“The water of the fountain ran, the swift river ran, the day ran into evening, so much life in the city ran into death according to rule, time and tide waited for no man, the rats were sleeping close together in their dark hole again, the Fancy Ball was lighted up at supper, all things in their course” (p. 117).
Here, we see Dickens make a direct reference to the French Revolution that is to come. The fountain, the river, and the day all symbolize a chain of events. One thing leads to another; somehow, all these things are connected, and no matter what happens in between those events (death being inevitable) things must continue on as planned.
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2 comments:
This is an interesting point, and Dickens is definitely trying to portray the idea of the inevitability of death in this chapter. On the same page he illustrates this idea when he give us the image of the flowing fountain water, representing life, falling to the base of the fountain where the dead baby lay, obviously representing death. So once again Dickens, is showing the idea of this fateful cycle that always leads to this inevitable death. This unavoidable cycle has a clear connection with the inevitability of the French Revolution, which you pointed out.
The passage is great for the symbolism of water, as joey said that the flowing of water represents the continuous flowing of life into death. The passage also shows how these events are all connected (in Alexa's post). The rats, who are the poor peasants, go into their dark holes when the night comes as part of the flowing cycle of life. But the cycle isn't meant to just end at death, for the Fancy Ball, the rich citizens, are able to keep lights running. The cycle of events doesn't follow one path or group of people, but is decided by how different paths (or rivers) flow into each other.
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