Violence In Robert Alter's A Tale Of Two Cities

Specifically, the surroundings of the novel influence society, pushing it towards a more radical or mob like mentality. Robert Alter, a literary professor, explains that “The most powerful imaginings of the novel reach out again and again to touch ultimate possibilities of violence, whether in the tidal waves of mass destruction or in the hideous inventiveness of individual acts of cruelty”. In other words, the characters react in different ways to their oppressive surroundings, either by themselves or in groups. Although these characters face different situations, violence is usually their reaction. For example, in England, a group of people interrupt a funeral precession based on the fear and rumor that the deceased was a spy. The group quickly
becomes violent and turns into a mob as the people start attacking a mourner trying to escape the hearse. Dickens illustrates this violence best when he states, “The people tore [the mourner's clothes] to pieces and scattered [the clothes] far and wide with great enjoyment, while the tradesmen hurriedly shut up their shops; for a crowd in those times stopped at nothing, and was a monster much dreaded” (161) . The English citizens are so wary of the events taking place in France that they begin to suspect everyone as a spy. In addition, this is clearly not the first time a riot has broken out based on the fact that the shopkeepers already know what to expect and hurriedly close down their shops to avoid any altercations with the mob. Alter also explains that “Throughout the novel, the English mob is in potential what the French revolutionary hordes are in bloody fact”. Under the right circumstances, the English mob could quickly become as violent as those in France and a revolution in England would be unavoidable. Meanwhile, in France, violence is increasingly rising throughout the country as conditions for the poor worsen.
For instance, a town in France is described as a dismal place where hunger is “ prevalent everywhere. Hunger was pushed out of the tall houses, in the wretched clothing that hung upon poles and lines; Hunger was patched into them with straw and rag and wood and paper; Hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of firewood that the man sawed off; Hunger stared down from the smokeless chimneys, and stared up from the filthy street that had no offal, among its refuse, of anything to eat“ (34). The poor conditions of France are obviously a contributing factor to the violence of the revolution. The people are starving and will do anything to feed their families, even if it means killing someone else. Thus, hunger is one of the driving forces of the mobs. Unfortunately, violence only creates more violence. For example, Madame Defarge is intent on killing all that get in her way because “It was nothing to her, that an innocent man was to die for the sins of his forefathers; she saw, not him, but them. It was nothing to her, that his wife was to be made a widow and his daughter an orphan; that was insufficient punishment, because they were her natural enemies and her prey, and as such had no right to
live. To appeal to her, was made hopeless by her having no sense of pity, even for herself” (372).
Madame Defarge’s history drives her hatred of nobles. Considering that her sister was raped by a noble, her first response to the growing unrest in France is to target the nobles. Madame Dufarge does not see each of the nobility as a separate person, in her mind they are all considered an enemy, which explains how she sees the revolution. She sees the mobs of France as an instrument of revenge and tries to use them to get back at the nobility. According to Marie Gonzales-Posse, “In order to complete her revenge, Madame Defarge acquires the power to control the destinies of others”. Her childhood surroundings have influenced her to take advantage of France’s violent atmosphere. In addition, Charles Dickens perfectly sums up the influence of the setting when he states “Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind”. The French and English societies are both subjugated to harsh and questionable
environments. These environments help develop the two different societies in different ways, thus the French society is driven to revolution while the English society is comparatively more stable.