Compare and Contrast Things Fall Apart with A Tale of Two Cities
Uploaded by spootyhead on Apr 18, 2007
Compare and Contrast Things Fall Apart with A Tale of Two Cities
One of the most valuable aspects of a book, or any literature, is the insight offered about the views of the author and the surrounding society and times. The way in which certain ideas are presented in different stories can be very telling about the attitude of the author, or maybe in describing a message he is trying to convey. This is perhaps the most important thing to walk away with after having experienced a piece of literature. It is sometimes difficult to find the underlying theme of a story, but it is imperative in order to find some common thread among several pieces of literature. The presentations of these common themes are key in making comparisons or discovering contrasts between pieces of literature that at first appear to be dissimilar and unrelated, such as “Things Fall Apart”, “Cry, the Beloved Country”, and “A Tale of Two Cities”.
One of the most prevalent themes throughout these three books is change, and how the characters deal with it. The characters in each book were faced with decisions regarding changes that faced them, their family, or the whole of society. The way in which the characters reacted when faced with these changes is very different from one story to the next.
In Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” the theme of changing society is obvious in the revolution. The conditions of life grew continually worse for the peasants, who were the majority of the population in France at the time. The aristocrats were taking what little prosperity was left from the common people, turning France into a giant slum, sporadically dotted with grand castles and nobles living overly extravagant lifestyles. While France was taking this prolonged turn for the worse, the people of France were growing intolerant with the conditions forced on them by the aristocrats. The peasants decided they would confront their growing oppression. Led by a few, the people would revolt, and bring about their own change. They stood united and strong, refusing to back down until they had accomplished what they set out to do. Obviously the French Revolution was historically a success, although the book doesn’t reveal the outcome as it expects the reader to already be aware of this fact....