Guillotine Symbolism Essay

Symbolism: “To imbue objects with a certain meaning that is different from their original meaning or function.”

Example: “Along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble, hollow and harsh. Six tumbrils carry the day 's wine to La Guillotine. All the devouring and insatiate Monsters imagined since imagination could record itself, are fused in the one realisation, Guillotine”(381).

Context: After Carton carries out his plan to save Darnay, he meets an innocent seamstress who is also about to be executed at the Guillotine. The revolutionaries are already to watch their daily entertainment and sacrifice to the Guillotine.

Concept: In the quote above, the Guillotine is a symbol of the French Revolution, as it shows the bloodshed and violence in the Revolution. When the prisoners are showcased to the revolutionaries, the prisoners are seen as “the day’s wine to

Dickens’ novel develops the idea that sacrifices are made for the people or things that are important to you. The Revolutionaries sacrifice everyone, even their own people, to the Guillotine because they put the Guillotine before anything else. This kind of sacrifice is negative, because instead of human beings, the victims are seen as wine for the Guillotine. This theme of sacrifice is also seen in Carton. Carton sacrifices himself for Lucie, because Lucie is the only person he cares about. Carton promised Lucie before that, “ think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you!"(). Carton shows an example of a positive sacrifice where he redeems himself to be worthy, even though he gave up his life. This surrender shows true compassion for what he loves, thus he will be remembered as honorable and not destructive like the Guillotine. The sacrifices Carton and people made have the same intention, but Carton is using his own life, while the people use others to make their