The Use of Violence in Dickens’s and Doerr’s Novels
Charles Dickens’s most popular historical fiction novel, A Tale of Two Cities, centers on the French Revolution and focuses on the struggles and interconnecting stories of the poor citizens of France and the rich “aristocrats” in England. Anthony Doerr’s novel All The Light We Cannot See, set during World War II, illustrates the impact the war has on a blind French girl, Marie-Laure LeBlanc, and a young German solider named Werner Pfenning, and how it affects their lives. Both authors use violence to illustrate their novels themes, and traits of the novels’ characters.
First, although both novels use violence, the way the violence is depicted between the two novels varies. In Dickens’s novel, the violence is shown as a mere factor of life. Except for when Sydney Carton sacrifices himself at the end of the novel, violence is not shown to effect characters, especially the members of the Republic, who kill others at will, in order to reach their goal of overthrowing the monarchy. They put no emphasis …show more content…
In A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton spends most of the novel as a weak and drunken man. He feels as though he is unimportant and worthless. However, at the end of the novel, when Charles Darnay is sentenced to death, he finally is able to show courage, and takes his place at the guillotine. Dickens describes Carton’s thoughts, showing that he is at peace with his decision by knowing he will save all those around him. He ends his novel by writing, “It is a 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” (390 Dickens). Although he died, he did not die cowardly, because he chose to sacrifice himself rather than escape while he had the chance and let Charles Darnay and his family
Charles Dickens’s most popular historical fiction novel, A Tale of Two Cities, centers on the French Revolution and focuses on the struggles and interconnecting stories of the poor citizens of France and the rich “aristocrats” in England. Anthony Doerr’s novel All The Light We Cannot See, set during World War II, illustrates the impact the war has on a blind French girl, Marie-Laure LeBlanc, and a young German solider named Werner Pfenning, and how it affects their lives. Both authors use violence to illustrate their novels themes, and traits of the novels’ characters.
First, although both novels use violence, the way the violence is depicted between the two novels varies. In Dickens’s novel, the violence is shown as a mere factor of life. Except for when Sydney Carton sacrifices himself at the end of the novel, violence is not shown to effect characters, especially the members of the Republic, who kill others at will, in order to reach their goal of overthrowing the monarchy. They put no emphasis …show more content…
In A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton spends most of the novel as a weak and drunken man. He feels as though he is unimportant and worthless. However, at the end of the novel, when Charles Darnay is sentenced to death, he finally is able to show courage, and takes his place at the guillotine. Dickens describes Carton’s thoughts, showing that he is at peace with his decision by knowing he will save all those around him. He ends his novel by writing, “It is a 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” (390 Dickens). Although he died, he did not die cowardly, because he chose to sacrifice himself rather than escape while he had the chance and let Charles Darnay and his family