The Last Scrap of Humanity

After the sentencing of Darnay to death, Sidney Carton stops for a drink in the Defarge's wine shop. Once there, he listens in on a conversation between the Defarges, Jacques Three, and the Vengeance. As he listens in, Ernest Defarge seems to be trying to moderate the personal vendetta that Mrs. Defarge has for the Darnay. On the very bottom of page 352, the Defarges have just resumed their conversation.
"'Why stop? There is great force in that. Why stop?' 'Well, well,' reasoned Defarge, 'but one must stop somewhere. After all, the question is still where?'...'Extermination is good doctrine my wife,' said Defarge, rather troubled; 'in general, I say nothing against it. But this Doctor has suffered much; you have seen him to-day..."(353).
In this reading, we can see that Ernest Defarge has developed a conscious about how bloodthirsty the revolution has become. Although earlier in the book, he showed no help or pity to both Darnay and Manette, we can see that behind the scenes, he is trying to curtail the innocent loss of human life. In his mind he knows that the revolution has gone too far, and he wants to spare Darnay's family the pain of his loss. This might prove to be important for many reasons. For one, he might help the Manettes or even Darnay escape because of a guilty conscious. Another reason that this might prove important is because maybe he will try and stop Madame Defarge in the future. Another thing that this chapter shows us is why Madame Defarge is hellbent on destroying Darnay.
On page 354, she says that the story in Doctor Manettes letter told the story of her sister, her brother, and her family, and how they were destroyed by the Evremonde family. This adds a whole new meaning to her asking if Little Lucy was his child, and the menacing doom that lurked about her. As a result, it is not hard to think of her killing both Darnay, Lucy, Doctor Manette, and even Little Lucy, in a thirst for revenge that cannot be quenched.

Echoing Meanings

The passage I chose to write about is the scene from the French rebels after taking the Bastille. In this passage in chapter 21, there was a difficult section that I was able to translate. The section starts on the bottom of page 229 with the line"But, in the ocean of faces where every fierce and furious expression..." and ends on page 230 with "they are not easily purified once stained red".
To start with the translation, the first line deserves attention.

"But, in the ocean of fierce and furious expression was in vivid life, there were two groups of faces - each seven in number -  so fixedly contrasting with the rest, that never did sea roll which bore more memorable wrecks with it. Seven faces of prisoners suddenly released by the storm that had burst their tomb, were carried high over head: all scared, all lost, all wondering and amazed, as if the Last Day were come, and those who rejoiced around them were lost spirits.Other seven faces there were, carried higher, seven dead faces, whose drooping eyelids and half-seen eyes awaited the Last Day."

 To start, the ocean described in the passage is the mob of rebels, who after sacking the Bastille, have two groups of people not of the revolution. These two groups are both memorable, "never did sea roll which bore more memorable wrecks with it" and these two groups are entirely different. The prisoners that have been released are scared, and bewildered at the mob around them, cheering them and their victory over the French fort. The second group of faces are much more gruesome. The faces belong to those that the rebels have killed, those "dead faces" are held above the crowd capturing attention in a totally different way.
The way that I made sense of this passage was simple. I reread it multiple times, with questions in mind about the reading. This helped me look for specific parts of the passage that answered those questions. In all, these strategies helped me translate and understand a difficult passage of chapter 22.

The Stone Man and its Maker

In chapter nine of book two, Charles Darnay visits his uncle, Monsieur the Marquis, and dines in his chateau with him. Then in the morning, the day rises to find a spectacle in that chateau, Monsieur the Marquis has been murdered, and a note around the knife says "Drive him fast to his tomb, this from Jacques" (134). The image that Dickens uses to describe the scene of the murder is truly masterful, and the language he uses is meaningful.

"It portended that there was one stone face too many, up at the chateau.
The Gorgon had surveyed the building again in the night, and had added the one stone face wanting; the stone face for which it had waited for over two hundred years.
It lay on the pillow of Monsieur the Marquis. It was like a fine mask, suddenly startled, made angry, and petrified. Driven home into the heart of the stone figure attached to it, was a knife. Round its hilt was a frill of paper, on which was scrawled:
"Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques" (143).

The words that Dickens uses to describe the scene, really invokes a detailed image and uses techniques to make it powerful. One of the ways he does this is by writing as if the mythological creature, the Gorgon, had waited for him to be murdered, and when he was, is happy that he is. This conjures up the image of a hideous creature rejoicing over the murder of a cruel ruler. Another way that dickens shows imagery is by describing Monsieur's face. The way Dickens tells of Marquis face "like a fine mask", even with the emotions of anger, fear, and surprise on his face. Using meaningful language and imagery, Dickens makes this passage at the end of chapter nine, a very meaningful one.

Delayed suspense

As I read the end of "installment 3" I instantly knew that it was blog material. The way that Dickens leads up to the cliffhanger of the installment is very amazing. "Such a scanty portion of light was admitted through these means, that it was difficult, on first coming in, to see anything;..." With this long sentence, Dickens puts the reader in a position where they are imagining a place in which they can't see at first but which is slowly becoming visible. Then, Dickens describes the disheveled man in the corner, "his back towards the door" . This Is the suspense that Dickens hopes to create, with the final words, "making shoes", he leaves the reader wanting to know who this figure is. Is it Lucy's father? The wrong person? In this way Dickens leaves the reader wanting to read more, giving the affect of delayed suspense.