John Barsad to save Darnay. Carton’s plot was this: he would go to Darnay’s cell, change clothes with Darnay, and replace him at the guillotine; thus Carton would be executed instead of Darnay.By doing this, Carton was able to “ressurect” his life, and make it meaningful after so many years of his being a dissipated alcoholic. Carton could have done nothing, and just watched as Darnay’s head was chopped off, but in doing so, he would have made himself even more of a failure: if he could have helped save the husband of the woman he loves, but he chose to do nothing, he would have again proved that he was a selfish, insolent man, and a failure in life. Had he done this, he would have been a forgotten man, whom no one would weep for when he died. However, by fulfilling his promise to Lucie, he has made his life meaningful, and he is “resurrected” in that he will forever be remembered by the people for whom he sacrificed his life.Similarly, in Great Expectations, there are dichotomies between characters that are representative of the themes of the novel. One of the major themes is the conflict between good and evil, and between guilt and innocence. This theme manifests itself in many ways. The first instance of this theme is when Pip meets a convict in the cemetery where his parents’ tombstones are located. Pip provides the convict with a file and some food, for which Pip later feels very guilty. This guilt causes Pip to become paranoid about his getting caught for his deed; he imagines everything to be a sign that he will soon be caught, such as when policemen come into the house with handcuffs, which they simply wanted Joe to fix. Pip continues, even at a later age, to see displays of the conflict between good and evil going on in his mind. When he visits London, he sees images of justice and punishment, such as the gallows, throughout the city. When he finds out that his secret ...
