honor

[Unregistered]

i think the real question of this magnificent novel is who is the most honorable? All of these characters have their goods and their bads, but who is the real hero? Back it up with some info.....atleast 3 reasons and i will agree with you.

[Neverland1247]

Sydney Carton.
1) He made the ultimate sacrifice, death, to save another's life, and he did it willingly.
2) He loved without lusting. When Lucie married Darnay, he accepted her refusal and honoured her as the true, lovely woman that she was, but never desired her again.
3) He was the only person in the book who was raised from a state like hell to a heavenly status (and thus singled out by Dickens himself). In other words, he is depraved humanity- but with a chance of salvation.

[aequitas]

I think that it has to default to Carton.

Being perfect isn't being the same as honorable, so the whole Darnay/Manette clan is out of the running. Promoting mass murder isn't honorable, even if you're doing it to combat past injustice, so the Defarges are out too. Lucie's nurse is pretty honorable, but she acts more on maternal instinct than anything else--not that instinct isn't honorable, it's just considerably more normal than committing suicide is, and thus not as outstanding.

So we get Carton. (I didn't even bother to include characters like Jarvis Lorry, who really don't do very much.)

By the way, did anyone else come away from this book with a strong desire to drop a ton of bricks on Lucie and Charles? Or maybe a ton of really smelly French cheese?

[Tim Tim]

definatly carton

[Rosie Cotton]

Sydney Carton.
1) He made the ultimate sacrifice, death, to save another's life, and he did it willingly.
2) He loved without lusting. When Lucie married Darnay, he accepted her refusal and honoured her as the true, lovely woman that she was, but never desired her again.
3) He was the only person in the book who was raised from a state like hell to a heavenly status (and thus singled out by Dickens himself). In other words, he is depraved humanity- but with a chance of salvation.

I'll agree with you on all those. Especially the love without lusting. After reading "The Three Musketeers" and "Wuthering Heights" I needed that.

I think Sydney Carton is the MOST honorable, but I think that Lucie, Darnay, Mr. Lorry, and Dr. Manette are also all honorable people. Darnay has his ideals in the right place, you must say that. I think that a lot of them are good people.