. Charles Dickens, in David Copperfield, describes this journey as he makes the reader a vital part of David Copperfield's life. This journey is a theme in this novel as well as "David's" longing for what is lost in the past and the humiliation he feels from being an orphan. Dickens has developed his character, David, into a hero much like he wanted to be remembered as (Andreola 3). Many critics today think he achieved that goal! Charles Dickens also wrote many other books throughout his creative writing career. In his book A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens causes the reader to ask what the novel is really about, just what the driving theme is. Although each reader will come up with a different answer to this question, most of the answers fall into one of three categories. Some readers will say that this novel is about the different personalities of the many different and well-described characters throughout his novel. The story portrays a French physician, Dr. Manette, who has been wrongly put into prison in the Bastille for nearly eighteen years before the story even begins (Constable 24). Because he witnessed the aftermath of a crime that was committed by two other fellows, the doctor was thrown into prison. The entire prison experience is something that he can never fully shake free from. In moments of stress throughout the novel Dr. Manette often goes insane, a result of his time in prison. The story also concerns a man by the name of Jarvis Lorry, who, in the beginning of the book, is on his way to retrieve the doctor from the prison (Constable 13). Another group of readers will believe that this book is about the French Revolution. Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities starts out in 1775 while the Revolution was still in its underground preliminary stages. The book covers eighteen years ending with one of the bloodiest battles, the Reign of Terror in 1973. Although most of the major revolution events take place off stage in the novel, they...
