A Tale Of Christianity
...good times or bad, the Christian lives in the world for the good of the world and for the sake of the world." Exploring Christianity in times of despair throughout the ages is also evident in one of Charles Dickens' most famous books, A Tale of Two Cities. At a sudden glance, this story seems to discuss the problems between France and England during the French Revolution; but when one takes a closer look, it becomes increasingly evident that the foundations of Dickens' book actually stem from Christianity. The revolution is simply a tale to accompany the real plot of the novel, which includes the exploration of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead at the hand of God and the everlasting battle of good versus evil. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens uses alliteration, parallelism, metaphor, simile, symbolism, and personification to write a novel based on the principles and stories of Christianity and to reveal the presence of Christianity in everyday life.
Dickens often chooses to reveal Christianity in his work by creating characters that symbolize those found in the Bible. This is especially evident with Lucie Manette, the daughter of Doctor Manette and the wife of Charles Darnay, who represents God through her ability to save those around her from desolation. Lucie, which means "light" in Latin, is given credit for "resurrecting" both her father, from the trauma of spending eighteen years in prison, and Sydney Carton, a once lazy drunk who morphs into a Christ-like figure because of Lucie's influence on him. During an emotional breakdown, Carton confesses to Lucie, "You have
stirred old shadows that I thought had died out of me. Since I knew you, I have been troubled by a remorse that I thought would never reproach me again
I have had unformed ideas of striving afresh, beginning anew, shaking off sloth and sensuality, and fighting out the abandoned fight
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