Analysis of Charles Dickens' Writing Style in the Tale of Two Cities

In the historical novel Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens displays a masterful ability to write and grasp various writing techniques. Dickens' style can be accurately described as descriptively symbolic with a flair for carrying themes throughout his novel. His style can be divided into the various techniques that he used. The predominant techniques were symbolism, multiple perspective, and a strong character contrast.

Dickens had a major emphasis on certain themes and carried them throughout the book. The themes dominated most of the underlying causes of character's actions and events that happened. The most predominant theme in the entire book is justice. Doctor Manette received justice by being freed from the Bastille. The Marquis received justice from Gaspard for killing Gaspard's child. The nobility in general received justice from the populace during the revolution. Darnay received justice by being vindicated in the first trial and being rescued in the second. But most importantly, Madбme Defarge received justice from Miss Pross by being shot.

Another major theme in the book was redemption. The book begins with an initial redemption story. When Doctor Manette was set free from the Bastille, he was completely lost to the world around him. He was consumed in his prison world that his mind had created for him over eighteen years. However his daughter, Lucie, was able to redeem him from this and restore him to his former self after the doctor was "recalled to life." Doctor Manette's relapses back into his old state of mind are symbolic of a Christian's struggle with sin nature even after they have been redeemed by Christ. Charles Darnay was redeemed from the name Evrйmonde, a name that had been associated with tyranny. By the end of the book, readers began to associate Evrйmonde with Charles Darnay and his legacy of integrity instead of the legacy of the late Marquis. Of all the redemption stories, the one that was most romantically and dramatically portrayed was that of Sydney Carton, the man apart. Carton's sacrificial death to save Charles' life in the final scene was demonstrative of Carton's redemption from what he considered to be a wasted life.

Dickens maintains a high level of symbolism throughout the book. This symbolism was his most powerful literal tool to add significant depth to his novel. It is likely the hallmark of his overall style. The readers continued to be surprised at the number of symbols and the amount at which he continued them throughout the book. The guillotine is symbolized as a "certain movable framework with a sack and a knife in it." Fate is symbolized by the "woodman... to come down and be sawn into boards." Death is symbolized by the "the farmer... had already set apart to be his tumbrils of the Revolution." In Chapter One of the Second Book, Tellson's Bank is representative of England. Throughout the book, crowds and gatherings of people symbolize the coming revolution.

The main symbol of the entire book however was the echoing footsteps. This was carried throughout the book. In the beginning, the mail coachman hears footsteps approaching. The Manettes and their friends hear footsteps in the rain echoing through the streets of London. The footsteps continue to echo in Paris as the revolution storms the Bastille. They grow louder still and Lucie can hear them as she puts to bed her young daughter before Charles leaves for France. And it is footsteps that close out the book in a fateful foreshadowing of the events surrounding France's fall from power as the guillotine takes Carton's life.

Dickens did not use "action" as a way of carrying suspense. Instead, he relied on the anticipation of dramatic events to flow the suspense. This was largely accomplished through the readers "leap-frogging" from perspective to perspective. Dickens maintained the perspectives of the protagonists (the Darnays, Dr. Manette, Mr. Lorry, Miss Pross, Mr. Cruncher, and Mr. Carton) who were mainly in England to carry on the actual plot of the book but switched rapidly to the antagonists (the Marquis, the Defarges, and the Jacquerie) who were mainly in France. By swapping between multiple perspectives, Dickens developed a method by which the reader would understand the danger that would befall a protagonist if they did a certain thing by explaining such things from the antagonist point of view. Then he merely switched back to any of the protagonists and played off the reader's foreknowledge of the antagonists' intentions to build suspense.

A classic example of this perspective swapping is found starting the chapter "Still Knitting." The antagonist perspective begins the suspense. Mr. Barsad enters the wine shop and tells the Defarges about Lucie's marriage to Charles Darnay. The Defarges then explain that they hope that "business does not bring Mr. Darnay to France." Switching back to the perspective of Charles Darnay, Gabelle has sent Darnay a letter explaining his plight in a French prison and asks Darnay to return and testify. Darnay mulls over the decision for a while and during this time