Book 2 - Winds of Change(The Golden Thread)

          This book open's with the trail of Charles Darnay, who is being accused of spying for the French government on his multiple trips between England and France. Though incriminating evidence is placed before him, the emotional testimony of Lucie, with whom he had a chance encounter on her return to England, recalls Charles Darnay from certain death. This, combined with the logic of Sydney Carton, who points out the similarity in appearnce between himself and Darnay, results in Darnay's innocence. The fact that Sydney looks like Darnay was no fluke on Dickens' part, moreover, it is a clever means to highlight the distinct differences between the two men. Sydney is a skilled legal assistant who could easily make it big, but lacks the will to do so, and has taken to the bottle to compensate his professional and personal shortcomings. Darnay, on the other hand, is a man of ferverous passion who pursues his goals to their ends. Both men fall in love with Lucie, however, Sydney deems himself unworthy of her love, and asks her for only her pity. Whereas, Darnay, asks for Lucie's hand in marriage, and they happily wed.

        While all of this is taking place, over the channel in Paris, France, the growing hatred for nobility by the common folk is beginning to manifest. Dickens does a wonderful job of illustrating this, often describing the coming storm with very poetic passages. One of the best examples of this is when a barrel of wine is dropped outside of DeFarge's wine shop and it's contents spilled onto the street. Almost immediately, the citizenry come from all around to slurp up the fluid from off the road. People were so desperate to get a taste of this wine that they chewed the pulp of the inside of the wine barrel to get a drop of its sweetness. These adverse conditions were not the only factor in what would later culminate into the French Revolution as Dickens often displays with his description of the foul French nobility. In one instance, a rich noble is racing through Paris on his way to his country villa when his carriage runs over a child. He stops, momentarily, to throw some coins at the pheasant mother, who throws them right back, while the gathering crowd 'spits venom and shouts curses'. He would later comment on his concern for the damaged state of his carriage wheels. It's moments like this that really help to punctuate the growing  uproar in France, and make the entire movement relatable.