Sydney Carton Character Analysis Essay Example

Someone who sacrifices his life for the person they love is by far the ultimate sacrifice a human being could make. In A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, Sydney Carton, a drunkard and cheerless man, did exactly that. By this sacrifice, he became the most memorable character in this book. Sydney Carton was an unmotivated alcoholic who transformed his wasted and useless life by performing a selfless act of heroism.
"I am a disappointed drudge. I care for no man on earth, and no man on earth cares for me." Those were Sydney Cartons words when he met Charles Darnay. In the beginning, Carton was a lazy, alcoholic attorney who cares about nothing in life. He believes his life is an extreme waste. He is crude, frequently drunk, and melancholy. He feels he is stuck in the disappointed course of his once-promising life.
Around the middle of the book, Sydney Carton makes a remarkable transformation into a man of profound merit. He professes his love to Lucie saying, "For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything. I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. And when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you." This means Sydney Carton would do anything for her, and also foreshadows the end of the novel. Lucie was the only one who thought there was a good person in Carton, and was the only one that would take them time to change him. She succeeded in transforming him into a caring man.
Sydney Carton's promise to Lucie took him to the guillotine at the end of A Tale of Two Cities. He died for Darnay, which he believes is the greatest thing he could do to make his life significant. His death lets the women he loves be happy. He quotes a verse from the bible saying, "I am the resurrection and then life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall never die; and whosoever liveth and believeth