The Symbolism of Blood in Tale Of Two Cities Essay

In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: Dickens uses blood to convey violence and savagery. It is a reoccurring image and sets the tone of the novel. There are many points that Dickens brings up these ideas that bring surprise and wonder to the book and grab hold of the reader.

One of the first images of blood is used when we encounter the broken wine cask. The wine was red wine... those who had been greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear about the mouth... The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there. In Book 1 Chapter 5, a wine cask falls to the pavement in the street and the passing peasants hurry to drink the wine. The wine is a sign of blood. It shows how violent actions from the French peasants need to be taken to satify their craving for food and survival. Dickens is trying to show that spilling a little blood makes people hungry for more.

The wine shop owned by the Defarges is another symbol of blood. Wine symbolizes blood, and the wine shop is owned by the Defarges. This leads to the Defarges are the center of all the violence and savageness. Madame Defarge, the true center, is feared as the goddess of death, sitting behind her counter and controlling peoples lives, and controlling the violence and savagery that is occurring.

The Carmagnole is known as the violent dance that the French peasants do when they kill the prisoners. They walk through blood, the violence and savageness, completely immersed in it. After the people kill the prisoners they start dancing as if nothing happened when truly they just committed murder. This shows that they have become careless to something so important, which demonstrates that the people will do things worse than murder. That is because murder is not seen as a bad thing anymore even though they killed the people who were in jail for committing crimes that for some are falsely accused.

A Tale of Two Cities takes us on a cruel road overflowing with violent behavior. We watch as all characters are affected by this burning obsession, and at each scene lay a pool of blood. The blood shows the violence and savagery in the novel. Wherever these peasants go, blood will surely follow.