Dickens' approach of contrasting circumstances in both France and England acts as the appropriate background to invigorate the factual violent revolutionary activity, both serving to create a tense and unrepressed setting.

Paragraph Three

• The setting for both is a time of great development and changing industry, when the focus shifts from agriculture to industrial. With alterations come clashes with religion, and increasing social problems.
• The developmental state of affairs can be placed in parallel with Malaysia’s economy, and what social problems that are being experienced when industrialization occupy the nation.
• The contrast between England and France, allies yet enemies can be judged against Malaysia and Singapore, where despite many similarities, there are many differences.

“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

“Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens

Journal Entry One:

Shifting Shadows

        The year is 1775, and circumstances in France and England seems paradoxically the best, yet the worst it can be. The monarchy and ruling classes of both countries may be relishing and experiencing the sheer elation of opulent wealth and glittering pomp, but they are detached from the sufferings and misery of the common folk. Dickens’ approach of contrasting circumstances in both France and England acts as the appropriate background to invigorate the factual violent revolutionary activity, both serving to create a tense and unrepressed setting.  

                England and France in 1775 embody the concept of duality that is outlined in the first paragraph of chapter one. Both countries are simultaneously experiencing very similar and very different situations. In England it was the dawn of the industrial revolution, and for the growing middle class it was the best of times. For the poor, it was the worst of times because illiteracy and unemployment was high. (The situation here can be compared to that in Great Expectations, which Dickens wrote after A Tale of Two Cities, where the Industrial Revolution has reached a highly matured pinnacle.) In France, inflation is out of control and an oppressive social system results in unendurable and severe injustices being committed against average citizens. The harsh justice system, run by the aristocrats, is also compared to England’s lenient one, while both countries’ concepts of spirituality are also questioned. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, and we had nothing before us…” (3) While the English and French sovereigns insensitively ignore the turmoil and desolation ubiquitous in their countries, the populaces of the meager folk secretly, but steadily, move to a tragic elucidation.

                “The time was to come, when that wine too, would be spilled on the red stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there…” (25) A street in the Parisian suburb of Saint Antoine is the scene of chaos as a crowd gathers in front of a wine shop to scoop up from pools of wine spilled from a broken cask. Dickens leaves no doubt that this scene is a glimpse of the imminent events. Moreover hints are revealed of how hunger, want and anger will transform decent, caring people into bloodthirsty animals. “(Hunger) was prevalent everywhere: in wretched clothing, from the filthy street that had no offal, among its refuse of anything to eat.” (26) Imagery and setting is combined here, as a wine-drinker were described as having “a tigerish smear about the mouth,”(25) and “The beach was a desert of heaps of sea and stones, and the sea did what it liked- destruction.” (16) When the wine was all gone, the people resume their everyday activities, however the red stains left behind on the street and on the people’s hands, faces and feet foreshadows the blood that will be spilt there in later years.

                The setting for both France and England is a time of great development and changing industry, when the focus shifts from agriculture to industrial. Dickens describes France and England as experiencing similar, yet different occurrences. Malaysia to Singapore is like France to England, allegedly an ally, yet a hidden adversary. Malaysia, like France, can never meet up to the standards, nor develop as rapidly, due to many constraints and limitations. A resentful France can only take revenge by imposing high tariffs on exports to England, a move similar to Malaysia’s pricey sale of water. In Great Expectations, England was expanding worldwide and becoming a wealthy power. With alterations and growth come clashes with religion, and increasing social problems. Now, in Asia, as each Asean country strives to grow with technology and development, social problems are being left overlooked. Not disregarded with sheer ignorance to the extent of King Louis XVI, but still left fluid and without a remedy. Social problems like incest, prostitution, drug and substance abuse and the demise of this generation is still not a main concern to the ruling powers. Though the prospect of a peasant rebellion due to hunger and poverty is quite nonexistent, the mutinous rising of today concerns another form of hunger, the hunger of today’s youth, which is left malcontented. Materialism and the ache for financial security has made this generation extremely product-orientated. Increasing sexual curiosity and the need for education is not unconditionally fulfilled, as our conservative culture does not cultivate with economical development.

                The setting creates an atmosphere, brewing with signs of a revolt against the ruling powers. The divergence between the underprivileged and the affluent is so great that one cannot feel the other. It is during such a revelation of the ignorance of the prosperous, that we too, question ourselves. Are the poor ever in the minds of the people savoring a meal that could provide a family for a month? Are the deprived in the minds of the people who throw money on expensive products that are worth only an eighth of its price? This is now a world of hypocrisy, where deliberate ignorance prevails. In A Tale of Two Cities, the setting is used just to convey these exact same views, but from the viewpoint of the victims. And thus, in conclusion, Dickens’ rendering of the backdrop and distinctions between the two countries and the social classes, sustains the ominous rebellion that is brewing, while bringing out each character and the role they execute in bringing out A Tale of Two Cities.