Interests of
"The Business of the Barrister in a Tale of Two
Cities" by Simon Petch.
Here are some
of the points I thought were the most interesting from the article:
- The basic and most interesting point that I found was emphasized by Petch was the Carton was the incarnation of "all the disparate elements of the novel's moral-political drama" (Petch 1). Basically, Carton's evolution as a man of Business, and the other men of Business showed the complex parallels between the business of England and France. Carton begins as his self deprecating self and embodying the struggle and chaos of France and England's legal systems by being called a Jackal, "an animal not destined by nature to exist, & carrying with it the provision for death" (Petch 1). Carton also resents his work environment and the way his work is used, Carton is used to show the corruption of Lorry and Stryver, and although the are esteemed business men, there work is impure. As much as Carton resents this work, I think he is still very much a part of it and this may add to his self-hatred.
- Petch's article deepens the relationships that Carton has with Lucy and Darnay, because of him being a man of business. Darnay and Carton are shown again as doppelgangers because they both lack the esteem of being high Business men, Darnay and Carton are parallel in that they do not reach their full potential. Carton's devotion to Lucy is described as coming from his dutifulness of being a business man, and that Carton served Lucy, because a Business man must always serve someone.
The explanation of Carton helping Lucie because he is a businessman, and therefore needs to serve someone also interested me. I had always thought that Carton was a martyr out of love and in order to do something productive in his life, and the explanation of his business relations to his plan is intriguing. Although, I seem it hard to believe that he intended it to be out of business rather than love. I also liked Petch's parallel between the characters of Lorry and Carton in that Lorry saved Lucie from Pairs as a child, and Carton is finishing the act by saving her from Paris as an adult. Lorry became a father figure for carton, because his self-sacrifice is fulfilling in that all Lorry cold have wished for Lucie and her child. I also had never noticed Carton's "double speak", and Petch's article distinctly points the countering of Caton's double speech and the french wood-sawyer.
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