A TALE OF TWO CITIES BOOK CLUB - WEEK 12 - BOOK 3 - CHAPTERS 11 - 15

A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens

Here we are again! It's the last day for our current Book Club read, A Tale of Two Cities. I hope you enjoyed the book and were able to connect with it whether it was your first time through or your tenth time through! On that note, let's jump in and bring this baby home!

Last week we left off with the rug pulled out from under our feet. Darnay had just been unexpectedly tried for the second time and found guilty, and it happened by the most unlikeliest of witnesses, Dr. Manette. It wasn't his verbal testimony that put the final nail in Darnay's coffin. It was his written testimony. An account he wrote in his prison cell of the events that led up to his wrongful imprisonment - one that caused his disappearance from the world of the living for 18 years. Can you imagine how crushing this is to Manette? How he has sought and campaigned for Darnay's freedom only to be the one that secures his demise? How Madame Defarge must be enjoying this! I have to throw something in here at this point. Think for a moment about the comparison Dickens offers us between the peasants and their thirst for vengeance that steps far outside the lines of righting the wrong committed to them. They kill those responsible. Then the hate spreads like a cancer, and they attempt to annihilate an entire class of people whether they were guilty of the crime or not. Now, lay beside that the actions of Dr. Manette who was wrongly mistreated as well but chose to forgive the blood relative of those who wronged him. Not only that, he did all he could to rescue him, live in peace with him, and move forward with life. Which has the greater peace in the outcome? Who reaches the point where there is no longer innocent blood on their hands? As I write this with regards to the peasants, I am struck with the mental picture of Christ as he stands next to Pontius Pilate right before his crucifixion, and the crowd cries out, " May His blood be on us and on our children." (Matthew 27:25) We're not finished yet.

CHAPTER 11 - DUSK

FRANCE

The first item I need to call attention to is the chapter titles. The last chapter was "The Substance of the Shadow," now "Dusk,' and then "Darkness." We are descending into night, The sun is setting on Darnay's life. The chapter begins with the parting words between a husband and wife. Have you ever thought about what you would say to your husband if you knew he was about to die? I'm going to throw in a couple of things here. Do with them what you want. I try and make it a practice to say goodbye to my husband and give him a kiss every time he leaves the house. Don't think for a minute that those kisses are always super heartfelt. My husband and I are both firstborns, and sometimes there is a standoff that has just occurred before he leaves. What it does allow is for the last thing that we speak and do before he leaves for work is not words spoken in anger. In January, I got a call from my husband saying that he had been travelling on the interstate (4 lanes separated by a walled median) when a wheel and tire flew off a van, went over the median, and struck the roof and windshield of his Dodge Ram truck. Thankfully, the roof absorbed the majority of the impact. The windshield was shattered. (My husband ended up with small shards of glass in his mouth). Thankfully, despite the shock, my husband was able to get his truck safely over to the side of the interstate and didn't hit anyone in the process. When the police officer arrived on scene, he told my husband that he was lucky to be alive. (We don't believe in luck. We believe in the protection of God!) If that wheel had been just the tiniest bit lower, he would have died. I get the emotion of saying goodbye to your spouse in this chapter. All the things you want to say.

Lucie passes out, and who comes to her rescue? Sydney Carton. Note that Dickens tells us that he doesn't have a flush of pity but of pride. He carries her to her carriage and asks little Lucie if he may kiss her mother on the cheek. As he does he whispers the words, "A life you love." Do you begin to see where this going? "Greater love has no man than this: to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13) The one who seemed to have no purpose and no ambition in life is the one that now steps with a settled step. He knows the path that is opening the up before him.

CHAPTER 12 - DARKNESS

FRANCE

Carton's plan is put into action. He stops in the Defarge's wineshop. Why in the world would he do that? He MUST BE SEEN! It must be known that there is a man about that looks almost identical to Darnay for this to work. As he sits he overhears conversation between Monsieur and Madame Defarge, Vengeance, and Jacques Three. Monsieur Defarge is troubled with what is going to happen to Darnay because of how it is affecting Manette. Madame Defarge is questioning Manette's loyalty to the Republic, and we see Madame Defarge for who she really is when she tells us that Lucie's life is hanging by a mere flick of her finger.

But the greatest reveal of this chapter, the part that we were holding our breath for, is who was the sister that the brother hid away before he went after the Evremonde brothers for what they did to his other sister? Of course it is Madame Defarge. Now, we understand why her hatred goes so much deeper than that of a "mother bear" that we talked about earlier. Her husband is not on board with all of this killing and reminds her of Darnay's mother that tried to intervene.

Dickens knows how to speak to his readers about everything they are feeling. I don't know about you, but there have been several moments where I have thought about the benefit of taking out Madame Defarge. As Carton leaves, he asks for directions to the National Palace, and Madame Defarge takes him to the door, puts her arm on his, and points the way. We all know how thoughts run through our heads, and Carton is no different. He imagines himself lifting up her arm and stabbing her under it. We may mistakenly think that that would stop the bloodshed, but when you cut off the head of a resistance leader, often there are many more waiting to take over and the action fuels the fire.

Carton returns to Lorry's home, and they anxiously await Manette's return from his last ditch attempt at saving Darnay. As he enters, it is evident that all is lost. He immediately begins looking for his bench and tools.

Now Carton's path is set. There is no looking back. Never breathing a word to Lorry about his true intentions, he gives him the paperwork that allows Carton to leave the city for "safekeeping" and gives him the paperwork that falls out of Dr. Manette's jacket that gives permission for Manette, Lucie, and Little Lucie to leave as well. He tells Lorry that Lucie and Little Lucie are in grave danger and to secure passage for them to leave France tomorrow by 2pm. He is to only wait for Carton's place to be filled and then he must leave without exception.

He says his goodbyes to Lorry and Manette in a way that only he understands that they are forever. He walks outside, looks up at Lucie's window and whispers a Farewell. We know what's coming.

CHAPTER 13 - FIFTY-TWO

FRANCE

Why the name 52? Because 52 are condemned to die the next day.

Darnay writes his goodbye letters

To Lucie. - He confirms his innocence of any knowledge of what his father and uncle had done. He confirms his love and blessing over her and tells her they will meet in Heaven.

To Manette - He also confirms that he had no knowledge of what his father and uncle had done. He leaves Lucie and Little Lucie in his care.

To Lorry - He tells his him the state of his worldly goods and leaves them all in his care.

He never thinks of Carton, and he falls asleep.

He sleeps a little, but the wakes up with everything on his mind. (I think all of us can relate to this.) He thinks about the guillotine. How high it is, will the hands that touch him be red with other's blood, etc. He paces as he plays all this out in his mind. The hours count down. Then he hears footsteps. Note how often the theme of footsteps shows up in this book. This time the footsteps are bearers of hope (though Darnay doesn't know that yet!) They belong to John Barsad (the spy, Miss Pross's brother) and Sydney Carton. I'm not going to go through all the exchange, but Carton has Darnay switch clothes with him and write out a letter that tells us exactly what is happening here. He writes of the words that he told Lucie long ago. It is only to keep Darnay busy for the next step. Remember the powders that Carton picked up from the chemist shop? He passes the powder under Darnay's nose, and he passes out. Carton puts on Darnay's clothes. Calls Barsad back and with the help of some friends, they carry Darnay out. This does not startle the guards as it is common for people to faint from the emotion or have come in drunk and passed out. They have no trouble getting Darnay out the door and Carton takes his place.

Then the gaoler comes for him. Dickens is so gracious to us in the fact that he allows a companion to emerge so Carton doesn't go through this by himself. A young woman joins him and they begin the journey together. Dickens give us one more huge blessing, because she somehow realizes that he is not Darnay. As he goes through his final moments someone knows of the sacrifice that he is making.

Meanwhile, a carriage leaves quietly bearing Manette, Lucie, Little Lucie, Lorry, and Darnay asleep in the corner (but everyone thinks it is Carton). They pass through the check point and are not pursued.

CHAPTER 14 - THE KNITTING DONE

FRANCE

We knew that Madame Defarge would never be satisfied with just the death of Darnay. His entire family must pay the price, so she secures the method to make sure that happens and sets out to accomplish it. We have to love Miss Pross by the end of this chapter.

How creepy for Miss Pross to be in the house by herself finishing the packing when she looks up and sees Madame Defarge in the room with her. Seriously, this is the stuff that horror movies are made from! The faithful Miss Pross has made it her business to put herself between Madame Defarge and Lucie (even though Lucie is already gone, she's trying to buy them as much time to get away as possible.) The age old stand of love versus hate shines forth in their exchange. Madame Defarge lunges and Pross grabs her and wraps her arms around her waist. She can't get to her ax. Madame Defarge reaches into her bosom for her gun, but Pross hits it causing it to go off and Madame Defarge falls down dead. Miss Pross settles herself, puts on her bonnet which hides the scratches on her face and her messed up hair, locks the door, crosses the bridge over the river, and drops the key into the river. She meets up with Jerry Cruncher where she realizes that she is deaf from the gunshot. She will never hear again. They leave France.

CHAPTER !5 - THE FOOTSTEPS DIE OUT FOREVER

FRANCE/ENGLAND

Note our footsteps, again, in the title of the chapter. I don't know about you, but I am ready for the footsteps to come to an end and life to move to a more peaceful state. We're almost there but not quite yet.

The carts rattle through the streets carrying the 52 prisoners to the guillotine. Darnay (Carton) is the star of the show, the one that all have come to see. He pays them no heed only focusing on the girl next to him. Vengeance is in a panic looking for Madame Defarge who would never miss this pinnacle event. And as Vengeance scrambles and screams the carts unload and the blade begins to crash down. Sydney focuses only on the girl in front of him. He turns her back to the guillotine, so she doesn't see the continuous flow of death. He reassures her, and they kiss each other goodbye. The girl steps forward and is gone - number 22. Carton steps forward reciting to himself, "I am the Resurrection and the Life..." He places himself in the spot, the crowd pushes forward, and then it all fades away. Number 23.

Thank goodness Dickens doesn't leave us hanging there. We must know if the rest of the people that we have come to love, did they make it?

First of all, Defarge, Vengeance, and many other of the leadership of the revolution end up dying by the end. It takes a long time, but beauty does come from the ashes of everything that happened in France.

But to those we love, Lucie lives and has a child that is named Sydney. Dr. Manette revives and lives out his life well watching over his family. Lorry lives out his days blessing the family before he passes away. Darnay is not mentioned in the initial paragraph. However, he is mentioned in the next paragraph. Lucie weeps on the anniversary and when she and Darnay die, Carton knows that he holds a very special place in each of their souls.

As the boy grows who bears his name, the actions of the original Sydney Carton are blotted out and replaced with all the amazing things that the young man does under the name of Sydney Carton.

It is the last quote that solidifies everything as much as the opening quote did. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done, it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

When I closed the book with my high school group, I looked at them and asked them who their favorite character was in the book? Now, I ask you.

For me, Sydney Carton was the lynchpin in this amazing novel. The power of change, of finding purpose and love, of self-sacrifice. He overwhelms me and leaves me in awe. We would all be so blessed to have a friend so committed, and it leaves us asking how quickly we would be to do the same.

I hope you all enjoyed this book. I find it unbelievably moving. Hopefully, as we close the cover and reflect over the pages, we are challenged in our own thoughts and motives, because as we know it doesn't take much for thoughts and motives to turn into actions whether good or bad.