Imagine a dark forest, where everyone scatters to try to find a way out. Few people hold their own spark of light and get away with it easily, while the majority start blindfolded and find brightness through other means. Similarly, in Charles Dickens' The Tale of Two Cities, the protagonist, Sidney Carton, begins without any direction or purpose, but he eventually finds aspiration and meaning in his life. The author uses light to highlight Carton's journey through his redemption from being brought back to life. In order to show Carton's desperate to hopeful transition, Dickens begins the novel by describing how the Light attempts to raise Carton's self-esteem. As the novel illustrates, after returning home from spending the night with Stryver, Carton woke up: “the sun rose; there is no sadder spectacle than that of the man endowed with good abilities and good emotions, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensitive to the light which surrounds him and resigning himself to letting himself gnaw” (Dickens 2.5). In this quote, Dickens describes Carton as the unhappiest person in the world....