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.