A Comparative Study About the Theme of Suffering and Struggling of Mankind free essay sample

The chief objective of this study is to prove that literature is a mighty medium to voice people’s ambition for freedom and change. It shows how human values, like love and forgiveness emerge as divine power and function as panacea in hard times to calm the fever of social disease. Charles Dickens â€Å"A Tale of Two Cities† starts in 1775 when Dr. Manette, imprisoned unjustly 18 years ago, has been released from the Bastille prison in Paris. His daughter, Lucie, who had thought he was dead, brings him to England. years later, a Frenchman called Charles Darnay accused of passing English secrets to the French and Americans during the American Revolution. However, He is released when eyewitnesses cannot identify him because of Darnays resemblance to his lawyer Sydney Carton. After that Darnay and Carton fall in love with Lucie Manette. Carton tells Lucie that would make any sacrifice for her. But Lucie marries Darnay and they have a daughter. Meanwhile, in France, Darnays uncle the Marquis St. Evremonde is murdered in his bed for crimes committed against the people. Darnay told Dr. Manette about his relationship to the Marquis, but no one else. After a few years The French Revolution breaks out and Darnay receives a letter from a friend wrongfully imprisoned in Paris and asked the Marquis (Darnay) for help. Knowing that the trip will be dangerous, Charles feels obliged to go and help his friend. On the road to Paris, Darnay (St Evremonde) is recognized by the mob and taken to prison in Paris. the Defarges accused him and he is sentenced to death within 24 hours. Sydney Carton has influence on one of the jailers and is able to enter the cell; drug Darnay, exchange clothes, and have the jailer remove Darnay, leaving Carton to die in his stead. In Tharwat Abaza Shayaa Min ElKhoof , Atris the grandchild becomes a copy of his grandfather on cruelty, oppression, tyranny and criminality. He terrifies and controls the life of the poor people in El-Dahashna village. He loves Foada since childhood but she rejected his love after he became a tyrant just like his grandfather who raised him, Atris proposes to Foada but she refuses. However, her father, being afraid of Atris, announces that Foada agrees to marry him. Atris marries Foada but she rejects him and tells him that the marriage is void because she didn’t agree. Atris goes crazy and starts to set fire to her father’s land and many farmers’ land. Shekh Ibrahim, a wise man in the village, provokes the village against Atris and his gang declaring that â€Å"Atris’s marriage to Foada is void† Atris prevents the water and the farmers can’t irrigate their lands, however, Foada challenges his orders and allow the water to irrigate the lands. Main time, in a reaction to Shekh Ibrahim refusal to tell the people that Atris marriage to Foada is valid; Atris kills his son in his wedding day. Finally the villagers’ revolt against Atris and his gang and burn him locked in his palace. These great novelists advocate liberty and dignity of individuals which are inevitable, life-giving forces, without which existence of a civilized society is impossible. The selected novels present pictures of man’s struggle against undemocratic evil forces. These novels are distinguished with their message that no dictator can keep people under suppression for a long time. Man cannot live by bread alone; â€Å"freedom† (both physical and intellectual) is the most important food to keep the human soul alive. In both novels we have that negative hero who never tries to draw his own fate. In A Tale of Two Cities Darnay is the son of a dead French nobleman, and the nephew to the current governor. Instead of trying to help the poor villagers, or trying to make his uncle treat them better, or even to depose him, he leaves for England to escape and distance himself from his family name. Also Atris, who was a kind teenager, loves the poor farmers and feels pity for them, turned to be a copy of his grandfather, the one who raised him. Both of them, Atris and Darnay, are negative characters. On the other hand, the two main female characters in the novels are not similar. Lucie Manette is a static character while Foada is an extremely dynamic one. Although Lucie is one of the main characters, she embodies the characteristics of love, forgiveness, and a child like faith. From the beginning to the end of the book she forgives people and puts complete faith in her father and friends. She does nothing to help her father, her husband or her little girl. However, Foada does lots of things to help others. At the very beginning, she advises Atris a lot. Then, she stands against Atris the tyrant, opens the water lock, challenging Atris’s order, to help the farmers to irrigate their lands, and finally she joins the villagers revolution against Atris and his gang. The two great writers Abaza and Dickens present the romance theme with social realism. While the main plots are about the anarchy and revolution themes, the sub plot is about love. In Shayaa Min ElKhoof , Foada and Atris love each other, but Foada puts her love aside and dedicates her heart to her poor village. When Atris changed and became a tyrant, in spite of her great love to him, she stands against him and joins the villagers’ revolution. A Tale of Two Cities demonstrates how love can be shown through selfless or sacrificial acts. Sydney Carton sacrifices his life so Darnay might live, Little Lucie might have a father, and Lucie might have a husband. When he thinks, I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. He thinks that his love brought him to make the sacrifice, and that it was the right thing to do. Another important theme the writers dealt with is the fatherhood theme. Doctor Manette makes a great sacrifice out of love when he lets Charles Darnay, the nephew of his imprisioner, marry his daughter. Darnay says, We know now, what a struggle you made of old. We know now and we thank you with all our hearts, and all our love and duty. Doctor Manette could have chosen to forbid the marriage, but instead his love drives him to sacrifice. On the other hand, Foadas father Hafez being a coward person he chooses to sacrifice his only daughter when Atris proposes to her. He did not even try to stand for his girl; however, he submits her to Atris and lets her face him all alone. Revenge is also discussed in both novels. Because of a family tragedy, Madame Defarge , in A Tale of Two Cities, chooses the road of hatred and revenge. St. Evremonde killed her father and brother and raped her sister. However, Madame Defarge instead of taking revenge of St. Evremonde , who was already killed by a villager, she decides to take revenge of his race. She is too blind about her revenge desire that brought her to the way of evil. But in Shayaa Min ElKhoof , Shekh Ibrahim is not blinded about his revenge. Atris killed his only son in his wedding day. However, Shekh Ibrahim supports Foada, the wife of the one who killed his son, and asked the whole village to support her and help her. Finally, revenge brings tragedy to the person who is obsessed with it. Shekh Ibrahim lived satisfied while Madame Defarge was killed. The murder of the Marquis, in A Tale of Two Cities, and Atris , in Shayaa Min ElKhoof , is extremely significant. St. Evremonde is found stabbed to death in his bed. Also Atris is burned alive in his palace. Both are not safe in their homes and no tyrant will be safe anywhere. Both have a deserved horrible dramatic end. Finally, in dealing with the historical theme of revolution and seeking freedom Shayaa Min ElKhoof comes very close to â€Å"A Tale of Two Cities†. So, while concluding this comparative study, we could find that undertaking research in literature is an enlightening work.