Egyptian Language School
English Department
3rd prep
A Tale of Two Cities
Chapter (12)
Setting: England / France
· Why this chapter was entitled " drawn to the Loadstone rock ". The loadstone rock is a Greek myth about a rock in the middle of a rough sea that is surrounded by a magnetic field which attracts the ships until they are crashed to the rock and is destroyed.
Main Points
· Three more years have passed, and the French Revolution has succeeded in removing the royalty and aristocracy from power. France is still unsettled, however, and many members of the French upper classes who have fled to England use Tellson's as an information center.
· Darnay was at Tellson bank talking to Lorry trying to convince him that it was too dangerous to go to Paris at that time
· Both Lorry and Darnay were longing to go to Paris but for different reasons: Darnay sympathized with the poor people in France and he wished he could go there to stand beside them. As for Lorry, he was preparing for his trip to France, where he would manage Tellson's Paris office and try to save some property and papers for Tellson customers in spite of all the dangers. He believed that he was the most suitable one to travel because of his loyalty and commitment to the bank , also because he was old and no one would care to harm him and finally because of his experience as he used to work in Tellson's France. As a result, Lorry was going and he was taking Jerry with him as a body guard
· While Darnay and Lorry were talking at Mr. Lorry's office, the manager of Tellson's bank approached Mr. Lorry and asked if he had found the person to whom this letter was addressed. Darnay saw the name on the envelope and he knew it was sent to him as it was addressed to the new Marquis .
· The manager left, so Darnay told Mr. Lorry that he knew the man and asked him to give him the letter to deliver.
· The letter was from Gabelle, who used to work at the Marquis’ estate as a tax collector. After the revolution, he was arrested for working for an emigrant (emigrant law was issued after the revolution stating that any noble would return to France would be executed) who was Darnay and he was about to be executed. He tried to defend himself and Darnay saying that he had orders from Darnay to stop collecting taxes or rents , but nobody listened to him and they kept asking about Darnay's place so Gabelle's only way out was that Darnay should come to France to save him.
****Paris is the rough sea , Gabelle's letter is the magnetic field that would attract Darnay to the chaos and violence in Paris is Loadstone rock and finally Darnay is the sailor who was going to crash. This image reflected how much danger Darnay was going to face if he decided to go back to Paris. *****
· Darnay was convinced that nothing bad would happen to him as he had his defence which was : he left the country before the law of emigrant was issued , he denounced his name and property before his uncle's death , he refused to receive his property after the Marqui's death and gave orders to stop collecting taxes or rents finally , he was working in England as a French teacher to earn his own living.
As a result, Darnay decided to travel . He went back to Mr. Lorry telling him that he had
delivered the message and that the Marquis is asking him to carry a verbal message to
Gabelle at the Abbaye prison telling him that the Marquis was going to save him and
that he was going to start his journey next night.
Before leaving, Darnay left two messages ; one to his wife telling her that he had a strong
obligation to travel telling her not to worry as he was sure nothing bad would happen. The
other one to Dr Manette asking him to take care of his wife and daughter.
Summary
It’s August. 1792.
At Tellson’s, Charles is trying to talk Mr. Lorry out of going to France on business. It’s too dangerous in France at the moment – especially for an elderly man. Mr. Lorry agrees, but business is business. Tellson’s has many French customers, and someone has to look after their property, even during times of trouble. There is a letter to the bank. It’s addressed to a Marquis St. Evrémonde, care of Tellson’s Bank. Our narrator quickly informs us that Doctor Manette made Charles promise never to reveal his real identity. Perhaps that’s why Charles starts when he sees the letter – but he doesn’t say a word. Charles steps into the conversation and says that he knows the Marquis. He can deliver the letter. Charles quickly leaves. As he walks out, he opens the letter. It’s from Monsieur Gabelle, the estate manager of his uncle’s lands. Gabelle has been taken prisoner, merely because he did what the Marquis ordered him to do. Now he begs the new Marquis (Charles) to come back and take responsibility for his own lands. Charles comes to a conclusion: he must return to France.
He writes a letter explaining his real situation and leaves it for her to find once he’s left.
He also writes to the doctor, asking him to take care of the family until he returns.
In the dead of the night, Charles sets out for Paris.
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