Insights into Book the Second Chapters 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21

Insights into Chapter 17 “One Night”

Dickens creates a “worst of times/best of times” juxtaposition of setting between the end of Chapter 16 (“Still Knitting”) and the beginning of Chapter 17 (“One Night”) on page 188. Remember that setting often illustrates something going on in plot or characterization, so be sure to notice this particular juxtaposition.

Notice the juxtaposition of the setting place change between the end of Chapter 16 and the beginning of Chapter 17.

The third full paragraph on page 190 can be a bit confusing if you’re not sure what the antecedent for the pronoun “her” is in the third line. In other words, to whom is the “her”? Ask yourself at whom Doctor Manette has looked from his prison window. (HINT: He indicates this by raising his hand toward “her.”) All of the “her” pronouns in this paragraph are personification. Be sure that you understand what the personification is.

The “her” pronouns continue in the last full paragraph of page 190. The use of “her” is continued personification.

On page 191, however, the “her” pronouns are no longer referring personification. The “hers” used by Dr. Manette on this page have the antecedent stated in the very first line of the page—the person he pictures to himself. Keep in mind these are the various imaginings of Dr. Manette while he was in prison.

Insights into Chapter 18 “Nine Days”

Remember that Chapter 18 is a companion chapter to Chapter 17. The “one night” is the night BEFORE Lucie’s marriage; the “nine days” are the days immediately after Lucie’s marriage.

Remember that we were first introduced to Solomon (bottom of page 193) on page 97. Be sure you know who he is—and what he has done that we don’t see him in the story.

In the middle of page 195, we see the Doctor in obvious distress. You will need to remember the promise that was made at the top of page 138 to correctly infer what has happened between Charles and Dr. Manette.

Be sure you understand what has happened to Doctor on pages (and thus the reason for the title of “Nine Days”).

Insights into Chapter 19 “An Opinion”

The title of Chapter 19 comes from the last sentence in the paragraph at the top of page 198. Notice that the “certain opinion” refers to an opinion that Mr. Lorry “thought the best, on the Doctor’s case.”

On page 200, in the second paragraph, make sure you understand why Mr. Lorry thought he may have still been dreaming when he saw Dr. Manette.

On page 201, be sure that you understand “the scheme” that Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry devise to talk with Dr. Manette about his illness. The opinion that is sought is a medical opinion from Dr. Manette—and it deals with a “hypothetical” situation (that is in reality Dr. Manette’s situation). This is not the first time we’ve seen Mr. Lorry handle difficult situations in this manner. (See, for example, the bottom of page 22 and the top of page 23 when Mr. Lorry has to break the news to Lucie that her daddy is alive.)

At the top of page 206, make sure you know what the “it” is to which Mr. Lorry refers. (It’s the “old companion” to which Dr. Manette refers at the bottom of that same page. You must understand the “opinion” that Dr. Manette gives at the top of page 207—and what Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross do as a result of that “opinion” in the last paragraph of Chapter 19.

Insights into Chapter 20 “A Plea”

Make sure you understand who (ironically) is the first person to offer his congratulations to the newlywed couple after Lucie and Charles’ honeymoon. (See bottom of page 207.)

The title of this chapter (“A Plea”) could be applied to several scenarios: Notice what plea (a “wish”) Sydney makes to Charles at the top of page 208. Sydney also makes a plea at the bottom of page 208 that Charles would forget something. Make sure you understand what. In the lower half of page 209, Sydney makes a request which Charles graciously grants. In the bottom of page 210, Lucie makes a request of Charles on Sydney’s behalf.

Insights into Chapter 21 “Echoing Footsteps”

Of course, we’ve prepared for the title of this chapter (and its contents) by paying attention to page 93 to the last sentence of the first full paragraph. (That’s why the narrator can say “it has been remarked”— because it WAS remarked on page 93.)

“The Golden Thread,” as you will remember, is the title of Book the Second. Make sure you understand the symbolism here.

On page 212, be careful to understand the foreshadowing of the first full sentence (“[T]here was something coming in the echoes, something light, afar off, and scarcely audible yet, that stirred her heart too much.”) This foreshadowing is portentous.

Also on page 212, the first full paragraph sees the birth of Lucie and Charles’ first child. Make sure you know what sex the child is and what her name is.

In that same paragraph, the last sentence talks about the “Divine friend of children…seem[ing] to take her child in His arms, as He took the child of old, and made it a sacred joy to her.” The capital letters should help you make an inference to Whom is being referred here. (You might want to see the gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verse 14 if you’re not sure.)

At the bottom of page 212, Lucie and Charles face tragedy with their second child. Be sure you know what sex he was, and what happens to him. (Note also the unrealistic, idealized response that Lucie has on page 213. Remember that Lucie is a flat character—always good, always perfect—and this is even true as her child dies.)

The second and third paragraphs of page 213 are about Sydney. Pay attention to his relationship with the family of the Darnays, especially the children.

At the top of page 215, we see Dickens use the setting to echo the conflict.

Page 215 is set in “mid-July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine” in Soho (London), England. However, keep in mind what Dickens’ narrator is NOT telling you—information that you already know: the middle of July would be July 14, and the year is Now you should be able to understand the gloomy and threatening sky and the storm that is raging— because you KNOW what is happening across the English Channel in France at that exact same time!

On page 216, the white space break is important because the setting jumps from Soho to Saint Antoine (but the date stays the same): Bastille Day. In the first paragraph after the white space break, be sure you remember the broken wine cask of Chapter 5, Book the First.

On page 217, Dickens creates verisimilitude by making the Defarge wine shop (a fictitious place) the center of the “whirlpool of boiling waters” of the activity of the very real Bastille Day.

Now that the Revolution is no longer growing “silently,” there is no longer a need for the name “Jacques.” Be sure you do look for imagery of the out-of- control third estate revolutionaries as a “flood” and a raging “sea.” Mark any time you see that in pink.

On page 219, in the storming of the Bastille, Monsieur Defarge requests that he be taken to “One Hundred and Five, North Tower.” If this means nothing to you, be sure to go back to page 42 and re- read the second half of the page. While in this cell, Defarge looks carefully for something, but the narrator chooses NOT to tell us if he finds anything. Keep that in mind. It’s part of the suspense Dickens is creating to push toward the climactic chapter of his book.

On page 222 at the bottom of page, make sure you note that there have been several discoveries in the Bastille, including “discovered letters and other memorials of prisoners.”

On page 223, we see the reality of the foreshadowing of page 28.