Essay 9

Ben’jamin
Mr. H Salsich
English 9
30/11/10


Essay 9 Graphic Organizer

Main Point: Carton is a fighter
Bell word: brave
Thesis: Carton does not give up

TS: Sick people fight
CM: No one says “good job”
CM: Same with Carton
TH: Carton fights against all odds

TS: Carton is brave
SD: He keeps fighting
CM: Much abuse
CM: He still works
SD: Lucy cares little for him
CM: She is nice to him
CM: She deceives him; he knows
SD: He puts himself down
CM: He drinks
CM: He is depressed
CS: He takes a lot of abuse; he does not stop


TS: It is all in his head
SD: He needs to think highly of himself
CM: He has no self confidence
CM: He could be a better person
SD: Darnay is a cruel person
CM: Carton looks up to him
CM: Darnay is a bad influence
SD: He needs to accept his life
CM: He is where he is
CM: He needs to just suck it up
CS: Carton could be a bolder character


Ben’jamin
Mr. H Salsich
English 9
5/12/2010

According to the Webster’s II New Riverside Dictionary, the definition of brave is, “Having or displaying courage; to face or endure courageously. When a chair sits old, and dilapidated and dusty, or decrepit and done for, waiting for the mold to take you, in some dark, echoing corner, no one turns to it and says, “Good job chair! You have done a great job.” Sydney Carton describes himself as an “old […] piece of furniture.” However, Carton is brave by enduring the lack of encouragement as he soldiers on with supporting the world on his drunken shoulders.

Carton could be considered one of the bravest characters in the book A Tail of Two Cities for he has to go through a lot everyday. Ever since he was first introduced, he was abused and frowned a pone by all other characters. Even with all this maltreatment, Carton continues to live through the book; Not committing suicide, he keeps his job and lives to fight another day. On top of all this misfortune, the one person who he loves cares little for him. Lucie Manette, the golden haired doll, the jewel of the book, is nice to Carton though only through the kindness of her pure soul, not the affection of her heart. She has cleverly deceived him though it seems like Carton knows this, and this only makes him only more depressed. When it looks like things could not get any worse for Sydney Carton, they do, for not only does everyone he knows put him down, but he puts himself down too. Sydney Carton is a heavy drinker and we know that drinking actually has a negative effect on you mood and your wallet. He also puts himself down a lot by not thinking little of himself; he believes everything bad people say about him causing his self confidence to plummet as if dropped from the top of a mountain where it can soar free until it crashes dramatically into the sea.

Carton may be valiant, but he does have a definite problem; however, there are some ways that he could solve this problem. Carton really needs to start thinking highly of himself. He has no self confidence which is denying himself from getting off the ground. He could also be a better person; he needs to stop standing against the wall and get into the conversation. Darnay is a cruel person, and he is especially cruel to Carton. Darnay is a terrible influence on Carton. Carton really needs just to accept life as it is and move on. He needs to accept who he is and see how far he can take himself into the world. If he just sucked up what has happened to him in the past few years and moved on, he could be a lot bolder. For Carton to “fix” his life, he really needs to get some self confidence, find some real friends and move on to the next page.

Sydney Carton may be a weak person, but he continues to live, and will all his problems, could make him one of the braver characters in A Tale of Two Cities. He sees very little affection from anyone. The only thing he really has seen his whole life are unmovable obstacles placed by his piers. It was hinted not long after Cartons introduction, that he might not want to continue on living, but some years have passed and he continues to fight life.