Tale Of Two Cities Rhetorical Analysis

Poverty When people are in need, it is the moral duty of others to help ease their suffering to the best of their ability. This is especially true for the poor, poverty one of the leading causes of universal suffering. The lack of money can have severe detrimental effects on a person’s lifestyle, including lack of education, nutrition, and motivation. However, while it is easy to reimburse the less fortunate with monetary assets, the attitude and perspective developed in their impoverished state can be harder to heal. A prominent example of this was the peasant class during the French Revolution, as Charles Dickens reveals in his novel, A Tale of Two Cities. Throughout the novel, Dickens conveys the idea that poverty can change people's’ attitudes
A metaphorical display of this is when the text says, “The trade signs were all grim illustrations of want” (34). What this metaphor is saying is that seeing trade signs and other indications of the luxuries nobles enjoyed reminded them of how little they had, and how much they wanted. Having so little made them envious of what the rich had, and made them want it for themselves, instigating jealousy. Furthermore, jealousy is examined through the symbolic use of hunger. Dickens writes, “Hunger was shred into...husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil” (33). Words like husky and reluctant show that their food is not very appealing, especially when compared with the extravagant dining the nobles enjoy.This meager food shows hunger to be not only a physical lacking, but as a symbol of the overall misery in the people based on how little they have. Their misery illustrates that in their suffering, they are hungry to taste better foods and better lives, such as those that are enjoyed by the rich, making them resentful and subsequently envious. Together, these literary devices effectively convey that a jealous attitude can stem from an impoverished