Jarvis Lorry And Ernest Defarge In A Tale Of Two Cities
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In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents a vivid picture of the exploited French peasantry in contrast to the luxurious life of aristocrats, which sparks the French Revolution. A series of stories taking place in London and Paris, surrounding the Manette and the Defarge families, display the power of hatred, the virtue of sacrifice and the complexity of human nature. The paradoxical characters reveal their ambiguous traits throughout the novel. In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens depicts Jarvis Lorry and Ernest Defarge as two paradoxical characters in order to highlight a theme of paradox.
Jarvis Lorry, an elderly banker, exemplifies paradox. Mr. Lorry first expresses his lack of emotion through a description of his work when he meets Lucie Manette in…show more content… He describes himself as a man of business: “No; you have been the ward of Tellson’s House since, and I have been busy with other business of Tellson’s House since. Feelings! I have no time for them, no chance of them. I pass my whole life, miss, in turning an immense pecuniary mangle” (Dickens 27). Mr. Lorry dedicates his entire life to the business of Tellson’s Bank. His dedication causes him having no time for feelings but only for his business. This demonstrates Mr. Lorry’s self-awareness as an apathetic banker. He shows a lack of emotion in his talk, revealing one side of his character. However, considering his actions, his words seem to be paradoxical. For example, Mr. Lorry helps the Manette family overcome the difficulties they face, including staying close to Dr. Manette for nine long days until he recovers from mindlessness. Additionally, on Lucie’s wedding day, he gives her a box of silver dishes. As he