Sydney Carton Symbolism

In A Tale of Two Cities, the symbols of the lion and the jackal are introduced relating to Mr. Stryver and Sydney Carton. Dickens symbolizes Striver as the lion due to his arrogant and proud attitude, his successful job, and how he treats Carton, while symbolizing Sydney Carton to a jackal due to his smart decisions, how he acts, and how he gets along with Mr. Stryver. Charles Dickens uses the symbol of a lion to characterize Mr. Stryver due to how he acts, how his successful job influences him, and how he works with Carton. Lions are normally characterized as resembling great power or authority and can also resemble arrogance. Mr. Stryver exemplifies this when he decides that he is going to marry Lucie Manette. He is so ambitious that he
Stryver. Towards the beginning of the book, the reader learns that Carton works as a defence attorney with Mr. Stryver. His talent surpasses Mr. Stryver, and without Carton, Stryver would not be able to be as successful as he is not in the book. However, Sydney Carton’s decisions are also scavenger like. For example, he takes cases that Mr. Stryver receives, instead of looking for his own cases. “At length the jackal had got together a compact repast for the lion, and proceeded to offer it to him,” (66). This shows that Sydney Carton makes summaries of the cases they are working together on, meaning that he does most of the work. What is even more scavenger like is the fact that Carton likes working with Mr. Stryver even though he does not get any benefit in reputation or money. Carton’s scavenger like choices makes him in some ways rely on Stryver. Like Mr. Stryver, the relationship between a lion and a jackal can also be related to how Carton gets along with Stryver. The reason why Carton makes an excellent jackal is due to the fact that his benefits help Stryver tremendously, and in this convenient relationship, Stryver can then support Carton for his needs,