The ending of the book was very interesting. Everything got wrapped up in the end and didn’t really leave any questions unanswered. Charles Darnay had been executed along with Carton and the suspense wasbeing built all the way to the very end. Personally, I enjoyed this book but I am interested to see what you guys thought. Now I have three questions for you to answer…
1. Do you think it was wrong of Carton to pretend to be Charles Darnay when it was time for him to be killed?
2. Why do you think Carton looked so pleased while he was being executed?
3. This is a simple question; what is your opinion on this book overall?
Megan Campbell
Category: Uncategorized 4 comments »
March 7th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
To start, let me ask you a question, Megan. I’m a little confused by your wording. You said that Charles Darnay was executed along with Carton. But I thought Darnay escaped. Because of their similarities, Carton switched clothes with Darnay and took the death penalty for him. But then, in the first question, you said that Carton pretended to be Darnay. Does anyone else see this? Now to answer the questions…
1. I have multiple opinions on the first question. If we are looking at this from a legal point of view, then it was definitely wrong for Carton to switch places with Darnay. But from the human perspective, Carton did the right thing because he was giving up his life to save the lives of other people. By letting Darnay live, he was changing the course of Lucie’s life, allowing her to create a family and for all of them to have each other. If Darnay had died, the whole Darnay family would cease to exist. So, by saving one life, Carton was really saving the whole Darnay family, in a way. Finally, I would like to say that none of this should have happened in the first place. It wasn’t right for the Defarges to seek revenge on Charles Darnay when it was his father and uncle that had committed the crime. Also, I think it was wrong for the jury to find Darnay guilty because he hadn’t really done anything wrong. Simply being related to two other people simply does not allow someone to suffer the death penalty.
2. I’m not sure of “pleased” is the right word to describe Carton during his walk to the guillotine. I doubt that anyone is pleased while they are literally walking to their death. However, I think that Carton was satisfied with the way he was dying. To die in the place of a friend is noble, is it not? I can’t really think of a good way to describe Carton’s emotions. He certainly wasn’t ecstatic to be dying, but he was joyful that he was helping his friends. To answer the original question, saving another’s life was the reason that he was “pleased”.
3. This a hard book to classify in the “don’t like” and “like” category. I would have to give this book a mixed review. I did like the plot line quite a lot, especially towards the end. The way that all the characters have relationships with another reminds me of modern day TV shows and books. It sort of reminded me of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, with the idea that everyone knows each other and how even the people who haven’t met have some sort of connection. But even though I liked the plot, it was really hard to keep up with the language and Dickens’s style of writing. The way he writes makes the action hard to follow. Many times I found myself reading a passage and wondering “What just happened?”. In fact, I had to reread a lot of sections to catch the drift of what was going on. But other than that, I thought it was a very well rounded book with romance, mystery, and suspense. Plus, I also liked the time period of the story and the relations the characters had (as mentioned above).
Erin B
March 8th, 2009 at 11:00 am
1. I don’t think it was wrong at all. Sure it was wrong legally but in life you’re not always going to follow the rules. Carton had his reasons for breaking them and it was very important for him to go through with it so in my opinion it’s okay. His decision helped people, like Darnay and his family.
2. Maybe he looked that way because he was proud to be dying for his friend. In his final moments he knew that he was doing a noble thing and if he was going to die that was the way to do it.
3. I think that the book was interesting, but a little hard to follow at times. The language Dickens used was confusing and difficult to understand. But other than that it was a pretty decent book; I mean it’s not really my kind of book but it was okay.
Alyssa=)
March 8th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
1) First off, I am very unsure of what my overall opinion is. Like Erin said, legally it was very wrong for Carton to pretend to be Darnay. But yet morally it was right. He was helping a friend from something that he didn’t do and of something that he should NOT have been punished for. I would also like to say that he not only helped Darnay he also helped Lucie. Earlier in the book we saw that Carton also was in love with Lucie and wanted to marry her, so maybe he pretended to be Darnay also for her. Maybe he cared about her so much and knew that she was supossed to be with Darnay so he saved Darnay’s life so she could be happy. If this was his motive for his actions then I think he made the right desicion. I have a question, we all know that Carton was the one who was killed but, do you think that Darnay will pretend to be somebody else, because other wise he could be in much more trouble with the law for basically escaping his sentance? Just a thought!
2) I also aggree with Erin I don’t think he was pleased that he was dying, I think that he was pleased because he made the right desicion. From what I said before, maybe he was happy because he knew that Lucie would be happy with Darnay and he knew that he helped a friend.
3) Overall I am unsure of what I think about the book. I think that the story in general was very creative and suspensful and kept you wondering about who Lucie would choose and what would happen to Darnay. But like Erin and Alyssa both said, I really am not a fan of Dicken’s style and language because it is very difficult to understand and you have to reread many parts to even become close to understand what is going on. I think that if this was rewritten in modern language it would be good. I still enjoyed it but I think in modern language it would be easier to understand and enjoy.
~Lauren Gress~
March 9th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
1. I don’t think that it was wrong for Carton to pretend to be Darnay. Since Darnay was wrongly accused and Carton willingly sacrificed himself, I don’t think that it was wrong. In answer to Lauren’s question about Darnay having to pretend to be someone else, I thought the same thing. People will eventually recognize who he is. I think that he will either move away from the area or take on a new name and title.
2. I don’t think that anyone would look pleases while dying. I think that Carton may have looked okay with it because he knew that he was doing it for a good friend of his (Darnay) and for the woman he loved (Lucie). I think he knew how happy they were together and accepted that it would break Lucie’s heart if Darnay were to die. I think that that is what calmed Carton in the difficult time. He also said that he knew that he would be remembered, by Lucie and Darnay, and then on for generations. I think that being respected and honored by Lucie was also important for him.
3. I think that the book was good. I think that if it were written in easier text, and more contemporary, it would be a really interesting book. It’s just a lot of drama and mysteries. So I think it was decent.
-Maddie Zinn