"[A] white-haired man sat on a low bench, stooping forward and very busy, making shoes."
(72)
Before the start of the novel, Dr. Manette was a successful doctor who was good at his job. All of the sudden, he was thrown into jail for absurd reasons and had his life ruined. Eighteen years later, the novel begins, and Mr. Jarvis Lorry is sent to find Dr. Manette and "recall him to life". He is found in Monsieur Defarge's wine shop, huddled in the corner, making shoes.
So how did a successful doctor suddenly turn into a shoe cobbler? The answer, unfortunately, is post-traumatic stress disorder. Dickens vividly portrays the effects of PTSD and how prison actually ruined Dr. Manette's life. He turned to cobbling shoes to keep his sanity. He never got the chance to know Lucie; he was thrown in jail when she was just a baby. He was so adjusted to life in the Bastille that when Mr. Lorry and Lucie went to him in Defarge's wine shop, he was in the corner cobbling shoes. He didn't leave the room because he didn't think he could. Lucie was the only person that could literally "recall him to life". Her voice, her golden hair, her soul brought him out of his mind and brought him back to life.
Dr. Manette relapsed a few times into his shoe cobbling phase. When he did, only Lucie could calm him. The night that Darnay visited Dr. Manette and told him that he'd like to marry his daughter, Dr. Manette relapsed. He was pacing in his room and had begun to cobble shoes again. This relapse could have a few causes: (a) his only daughter and the one thing that brought him back to his sanity was about to be married, and (b), she was about to marry the man whose relatives threw Dr. Manette in prison.
Dr. Manette refused to take a bribe from the Marquis St. Evremonde, Charles' father. As a result, he was thrown in prison at the Bastille for eighteen years. One of Dr. Manette's greatest strengths is shown via his relationship with Charles. Charles' father and uncle sent him to prison. They kept him from watching his daughter grow up. They reduced him to a frail, old man who cobbles shoes to keep his sanity. Yet, Dr. Manette does not blame Charles. He knows that Charles Darnay is really the new Marquis St. Evremonde, yet he doesn't blame him for what his father and uncle did. He allows him to marry his daughter, he fully supports it, and he even fights to rescue Charles from prison and death. Dr. Manette differs from the revolutionaries, mainly Madame Defarge, with his ability to disassociate people from the atrocities their families committed.
Dickens uses Dr. Manette to show how even the strongest of men can break. Dr. Manette was a strong man until he was unjustly held in the Bastille. Even after his release, when he began to recover, he put a facade up to hide his struggles. In chapter 17 of book two, Dr. Manette is described as he is sleeping: "Into his handsome face, the bitter waters of captivity had worn; but, he covered up their tracks with a determination so strong, that he held the mastery of them, even in his sleep. A more remarkable face in its quiet, resolute, and guarded struggle with an unseen assailant, was not to be beheld in all the wide dominions of sleep, that night," (231). Dr. Manette's torture would never escape him, but his determination to recover was stronger.
Before the start of the novel, Dr. Manette was a successful doctor who was good at his job. All of the sudden, he was thrown into jail for absurd reasons and had his life ruined. Eighteen years later, the novel begins, and Mr. Jarvis Lorry is sent to find Dr. Manette and "recall him to life". He is found in Monsieur Defarge's wine shop, huddled in the corner, making shoes.
So how did a successful doctor suddenly turn into a shoe cobbler? The answer, unfortunately, is post-traumatic stress disorder. Dickens vividly portrays the effects of PTSD and how prison actually ruined Dr. Manette's life. He turned to cobbling shoes to keep his sanity. He never got the chance to know Lucie; he was thrown in jail when she was just a baby. He was so adjusted to life in the Bastille that when Mr. Lorry and Lucie went to him in Defarge's wine shop, he was in the corner cobbling shoes. He didn't leave the room because he didn't think he could. Lucie was the only person that could literally "recall him to life". Her voice, her golden hair, her soul brought him out of his mind and brought him back to life.
Dr. Manette relapsed a few times into his shoe cobbling phase. When he did, only Lucie could calm him. The night that Darnay visited Dr. Manette and told him that he'd like to marry his daughter, Dr. Manette relapsed. He was pacing in his room and had begun to cobble shoes again. This relapse could have a few causes: (a) his only daughter and the one thing that brought him back to his sanity was about to be married, and (b), she was about to marry the man whose relatives threw Dr. Manette in prison.
Dr. Manette refused to take a bribe from the Marquis St. Evremonde, Charles' father. As a result, he was thrown in prison at the Bastille for eighteen years. One of Dr. Manette's greatest strengths is shown via his relationship with Charles. Charles' father and uncle sent him to prison. They kept him from watching his daughter grow up. They reduced him to a frail, old man who cobbles shoes to keep his sanity. Yet, Dr. Manette does not blame Charles. He knows that Charles Darnay is really the new Marquis St. Evremonde, yet he doesn't blame him for what his father and uncle did. He allows him to marry his daughter, he fully supports it, and he even fights to rescue Charles from prison and death. Dr. Manette differs from the revolutionaries, mainly Madame Defarge, with his ability to disassociate people from the atrocities their families committed.
Dickens uses Dr. Manette to show how even the strongest of men can break. Dr. Manette was a strong man until he was unjustly held in the Bastille. Even after his release, when he began to recover, he put a facade up to hide his struggles. In chapter 17 of book two, Dr. Manette is described as he is sleeping: "Into his handsome face, the bitter waters of captivity had worn; but, he covered up their tracks with a determination so strong, that he held the mastery of them, even in his sleep. A more remarkable face in its quiet, resolute, and guarded struggle with an unseen assailant, was not to be beheld in all the wide dominions of sleep, that night," (231). Dr. Manette's torture would never escape him, but his determination to recover was stronger.