The redemption of Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities

Reparation of Sydney Carton
"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"(Dickens 462). This is the famous last sentence of Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities. Sydney Carton sacrificed his life for Charles Darnay in reparation of his "wasted life". In order to save the life of the husband of the woman he loves, Carton took Darnay's place at the dreaded guillotine. Carton redeemed his sinful life in this final sacrifice making him a parallel to Jesus Christ, making his "wasted life" worthwhile, and giving him something to be remembered by.

Sydney Carton was introduced in the novel, when he is helping defend Charles Darnay at his trial. He was much removed and seemed to be not paying attention. Later he is talking to Darnay at a bar and is drunken and self-loathing. He says, "I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me"(Dickens 102). Carton constantly put himself down, and in that same conversation he says that he hated Darnay because he reminds him of what he could have been. The resemblance between the two made him hate Darnay because he hates himself immensely. Carton also is an extremely smart gentleman but he does not take credit for it. He is a "jackal" and not a lion as his colleague Stryver is. He does not work to his full potential and believes he is worthless. Dickens even shows Cartons hatred for himself in the setting when he says, "Sadly, sadly, the sun rose; it rose upon no sadder sight than the man of good abilities and emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away"(Dickens 111). He is showing how Carton is not happy with himself and won't amount to much.

Carton's renouncement was good because it was redemption for him. Carton was self-hating and would constantly talk about his life being worthless. He believes his life will amount to nothing and he won't be remembered. When talking to Lucy he says "I shall never be better than I am. I shall sink lower, and be worse"(Dickens 184). Carton says this however he does redeem himself. As his replacement of Darnay approaches he stops drinking and is very attentive. Carton stops being selfish and self-loathing and thinks higher of himself. Before he takes Darnay's place in the jail he walks through Saint Antoine and repeats a quote from the bible, "I am the resurrection and the life. "He who believes in me will live, even though he dies" (Dickens 386). Carton believes his sacrifice will make him become a Jesus like figure and that allows him to be more content with himself. He also believes that is once wasted life is now meaningful.

Carton redeemed his life through his sacrificial act. When he was walking after getting chemicals from the apothecary he was walking like " a tired man, who had wandered and struggled and got lost, but who at length struck into his road and saw its end,"(Dickens 384). Even though his life was short lived, Carton was exhausted and ready to die. He was happy to give up his life for the benefit of others. He also told Lucie he would do anything for her so Carton saw his sacrifice as a way to show his love and dedication. Carton wants to be remembered and loved like he thinks Mr. Lorry and Dr. Manette will be. Before Carton is put on the guillotine he reflects on the reason he is doing that. He says that he is doing it for Lucie, the child, Dr. Manette, Darnay and Mr. Lorry. He knows they will weep for him and remember him always. If they do that his life will be worthwhile and he will be happy. Carton believes they will name a son after him and tell the child of his story. His goal in life was to have someone remember him and now many will..

Sydney Carton gave up his life as an act of altruism because he believed his life was wasted. This made his life worthwhile and that acted as redemption for all the things he did in the past such as drinking a lot. The sacrificial act was good for carton and gave him peace at the end of his life.

While your overall argument about Carton's reasons for his sacrifice and the evidence you use to support it seem sound, I had trouble following your essay the first few times I read your essay.. I believe there are three steps you can take to make it easier to follow. First, please close your introduction with a thesis statement, a sentence that contains your overall argument and explains how you're going to support it. This will help your readers remember your key arguments and link the evidence you present to them.

Second, please start each paragraph after the introduction with a topic sentence that explains what you're trying to show. For example, in the second paragraph, you could write something like, "Until he makes the decision to sacrifice himself, Carton despises his life." This has two benefits:

1. It tells your reader what you're going to try to prove, which will make your logic easier to follow.
2. It gives your paragraphs focus so you know what to include and what to ignore.

You have topic sentences in your third and fourth paragraph, but they're awfully similar. The first one says the sacrifice is good for Carton because it redeemed him, and the second one says it redeemed his life. I would recommend rewriting the paragraphs and topic sentences so they build on each other or tie into your overall argument.

Finally, in the paragraphs themselves, please link your quotes to the point you're trying to make rather than relying on the reader to make the leap. Ideally, you should do this by looking at the words in the quote. To illustrate, let's take a look at your third paragraph:

"Carton redeemed his life through his sacrificial act. When he was walking after getting chemicals from the apothecary he was walking like " a tired man, who had wandered and struggled and got lost, but who at length struck into his road and saw its end,"(Dickens 384). Even though his life was short lived, Carton was exhausted and ready to die. He was happy to give up his life for the benefit of others."

This is a great quote, but the reader has to link it to Carton being exhausted but happy to give up his life. You can make the link much stronger by replacing the last two sentences with a more detailed explanation. For example:

This sentence suggests that Carton feels exhausted because he had spent much of his life lost off the proper path. Because he had "wandered" and "struggled," we know he always was looking for the right path. That he "at length struck into his road" tells us he has found it, and "saw its end" implies he is close to achieving what he has always wanted to achieve. Since this sentence appears after Carton made the decision to sacrifice himself, it must represent the proper path and the period of struggle must be the many years he spent as a selfish, self-loathing drunk. Since he is close to achieving what he wants to achieve, we know his transformation from that creature into a selfless man has helped him redeem himself in his own eyes.

This explanation is much lengthier than the original, but it allows your readers to follow your logic with fewer mental leaps, which will make it much more likely they'll understand and believe what you're trying to say. They'll still have to make a few mental leaps, but because you're highlighting the evidence that leads to each conclusion, the leaps will be small and easy enough for most readers to make them.

The detailed explanations have a side effect that might at first be distressing: Because you'll need to spend time explaining the link between each quote or summary and the point you want to make, you won't be able to fit as many quotes and claims into your paper. While this can be frustrating if you want to make a complicated argument with your essay, it's often beneficial. It'll force you to focus on your most compelling points and the best evidence, which should make your essay more enjoyable and persuasive. If you make those points easy to follow with a thesis statement and topic sentences, you'll have a fantastic essay.