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It is the year 1775. Dickens begins the novel by describing this year with one of the most famous sentences in literature: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of timesŠ" In short, despite the rapturous joy or painful suffering that everyone seems to feel, the time is really no less different than our own. It is filled with people who think "in the superlative degree of comparison only," and who believe that the world is not going to change. The narrator describes the goings-on in England and France. In England, ghost sightings and prophets holding seances are common. Highwaymen by night live as honest tradesmen by day, and thieves run rampant. In France, people are tortured for not paying homage to monks walking fifty yards away, and already there are rumblings of the terrible time that is to come. In short, the kings and queens of both countries rule, while the world of the commoners continues beneath them. Analysis: Dickens first tries to set us up in relation to the past here. Before giving us the year, he gives us a number of sweeping generalizations that could apply to any given time. In this way, he makes us realize that the historical past could very well be our own present. The Revolution was not so long ago in Dickens' time: therefore, Dickens could be telling his English audience to pay attention to this historical time, or else they are doomed to repeat it. Resurrection and revolution, the other main themes of the novel, are also introduced here. In England, the emphasis is on seances with ghosts, a type of resurrection of dead spirits. In France, revolution waits and watches. Fate is portrayed as a woodman, coming to saw down the trees that will eventually make the guillotine. Death becomes a farmer, carrying his own wares on the tumbrils that carried the aristocrats to the guillotine. Yet no one notices them. Both these themes, along with the importance of connections over time, will all come to dominate the book. Book 1, Chapter 2: "The Mail" Summary: On a misty Friday night in November, a mail-coach lumbers up a hill on the road to Dover. Three passengers trudge in the mud behind it, with one passenger flinching each time the coach rattles. The guard and coachman both complain that it is late, and the coach cannot go any faster. Suddenly they hear a horse coming at full gallop. Everyone is frightened as the guard calls out to the mystery man. In a hoarse voice, the horseman asks for Mr. Jarvis Lorry. Lorry identifies the voice as Jerry. When the guard shows some apprehension, Mr. Lorry states that he is from Tellson's Bank in London, and there is nothing to fear. Jerry gives Lorry the message "Wait at Dover for Mam'selle." Lorry gives the reply, "Recalled to life," and sends Jerry on his way. After a few moments, the guard and coachman wonder what the conversation means. Meanwhile, Jerry rides back, hoping that "recalling to life" doesn't become fashionable. Analysis: Dickens uses pathetic fallacy in this scene‹that is, making nature reflect the inner turmoil of the characters. The misty, muddy nature of the night accurately reflects the murky natures of the characters. Dickens believed in revealing the characters as the story unfolds. Thus, the characters are only presented in bits and pieces, and with a shroud of questions hanging over them. Mr. Lorry is a mysterious figure himself: the passengers don't seem to trust him, and only the knowledge that he is from a respectable bank is enough to comfort them (although the guard and the coachman, who are remarkably similar to the guards of Hamlet's opening scene, still doubt him). Jerry is also a menacing figure; he could be a highwayman, and he definitely appears to be up to no good.
Approximate Word count = 2551
Approximate Pages = 10.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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