The storming of the Bastille, the carts of death with their doomed human cargo, the rapid fall of the guillotine blade - such is the Revolution French that Charles Dickens clearly evoked. captured in his famous novel, A Tale of Two Cities. With dramatic eloquence, he brings to life an era of terror and betrayal, a hungry people rising up, frenzied and hateful, to overthrow a corrupt and decadent regime. Dickens not only captures the brutality and corruption of this period, but also provides insight into what caused the death and destruction. Through the hostility between French aristocrats and peasants, Dickens puts forward the principle that violence perpetuates more violence, until the sinister chain eventually runs out. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThe oppression of the French people by the ruling class in the 18th century is an infamous period in history. At that time, aristocrats had no respect for the less fortunate in their nation. Dickens illustrates the aristocratic attitude toward peasants with Dr. Charles Mannett's account of how an aristocrat treated his servant who did not answer the door within a pleasant amount of time. It [the door] was not opened immediately, in response to the ringing of the telephone. the bell and one of my two conductors hit the man who opened it in the face with his heavy riding glove. Nothing in this action particularly attracted my attention, for I had seen ordinary people treated more commonly than dogs. This quote shows how the poor were looked down upon by the rich. The rich treated the poor like dogs rather than like human beings. Dickens also uses the Marquis Evrémonde to give a similar portrait of the aristocracy as elitist. The marquis orders his carriage to be rolled through the streets of the city, delighted to see the commoners almost crushed by the horses. But suddenly the car stops with “a sickening little jerk.” A child lies dead under its wheels. The Marquis has no sympathy for Gaspard, the father of the boy his car runs over. Rather, he believes that his noble blood justifies his malicious treatment of his lower-class subjects. Dickens says that the Marquis regards the commoners as “mere rats crawling out of their holes” (101). By tossing the coins to Gaspard, he simply aims to get out of this predicament and rid his own conscience of the nuisance of Gaspard's grief. He wholeheartedly believes that it is the lot of ordinary people to struggle. The nobles' treatment of the people was so abominable that Ernest Defarge comforted Gaspard by telling him: "It is better for the poor little toy to die as well as to live." He died in an instant without pain. Could he have lived? an hour so happily? (101). The marquis' blatant cruelty and antipathy prompted Gaspard to seek revenge by any means necessary. Gaspard believed that the best way to achieve this was to assassinate his son's killer. This cycle of revenge is further perpetuated by the execution of Gaspard, then by a group of revolutionaries who called themselves the Jacquarie, who swear to avenge Gaspard's death. This new vengeance was to result in the extermination of the remaining members of the marquis's family and the destruction of his castle. The group fulfilled their wish. They killed the man they thought was the marquis's son and destroyed his estate. Thus, a chain of violence that begins with a murder multiplies until it ends with the destruction of a castle and the death of four..