A Tale Of Two Cities Character Analysis

People, as a whole, are constantly adapting to an ever-changing world, but those individuals who cannot adjust tend to lose their grip. This concept plays a huge role in the novel A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, as well as in the movie Les Miserables, directed by Tom Hooper, based on Victor Hugo’s book of the same name. Taking place during France’s major periods of revolution, the first occurring before and during the French Revolution, and Les Miserables twenty-four years later, the two novels showcase the difficult lives of the poverty stricken French commoners and an inherent struggle between the good and the cruel. As well as shining a light upon the lives the of the French poor, the novels have a recurrent theme of static characters falling victim to the world. The personalities of Madame Defarge, a brutal antagonist unwilling to end her
As a commander in the French police force, Javert needed to have a strong respect for the law. In Les Miserables, though, he sees the world as black and white; there are those who do good by the law, and those who do not. According to these principles, a criminal shall always be evil; there is no in between. Because Javert views the world in such a way, he is shocked when an ex-convict spares his life. He does not want to live in a world where a miscreant can be good: he says, “Damned if I’ll live in the debt of a thief… I am the law and the law is not mocked,” (Les Miserables). Javert is not willing to see the world in a different way, and although deep down he realizes that perhaps there are shades of gray, he is too afraid to change, explaining, “My heart is stone and still it trembles, the world I have known is lost in shadow,” (Les Miserables). Unable to face an entirely new world, Javert decided to kill himself. Javert’s biggest weakness was his inability to adapt his views, and it drove him to