Helan Amedi 3/24/14 5th pd. In Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities, many of the characters make choices and decisions that change the initial impression of the reader. One of these characters is Sydney Carton. When first introduced, Sydney is seen as self-loathing and depressing, but as the story goes on the readers begin to see him in a different light. Instead of being just a throw-away character, Sydney actually does something with his life through the decisions he makes. The first time the audience meets Sydney Carton is at Charles Darnay's very first trial in England. He's seen as a messy drunk. In fact, even at the trial Sydney is so drunk that he doesn't even bother caring for his physical appearance. "This one man sat leaning back, with his torn gown half off him, his untidy wig put on" (Dickens 57). His eyes were glazed over during the whole trial and were "staring at the ceiling as they had been all day" (Dickens 57) because he was too drunk to even keep his them on what was actually going on.
English: A photograph of an engraving in The Writi...
English: A photograph of an engraving in The Writi...
English: Cover of serial "Tale of Two Cities" by C...The initial impression of the reader is that Mr. Carton is no more than a useless drunk that's not really much good for anything. He was also very mean while drunk as well, especially to Charles after the trial when Charles is thanking him for saving his life. Carton replies by saying he "doesn't know why he did it in the first place" (Dickens 63) and straight up tells Charles he doesn't like him. Of course during their talk, Sydney was drinking excessively yet again. When working late nights with Stryver, people often saw Sydney "in broad day, going home stealthily and unsteadily to his lodgings, like a dissipated cat" (Dickens 65). When first meeting...