A TALE OF TWO CITIES BOOK CLUB - WEEK 3 - BOOK 1 - CHAPTERS 5 - 6 and BOOK 2 - CHAPTERS 1 - 2

A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens

Okay! Last week we got some of the foundational elements out of the way. We have a few more coming, but now the story starts to get rolling, and the farther we go, the faster it moves! One of the things I'm going to do when I start to write the info on each chapter is mention if we're in England or France to help keep things a bit straighter in our minds. Alright, are you ready? Let's go!

Chapter 5 - The Wine Shop

This chapter opens in Saint Antoine, Paris, France. Something major kicks this chapter off. What is that? It's the breaking of a wine cask in front of Monsieur and Madame DeFarge"s Wine Shop. A wine cask breaks. So what? Dickens uses this event to show us so much! FIrst, we get our first look at the lower social class, the peasants. They are starving, raggedy, beat down, and when this cask breaks they stop everything they are doing and they run to it. Can you see them? Men, women, children scooping whatever they can out of the dirt and dripping it into their mouths. Mothers dipping handkerchiefs into the puddled liquid, and squeezing them into their babies' mouths. Second, what is the overall effect of this? The people are covered in red. Their mouths, their arms, hands, and fingers, their clothes. All of the sudden its no longer wine that we are seeing, but blood. This amazing metaphor foreshadows what is to come and how the masses will be involved in it . In case we wonder if we're stretching our imagination just a bit turning the wine to blood, Dickens answers that for us. A man dips his finger into the muddy wine and writes the word "BLOOD" across a wall. Case closed. There is seriously so much we could cover here. Dickens layers this happening with descriptive words like "tigerish smear about the mouth" Those words turn these beat down people into borderline ferocious beasts in an instant, and it foreshadows again what will be coming. Then we have all the personification about Hunger and Want, and the description of the mill that is grinding these people down. A lifestyle that is making the children look like old men and women. I could spend forever talking about this, but I'm going to jump to something that really caught my attention, the lamplighter. The lamplighter is going around lowering the lights by ropes and pulleys, lighting them, then hoisting them back into place. We get two strong simile pictures from his activity. One, as he pulls them back up , they swing as "if they are at sea." This gives us a vivid picture of the massive storm that is approaching. Then the next paragraph gives us another picture. The scarecrows (the starving peasants) improvise on what they've watched the Lamplighter do for years. Instead of swinging up the lanterns, they'll be swinging up people - hanging them.I jusgt love all the visual imagery we get with Dicken's words.

Since I've written a lot already about this chapter and we've got 3 more chapters to go, I'm just going to bullet point a few important points.

-We have a physical description of Monsieur and Madame DeFarge.

-Madame DeFarge appears to not pay attention to what's going on around her, but know that she see EVERYTHING that is going on! Note how she signs to her husband when he comes with a cough that there are strangers in the shop.

-Note the use of the name Jacques for more then one person. Did you find this confusing? This is a French peasant name that identifies the person as a member of the revolutionary.

-So who are the strangers that Madame DeFarge signaled to her husband about? They are Lucie Manette and Mr. Lorry. They are here, because Monsieur DeFarge has Lucie's recently released father - the man being "recalled back to life." They make their way to his room. Again, so much I could add about the description of the walk, but again for time's sake, let's just note the locked door. He's free, so why is he locked up? It's because he is a danger to himself if he gets out, and we'll understand that more in the next chapter.

Chapter 6 - The Shoemaker

Who is the man at the bench creating shoes? He is Dr. Manette, the man wrongly imprisoned for 18 years. His daughter Lucie believed him to be dead. When asked his name his answer is heartbreaking, " 105 North Tower." That man should have recognized the people that stood around him from his former life. DeFarge was his old servant, Lorry his banker, but there is no spark of recognition as they speak to him. It is Lucie that gets his attention for a moment. He pulls out a small, black bag from around his neck and opens it to reveal a small amount of golden hair the same shade as Lucie's. But those hairs cannot belong to her. He recognizes her voice, but it can't belong to the person that stands before him. She is too young. What is the answeer in this? The hairs in the bag belonged to his wife., and Lucie's hair is the same shade. Their voices obviously sound very similar. The hairs were collected off his shirtsleeve when he was imprisoned, and he was allowed to keep them because they offered no means of physical escape for him. Unbeknownst to his jailers, they offered mental escape, but its clear those pictures and connection are fading with time. Why does Lucie tell her father to "weep for any bit of remembrance he begins to have?" She wants the walls he has put up around the memories of the past to break and remembrances to come sweeping in. It will be painful, but it will "recall him back to life." Lucie also knows they must get him out of France to England immediately, but can Dr. Manette handle the trip? Preparations begin. As they load into the carriage Manette asks for his bench and tools. It is the only thing he's known for years. Who hands it to him? The one who appears to notice nothing, yet notices everything, Madame DeFarge. As the carriage rolls away, Lorry looks across at the doctor, and the chapter closes with a flashback to the mental conversation that he had with himself and the ghost on the way to meet Miss Manette. Once again, the man stands before him in his mind (Dr. Manette) and a conversation ensues between them. "I hope you care to be recalled to life." To which Dr. Manette responds, "I can't say."

BOOK 2 - Chapter 1 - Five Years Later

We have just fast forwarded five years, and we are back in England. Dickens gives us an in-depth look at Tellson"s Bank. It is an old, established business. Woe to the man that tries to modernize it. It is a "dark and ugly" place, and it's not bothered with the ideas of convenience. In fact quite the opposite, it is steeped in tradition. Did you note the idea that death is in vogue?The bank stands in the shadow of Temple Bar - the gate known to have executed people's heads displayed on pikes for all to see. Tellson's is responsible for many people's deaths itself. Did you catch the list of how one can be put to death? The forger, the unlawful opener of a letter, a horse thief, and on it goes all. It doesn't matter the severity of the crime: it all ends up in death. In fact, Tellson's is responsible for so many deaths that if all the heads it has claimed were stacked up around the outside of the bank, the windows would be blocked. Fascinating stuff, huh? But then Dickens zeros in on a man and his son who stand outside the bank everyday - Jerry Cruncher. They're odd jobs men/messengers that set up outside the front door and wait until needed.

What's odd about Jerry?

-He's angry at his wife for what he claims is praying against him. He calls it "flopping down." (Who in the world would pray against an "honest tradesman" that works in front of the bank?)

-In the morning his boots are muddy. He cleans them before going to the bank. They don't get dirty doing the messenger runs.

-His red eyes as if he's been awake all night.

-His hands are rusty.

This confirms for us that Mr. Cruncher is more than just a bank messenger! We learn about his "other job" soon!

By the way, remember back to last week's reading. Do you remember the messenger that came to the mail coach to deliver the message to Mr. Lorry on his way to meet Miss Manette? Do you remember that Lorry asked if it was Jerry.? This is who it was.

Chapter 2 - A Sight

Still in England, we find ourselves in the middle of a court case against a young man named Charles Darnay accused of treason. Supposedly, he has been feeding info to the French king. If found guilty, his punishment will be ghastly. Things to note in this chapter;

-Jerry Cruncher is there hired as a messenger.

-Dr. Manette, Lucie, and Mr. Lorry are there forced to testify against Darnay.

-Dr. Manette is clearly in a much better mental state now able to do this.

-Also, note that there is a one "wigged gentleman" that chooses to stare at the ceiling as if he hasn't a care in the world while everyone else stares at the prisoner.

-Tuck away the fact in the back of your mind that above Darnay is a mirror that shines a light down upon his face. We'll talk about that next time.

You have to love how this chapter ends. The judge leans back in his chair and looks directly at Darnay as the Attorney-General steps up to "spin the rope, grind the axe, and hammer the nails into the scaffold." The case begins, and this is where we end.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! What moved you this week? What caught your attention? Did you fall in love with any quotes or descriptions? Where there any specific parts that played out in movie form in your mind as you read the incredible descriptions? Did you rejoice? Did you mourn? I'd love to hear about it!