A Tale of Two Cities

This section of the reading started off with the chapter called "The Knitting Done." This made me think of something going on with Madame Defarge. At first I was thinking it would have something to do with them being over with the knitting, finally acheiving their goal. But when I thought this through I realized that they would never truly be over with their murdering. They would never really finish this because the world and the people in it are not perfect and are not exactally how the Defarges want them to be. When I finally read this chapter it turns out that "The Knitting Done" actually has to do with Madame Defarge's death and her knitting coming to an end with the end of her life. And to top it all off Miss Pross is the one who took her down. Miss Pross has really changed from when the book started. I thought that she was a strong woman who acted motherly around Lucie, doing what it took to protect Lucie, which is what she does in the end. She can be compared to Carton in the way that he was willing to give up his life for Lucie and Miss Pross is willing to do the same thing for her because she loves her.

Miss Pross ends up killing Madame Defarge, accidentally. Then also Cruncher ended up changing too. He proclaimed that he would rather have his wife praying for him in order to have good 'luck' or something of that sort. The lives of the characters in the book have changed excessively.

Then is the time for Carton to be taken away in order to meet his fate. He is lead out by the seamstress and then taken to the guillatine. Carton says that he was in away more at piece with dieing rather than living. He dies knowing that his life was worth something in the sacrifice he made for Lucie.

A Tale of Two Cities

In this weeks reading we learn about the promise that Sydney Carton made to Lucie Manette. This has been foreshadowed for some time now, but now is when we actually read how it all unfolds.

It all started off with Dr. Manette denouncing Darnay through a letter that explained this. At the end of this we learn that not only is Dr. Manette denouncing Darnay but also his daughter Lucie and his granddaughter 'little' Lucie. This is all very surprising, he could denounce his daughter with Darnay, because that is her husband, but to denounce his granddaughter also is a step too far. Dr. Manette has been alone for so long, you wouldn't think he would want to push his family further and further away from him.

The next chapter talks a lot about time and it goes back and forth between thoughts and people. Finally we learn how the Evermonds/Defarges/Manettes are connected in this book. It is all pretty crazy too.

Finally the attention is turned to Sydney Carton and his promise to his love Lucie. He decides to trade places with Darnay in order for Lucie to keep her all to perfect life with Darnay. Carton finds a way to be snuck into the cell where Darnay is held and they switch clothes and drug Darnay in order to make it look as if it is Carton coming back from the cell. Then Carton is in the cell waiting...all he can do is wait for that moment when he goes against the guillatine and his life ends. Dieing for the one you love can't be the worst way to go but it is a major sacrifice. By doing this Lucie should know all to well how he feels about her. I wonder why she doesn't realize how good of a guy Carton is and not so much of her husband. Darnay has a wife and a daughter and a life to live for and Carton doesn't have anything and that is what helps to motivate him to do this for Lucie. Lucie is the only one he has ever loved and for that he would give his life and soon will.

A Tale of Two Cities

This section of the reading starts with an man named Foulon. This man is known as being a horrific 'wealthy' man and the Defarges catch him. He is then hung for his crimes of telling the poor people that if they are hungry then they should eat grass in place of food. This is what truly kills him, his disrespect and uncareness. Then they hang him in the gallows, yet he does not die on his firt attempt of hanging, not even on his second, but on his third try. In a way it makes me think that someone is trying to tell them something. There has to be some sort of reason this man does not die on their first or second attempt on hanging him. Then for these peoples own satisfaction they place his head on a pike, like their pride in the killing of this man.

The next chapter goes back to talking of the mender of roads. This person was of importance in the beginning of the book and now has come back with more importance to the story. Then the Chateau is burnt down as an act of support towards the Revolution.

Darnay then recieves a letter of plea to get him to go to France because of all that is going on there. Darnay decides that he must go in order to take back his name and his reputation. He is determined to succeed in giving up his inheritance and doing right by the people. Yet Mr. Lorry and Lucie are not so sure about this plan. I don't think that Charles is taking in consideration all about how much the people really despise him and his family. Whether or not he wants to stay away from that they still want to use him to make an example of what they are all about and what they will do in order to go towards what they hope to achieve from the capture of Darnay.

A Tale of Two Cities

This section of the reading starts off with a spy. This spy is reporting of Lucie planning to marry Darnay. When Madame Defarge hears this she adds Darnay's name to her registry. This registry has something to do with what she is knitting and how she is knitting names for a reason, whether that reason is foreshadowing his death or what.

The next chapter talks about the "eve" of Lucie's wedding. Mr. Manette seems worried, it is either since is torn between letting his daughter once again be taken from him or if it is from the fact that he is not to sure about Darnay. It also could be a sense of both. Lucie is also worried about her father and this is shown when she goes to his bedroom that night. She looks in his room to see how he is doing and finds him sleeping. I'm sure this takes a lot of pressure off her shoulders and makes it easier for her to go and get married. Her father is such a big part of her life seeing as how she just got to know him and doesn't want to lose him again. The last time she checked on him after the news of her engagement she found him once again working away making shoes. This disturbed her because this is what he spent so much time doing in jail. This shows that he was not so sure about Darnay, but now finding him asleep makes her feel better about everything.

The next chapter talks about Darnay telling Dr. Manette his secret. He confronts to him that his is related to the Marquis and that is his family, the same family that put Dr. Manette in prison. This does not set well with Dr. Manette and the fact that this man is about to marry his daughter and he is about to be a part of that family. This also falls into the next couple of chapters and how Dr. Manette has a relapse. Mr. Lorry and Ms. Pross try to figure out what to do about this and the doctor tells them to stay with him and he makes sure they are people he can trust in order to help Dr. Manette. This is a good thing for the doctor to do because things could possibly get worse if Mr. Lorry was not someone who could be trusted.

This reading is getting much more intense and starting to makes its way in deeper into the love triangle and the secrets everyone seems to carry.

A Tale of Two Cities

So this section of the reading starts off with Darnay arriving at his uncle, Marquis', home. Darnay is in a bit of an argument about his family name and how he doesn't really want to have a part of it. He no longer wants to be the one to inherit his money because it is associated with Fear and Slavery. The irony in this is that at the end of the chapter the Marquis ends up dead anyway, before Darnay has any bit of chance to take his name of the will. The Marquis is found stabbed with a note on the knife, from Jaques.

The next chapter is once again a year or so later and is when the love triangle first comes into focus. Darnay is addmitting his feelings for Miss Manette. He is in a way asking for approval from her father in order to court her, which back in the day means date. Darnay then addmits he has a secret he hopes to share with Miss Manette's father. But for some reason her father does not want him to reveal it at this time but wait. This book is really starting to get into the secrets and the mysteriousness. We have now learned that Darnay has a secret and it is obvious he is not the only one.

So then the book goes to the lawyers and Stryver is talking of his love for Lucie and telling all of this to Carton and what another secret is is that Carton himself has feelings for Lucie. The whole thing about everyone loving Lucie is crazy. What sort of spell does she have over these men that make them fall for her. Yet no one is able to addmit to her of their true feelings. I'm thinking this is going to come into play later on in the book about how everyones feelings will come out and there might be some jealousy and conflict...

A Tale of Two Cities

In this section of the reading we are introduced to a new character Miss Pross. Miss Pross is Miss Manettes care taker. Miss Pross is very protective of Miss Manette. When Mr. Lorry is talking to her, she is talking about all the people who come into Miss Manettes's life who don't appreciate her and Miss Pross seems very jealous. She doesn't want to be left out and she also doesn't want Miss Manette to have to let her go. Miss Pross talks of her brother who she believes is the only many worthy of Miss Manette.



The story then goes to Monseigeuners party. The party was held in Paris and was a big deal. Monseigeuner talks about when he ran over a young and killed him. He described this boy as a useless thing...something he could make better by buying someone off. When he said this it really struck me as disturbing. How could someone think this way? But not only is this completely horrible, when the boys father throws the money back at him, he says he would gladly run over any 'commoner' anyday. Ridiculous. This poor man just lost his son and instead of showing a bit of remorse Monseigeuner tries to pay him off. The way he acts here is just like how he acts with other common people on his journey. He is a heartless man but I wonder if he is going to have some bit of importance latter on in the story, something dealing with Miss Manette or Mr. Lorry or one of the others.

Then we learn that Mr. Monsegeuner is Mr. Darneys uncle. Big surprise there, even if Mr. Darney does not trust his uncle some of him may have rubbed off on him and may be how he acts. I wonder if this will come to be a bigger part with Miss Manette??

This book likes to go from month to month to year, it gets confusing. One moment we're in the present and the next it is a year later it tends to get confusing and hard to follow. This must just be the way Dickens gets through a long period of time, hitting the high points, is a short amount of time.

A Tale of Two Cities

This section of the reading started off talking of people who were put to death. Dickens' states many people in different situations who were put to death such as for stealing, someone with a bad note, a forgerer, and many others. This struck me as being an important part of the book, such as how even the smallest thing done wrong will proceed in someones fate. This is in a way what Dickens himself went through with his family and his fathers debt. I wonder if this is where he got this information from. The guitine is what is described as the importance to everyones death and how it is achieved.

Mr. Cruncher, who comes up in this section, is an angry man who has odd views on religion and life in general. When his wife is praying he gets mad at her for it and yells at her for this. What is the point in this? Is there a reason the woman, his wife, can't be her own self and do what she wants? This made me think of what we talked about in class about the kings and the queens and how the kings are powerful and the queen has no say in the matter and she also pretty much has no say in their life. Thinking about the movie Marie Antoinette, all that the woman was good for was having children in the growing of a family of royalty...she had no say in anything not even who she wanted to marry. She only had one duty and that was to marry this man, make him look good, and produce the next generation of children. Mr. Cruncher just relates in this way with how he is controling his wife and son.

Then the book goes into the long process of the trial and the crime this young man, Mr. Darnay, commited. It is said he committed treason but from the way he seems and how Miss Manette describes him he seems to possibly innocent unless she is testifying on his behalf for other purposes which you never know. The trial kind of confused me but it was pretty interesting in the way that I was able to get the feel of how these people lived and thought and how they seemed to get some pleasure from these criminals deaths.

In the end of this section it is talking about Mr. Carton and two other men who are drinking and are supposedly friends even though they don't really seem like it which is a lot like people now-a-days. But they are talking of Mr. Darney and I was curious as to why???

1984

This section of 1984 is very sad and depressing. It is all about Winston in the room being tortured and his conforming to the ways of the party. First it is back to where O'Brien is torturing Winston in ways to get him to understand the ways of the Party and how they are all about Power and they really don't care about anyone,people are just 'cells' in the world and they really don't make a difference. This makes me wonder. The party is made up of people. All are people who need to truly believe in the party in order to do this to others. So if the party is made up of people who run it and everything then how do they not matter? How would the party possibly be able to run if there were no people because, why should there be people they don't make a difference?



Ok so what also happened in this sections of the story was Winston giving up Julia. Not actualy confessing her being part of this but giving her up to where when he did he had nothing left to hold on to, to keep sane. She had completely changed and Winston noticed this. She was described as a 'corpse' which showed me that she, and Winston, had died. They had given into Big Brother and by doing that they lost themselves and died inside. Winston was at the point to where he didn't think of anyone but himself, which was exactly what the party had hoped to accomplish. By doing this he betrayed the one he "loved" and had given into the party which is something he swore he wouldn't do.

Was Winston lucky? He didn't get shot, but does that mean he was lucky, was he better off? He is alone, no telescreen, no one following him, true freedom. Just what he wanted right? But what does he have? No wife, or child, or Julia, no family, no one who cares about him or that he cares about. His life is empty. Winston may have gotten away without being shot but he spent so much time being interrogated that he lost who he was, and now he loves Big Brother which is exactly what they wanted. I think Winston was in a lose-lose situation. If he were to get shot they would have made sure he died loving Big Brother and he would have lost his self anyway. In the end Winston is dead and the party has vaporized Winstons sould.

I thought the overall book was very good, one of our better ones. It made a enormous point of how we don't really know what is true, we just believe what we were taught and that is what is right to us. This book was very different from the other books we normally read and that is why I think it is one of the better ones. Also it is more modern and is something we could relate to. I really enjoyed this book.

1984

So chapter 3 starts off with Winston in the cell alone, remembering when he was in an ordinary jail cell and the people that came and went. He also was thinking of O'Brien and thinking that he should know that he is was caught and he was hoping he would be sending someone with a razor so Winston could kill himself because they do not break out their people if they get caught. Winston has too much faith in O'Brien and doesn't even realize he is the one who trapped him and got him in this situation, I think Winston has lost all sense of who he should and shouldn't trust because he wants to believe there are others like him and Julia and he wants to trust anyone who seems to possibly be that way. But what confuses me is that at the beginning of the book he wasn't trustworthy with anyone not even with Julia when they first met. I wonder if his instincts of not trusting people changed when he met Julia???



Ampleforth comes into his cell and he finally has someone he hopes to talk to, but to do this they need to be quiet and secretive so the telescreen doesn't hear them because it'll yell and they'll get into trouble. So Winston makes an effort to get Ampleforths attention and they talk and Winston realizes he is not the one bringing the razor. Winston is way too naive and it's slightly annoying because I just want to yell at him or something.



So one of the prisoners who arrives is Parsons, his landlord. This is very surprising because Parsons is all for the Party and it was thought that if anybody were to go to jail for thought crime it would definately not be Parsons and yet here he is. When Winston asks him if he really did have thought crime Parsons answers of course he did and yet he did it while sleeping and in a way I don't actually think he was muttering "Down with Big Brother." Unless he read it from Winstons diary I don't believe he would be one to do that not even in his sleep. Maybe this is some way to get information from Winston you know bring in his friends or people he knows to secretly get information from him.



Soon Winston gets a visit from O'Brien and he finally understands that this was all a set up. O'Brien is so confusing because what is the point in going back to talk to Winston? It's done and over with just leave it be. O'Brien questions Winston but it is really not for the answers but more for getting to the point of taking those thoughts from him and seeing wheter or not he will be let out into the world or be shot and killed. Soon Winston is not knowing what he is thinking and is pretty much thinking what they are thinking and this is the scariest part of the whole story. Winston has lost everything that he has worked for remembering how life was and is now thinking like them and that is what is completely demented about this whole thing...brainwashing. I wonder how Winston will turn out in a way whether he lives or dies probably doesn't matter anymore because if he goes out in the world thinking like them his life is over anyway.

1984

So this section starts off with Winston working all the time and finally he gets time off and makes his way to a square where people were at a Hate Week rally. A man was speaking of the hate against Eastasia until a man came over and gave him a note saying that it was actually Eurasia they were at war with. I find this pretty funny because it is just a way to see if everyone will react in a way that is either good or bad, with the Party or against it. And everyone does go with them and instead of hating Eastasia and praising Eurasia the roles where switched and it is completely ridiculous. So this leads to everyone thinking that Goldstein setting them up with this thought. There's no way it could have been Goldstein because if Winston works for the Party they are the ones who should know yet they are making Winston and the others write about Eatasia in the historical books. So Winston and everyone only get like 6 hours of sleep in each day for as long as it takes for them to finish this and they are all told to be creative but how can you be creative with a complete lack of sleep.

So Winston goes to meet Julia and while he is waiting he starts reading the book. The book is completely boring and talks about how the countries are split up and how they are the three superstates and how they never actually gain a significant lead on each other, and how War is Peace and how Ignorance is strength and yada yada...but what confuses me is how if this is Goldsteins book then why is it not actually talking of how bad BB is and completely being against BB...and why doesn't Winston question this???

I wonder why he went back to chapter one, did he think he missed something he might have just went on from chapter 3.

The true importance to this section is that Winston and Julia were having a good day not a care in the world, safe and protected in that room and then all of a sudden there is this voice like from a telescreen telling them they are going to die, and repeating everything they say. A complete rush of fear comes to them and they think there is no point in running. What would probably be going through my mind would be suicide. What is the point in living if they are going to be contained forever and then they will just disappear and they will never see each other again. They then hear boots coming up the stairs and men come in and grab them and the find out Mr. Charrington was actually like 30 not 80 and he totally setting them up. The men are mean and they hurt Winston and Julia and take her away and Winston states that was the last time he ever saw her...sad!

1984

So Winston starts this section off with him once again being followed, but this time it is by O'Brien. O'Brien comes up to him and starts rambling on and on about a new dictionary and how Winston put a word in the Times that wasn't supposed to be there because in the new dictionary it is outlawed, but what Winston told him was that they have not recieved the new dictionary yet. This process is done right in front of a telescreen which makes O'Brien seem very suspicious. Why do this infront of a telescreen, unless he is trying to get caught...right. O'Brien is not who he seems to be. I think that O'Brien is maybe working for the wrong side, he is probably part of the Party, and possibly working to get Winston caught.

The other part of the book was talking a lot about Winston's mother. When Winston's father died Winston's mother 'lost her spirit'. She changed and was now raising Winston and his sick sister on her own. Winston was in some words a bratty child. He would scream and fight and throw temper tantrums in order to try and get food from his mother, and when she folded and gave him some it only made his want more. Even though he knew he was starving the only family he had left he still kept on doing it. I wonder if Winston's mother thought that if she didn't give him the food he would turn her in for something like thoughtcrime. She may have lost her will to feel compasionate towards him and only fear what was to come if he wasn't a satisfied child.

Winston woke up and found out that he really didn't kill his mother like he thought, this is what he got from a dream he had. Julia asks him what is wrong and he confides in her but she just blew it off. I wonder if it was just because she was half asleep, because he did just wake her up to tell her or if it was because her feelings for him aren't as emotional as they are physical because no matter how much they try their abilities towards feelings and everything are somewhat lost.

Later on in this section Winston takes Julia to O'Briens home to get the "dictionary" and Winston confides in O'Brien but we find out he is not who we thought he was.

1984

This weeks reading was pretty intense. There were many risks taken and many new findings. First we start off with Winston and Julia heading off to a secret place. Danger/courage is what they are going through right now, not knowing whether or not they'll get caught but taking that risk anyhow. At first Winston is a bit scared to get too close to her. I wonder, is he still afraid of whether or not she's a spy or if he's afraid he'll get caught or he's afraid of what might end up happening between them? But whatever the reason he is pulling away from her at first he ends up not caring at all because he pushes away all of his worries in order to get back the one thing he's been thinking of most of the book, to be close to someone, not just emotionally, but physically too. One thing that bothers me about those two is that at times they are way too honest. First he tells her he hated her at first and thought of killing her and so on and then she tells him she's slept with tons of guys and liked it because she wanted sex...um ok. I would get creeped out about that but they apparently don't seem to mind. Also in this chapter things between the two strenghthen but what is strange is that Winston compares Julia to a political matter. He talks about being with her wasn't so much for physical/emotional but was because he was in a way rebelling and making some political statement.

Later on in the book we learn a lot more about Julia, especially about how she completely despises the Party. She actually plays a big role in the party, being part of the Anti-Sex League and wearing the red sash. But really all of this is in order that she doesn't get caught or even suspisioned for who she really is. Julia is much younger than Winston is it surprised me that if she grew up with the only knowledge of the Party, why is she so against them???

1984

The chapter starts off with Winston missing, for the second time in three weeks, going to his comunity center. When he is thinking about this his ulcer starts to hurt and I think the reason for that is because he is stressing about what could happen whether he could get in trouble or whatever but he is getting agitated and that is why his ulcer is starting to hurt and itch. "If there is hope it lies in the proles." I think that this saying is important in the story because it makes me think that the proles are the only ones left with the memory of how used to be, they are not under as much control from the government and this makes them so important because they are the only ones left to bring them back to the way the world was before the revolutionary war. Winston believes that they are the only hope left and that is why he follows an old man into a pub and bothers him hoping he will tell him about his past. Once Winston realizes the old man has no recollection of the past Winston knows that the government has made much more damage even to those who have lived before Big Brother. This just gives him a feeling that there is no hope left and when that is in your head, what's the point of living?

While Winston was walking home the girl, Julia, was once again following and for a moment he thought of taking her in the alley and killing her. He already thought she was some sort of spy but now that he was holding something that could get him in trouble he is even more nervous. But he decides not to and goes home.

Julia has completely changed from who we thought she was in this chapter. She went from being a spy to actually just following her heart. In this chapter Julia makes a brave move. When she was walking by Winston she fell and Winston, surprisingly, helped her up and she gave him a note that said "I love you!" Winston of course is thinking the worst but he gets the courage to go and talk to her and they plan to meet. When they do meet everything doesn't go as planned but in the process they get to hold hands.

1984

In this section of the reading we learn more about what it is that Winston does. Winston gets messages and then needs to go back through the articles in the "Times" and rewrites history in the way that Big Brother wants him to write it. Winston says that his work is his "greatest pleasure"...what is that all about. Winston first says he hates his work because he doesn't agree with it and then he says it is his pleasure. It's quite confusing, but in a way I think that maybe it makes sense. Maybe he is trying to do what everyone else is doing by following Big Brother but when he is going against it maybe that is his way of staying sane with the way the world is supposed to be. He needs to be able to get away from what he is told and do what he thinks is right.

Syme, a writer of the Newspeak dictionary, is introduced to us. He eats lunch with Winston and in a way is his friend. Syme tells Winston of how the dictionary is getting smaller, and smaller. Big Brother is trying to limit the amount of words people are able to speak of so that they will no longer be able to have bad thoughts. I wonder, is everyone expected to read the dictionary in order to know of the certain words they are and are not able to speak or even think of?

At the end of the section Winston speaks of his wife. The first time that we hear of Winston having a wife, and he says that she was under their control. They were unable to have a child so she left. How is it possible to even think in that way. In a way this book kind of reminds me of the movie "The Truman Show" where Jim Carrey lives in a world and in a way, even though he doesn't know, is being controled. His wife doesn't actually love him, everyone is nice to him because they are on TV, and his world is not even an actual world. In a way the book just reminds me of this movie and how you never know who is out there watching...

1984

The book starts off talking of a man who is walking up the stairs to an apartment where there is another man who is listening to a telescreen and when he notices another person is around he turns it down even though Winston can still hear the words clearly. Then as he is walking down the steps he sees a poster that states: Big Brother is Watching You. This saying has much significance to the story as it goes on.

When Winston is back at his place he is trying to decifer whether or not to write in his journal. Finally he just starts jotting down the first thing that is in his head. When he pauses he is reminded of a story which is the reason he wants to write in his diary. The story takes place earlier that day when her was at work and a meeting or something was taking place and everyone was gathered around in a room with a telescreen and when it came on an enemy to this Big Brother named Goldstein came on and he talked of what he thought was wrong with Big Brother and everyone pretty much freaked out. They screamed and threw things at him, hitting the telescreen, and they shouted their hate towards him even though to him it meant nothing because he was not there to hear it. When Winston stood up he made eye contact with O'Brien and realized that there was someone else who thought the way he did...that Big Brother is not what it seems, it might just be much worse. But the one thing that bugged me is that this Goldstein is saying what he feels is right and using his freedom of speech and preaching to the world but even those who possibly agree with him do not have the guts to speak out themselves, instead they follow what the others are doing and yell about how wrong he is.

Winston goes off in a day dream and when he awakes from it he realizes he has written "Down with Big Brother" which is something that could get him killed but yet he keeps going writing things, bad things, about Big Brother. When there is a knock at the door Winston fears someone has seen what he has written down and he is scared, but he leaves it open anyway and I think it is a gesture toward what he believes in he wants people to know. He's scared but in a way he isn't . He wants to revolt but isn't sure how to. Mrs. Parsons is the one at the door and she needs help with her sink.

The story continues with Winstons day dreaming and I think that this has much importance because it goes into detail about what he believes in and what his thoughts and experiences are which all have much importance for what will happen in the rest of the story.