickens says " On her fair young face that looked as though she passed like a moving light"(Dickens;32). In this quote, not only does Dickens show how Lucie replaces Dr. Mannette's hopelessness to hopefulness, but he also uses personification to compare Lucie's appearance to moving light. We can rewind back in the past chapters and see Lucie having the same blue eyes and blond hair of her mother. By Dr. Mannette seeing a mere image of his now dead wife, except younger, it brings lots of hope. He may not have fully shifted into the hopeful zone but has definitely took a big step towards it within the time span of Lucie and Her father meeting. As we see, Dickens does a miraculous job implementing light and dark to the the tones between Lucie and Dr. Mannettes' relationship, which has evolved from being hopeless to being hopeful. 

Charles Dickens Foreshadowing

     In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses the tool of foreshadowing to predispose the events that will occur during the French Revolution in chapter 5, The Wine-Shop. First, Dickens writes" The wine was red wine, and had stained the ground of the narrow street in the suburb of Saint Antoine, in Paris, where it was spilled" (Dickens;21). Here you see Dickens putting emphasis on the wine being red and we can visualize the bloodiness of the French Revolution. It also says "it will stain.." Referring that this revolution will stain French's history and land forever. Next, Dickens states " It had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet.." (Dickens;21). This quote expresses foreshadowing of the extreme bloodiness of the revolution. Hands, faces, and feet will be stained with blood because of fighting. You also see Dickens repeatedly saying "many" to really express and make an image in your head of what is to come. Finally, Dickens says " The time was to come, when the wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there" (Dickens;22). This quote really confirms our thought of whether or not Dickens is forehead owing the French Revolution. Not only that but it also relates back to the wine as well as saying that the red wine will stain many. He uses red wine as a symbolizer of blood. As we see, these quotes significantly show us readers an insight of what is to come and therefore hints that Charles Dickens is foreshadowing what is the next upcoming event to occur.

Family

             Family. When you hear that word… What pops in your head? By definition, family is a group consisting of parents and children living together but, we all know that's not always the case nowadays and that the true definition of a family is not one we could effortlessly put in the dictionary. Why you say? Because every person in the world has their own way of believing what a family is to them. I believe a family is not necessarily those of people who share DNA with you, but stand by you no matter what happens and showers you with unconditional love. In a family, every person functions as one just as a heart beats as one. Authors Barbara Kingsolver as well as Betty Smith do a beautiful job conveying their insight of family in their pieces of writing; Stone Soup and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
             First, in Stone Soup, it states " The sooner we can let go the fairytale of families functioning perfectly in isolation, the better we might embrace the relief of community(Kingsolver;25)." In this one sentence you get a huge understanding of how Kingsolver feels and interprets family. She believes once we stop being singular minded and think of all the other families that are not our traditional "dollhouse" family, that everyone will live a happier life. Although this is true, Betty Smith introduces her character's view on family in a slightly different direction. Because divorce was such a bad thing back then, It really wasn't a view of a family or considered a family if you were divorced but Katie said something that really brought them all together. "From now on," she said, "I am your mother and your father." (Smith;299)." This shows how Katie, the mother of Francie and Neeley, shows her insight of family. Her perspective of family changed and she believed she was the mother and father of the household.
              Next, is back to Kingsolver. She says a line that is elegantly written and it goes like this " Any family is a big empty pot, save for what gets thrown in.(Kingsolver;31)." In this quote, what it really means is that every family is the same in a sense of their interpretation and everyone else's. Either way you still have a family and don't waste time looking at every family or empty pot instead look at the things that happen during your family and try to resolve the crisis.
              Last but not least is my own experience and one I can relate to Betty Smith's quote, "Somehow during their aimless but oh-so-significant conversation with its delicious pauses and thrilling undercurrents of emotion, they came to know that they loved eachother passionately (Smith; 59)." I think what Betty is trying to take out of this quote is how young they were when they decided to get married and have a family and not necessarily being good but how hard it was since they were soo young. My parents also had this similar situation where they fell in love but really didn't know much about eachother (other than the fact he was a buisnessman at the time and all the girls were smitten for him!) They went through some tough times immigrating to America and my dad was no longer the man everyone knew and it kind of saddened her. Overall, she still loves him no matter what and stook with him all these years and are happily married with 8 kids! Of course, just as Katie fights with her husband once in a while just as every other husband and wife, my mom and dad have arguments here and there but nothing that I can't handle. Reading this book really made me grateful of having a father and should cherish his presence for as long as it should last. Love should determine marriage because ultimately at the end, love is what truly holds a family together.
               To conclude, now you must be thinking... Wow.. How much things have changed over a period of time. And every period has their own interpretation of family and changes all the time. But no matter what happens I will always believe in my head that family is not those of people who share DNA, but stand firm amongst eachother side by side. Now the real question is... What does family mean to you?

Sacredness of the unordinary

                                                                By: Sumeya Abrar

          You know that one thing that everyone has but to you it's sacred? Well, believe it or not it's my Kitchen Aid mixer. Why you ask?

         Well since I was 3 years old,I would lick the batter off the corner while my mom was scolding me! I love how you can put really basic ingredients and create something so unrealistically scrumptious. To other people, a mixer is just another daily need to make stuff. I believe that it's an adventure inside the mixer. Every time you try something new, a new adventure begins. I got my own mixer when I was 7 and it was a green Kitchen Aid mixer. It was the best present I ever got and I started right away making cakes and delicacies. This is one of the reasons why I have made a blog as well about delicacies. I have had it now for 8 years now and it still works amazing!

           My dream is to open a bakery when I grow up and use that mixer of which my mom bought me. It will show how old fashioned I am. This mixer represents my passion and love for cooking. Not many people enjoy it because they look at it as a tool opposed to an awesome object that has its own life going on inside when you add things in.
 
          Another reason why this is sacred to me is because my mom gave it to me. My mom has sacrificed more than anything to give me whatever that pops out of my head. Whether it was crazy or realistic, she would try her very hardest. So not only is this a mixer, but a mixer that was bought by my loving mom. That's why i always say that the food that comes out of this blender will be better than anyone else's  because it has love in everything we make and love is something you can't buy at a store and put it in. It needs to be put it in yourself and your loved ones. When i look back 8 years now, i see how much this mixer has done for everyone (including me). Whether we were all sad so i baked a cake to cheer all of us up or biscottis to just get my parents to wake up in the morning, we always had fun together. I will never forget the old times I had with my mixer but also can't wait to see what it will create for me in the future. Most people come with a set mind of what they are making but not me. The blender leads me and I find my groove and start creating! I have had amazing and terrible outcomes but that's how you learn.

            I can't imagine how empty my life would feel if I hadn't had a mixer. It's the one thing that doesn't yell at me if I put bad or good ingredients in there. It just accepts and does its job which I adore because you don't find people that accept being thrown with mean and good things and still love you (except my parents)!
          To conclude this mixer as you can tell, meams a lot to me. It makes my days brighter, night darker, and future more hopeful!

About Me

Hi, my name is Sumeya and I'm a freshman in high school. Although I love reading and writing, culinary arts is something I have loved since I was 3. I love how you can take things that are soo basic and turn it into a delicious delicacy and I want to share the moments with you. Be sure to check out the delicacy of the month to see what my latest obsession is. I also love too read. Reading is something I love and I feel like I am experiencing it myself. Writing is my 2nd favorite thing to do after baking. I love writing!  Of course with taking so many courses it can hectic and change my normal creative writing routine but I try to write as much as possible and get my writing to be on point 👌🏻. I'm also somewhat athletic. (Or I like to think!) I play lacrosse and basketball as a hobby but plan to do it when the season arrives. This is something weird about me: i really am in love with Shakespeare and his writing. Oh and one more thing I am kind of OCD when it comes to organization. I can't stand when ppl just don't align the books or leave a stray mark on the whiteboard. Well, by the end of reading this, you will probably think of me as either a total geek or a really weird person and I am which is why you should subscribe to my blog because you just should.