The French Revolution was a period of social and political uprisings in France from 1789 to 1799, the date in which the novel A Tale of Two Cities written by Charles Dickens takes place . The French Revolution marked the decline of powerful monarchies and the rise of democracy and nationalism. As it says in the first sentence of the novel, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Throughout the conflicts of the revolution, each man fights for himself. Because of this state of helplessness and loneliness of the men in the revolution, many of the novel's symbols were concocted and displayed to demonstrate a specific and powerful theme. In the novel, the symbols of scarecrows and birds with exquisite singing and feathers, wine and knitting all demonstrate the theme of man's inhumanity to his fellow man. Mainly, scarecrows and birds with exquisite song and feathers are a pair of compatible symbols that are unique. contrast greatly. It is said: “But the time was not yet come; and every wind that blew over France shook the rags of the scarecrows in vain, for the birds, beautiful in song and feathers, took no warning” (Dickens 23). This quote shows that scarecrows represent peasants and their frightening features, because they frighten aristocrats, who are birds with fine song and feathers. Moreover, birds with fine song and feathers are the aristocrats. They are garish like male birds and entertain themselves all day long with beautiful songs, just as aristocrats entertain themselves with rich entertainment and food. In comparison, it is said: "The stone faces now had such leisure to listen to the trees and the fountain as the few scarecrows of the village who, in their quest middle of paper.. .... many people including l a man dear to a friend of her husbands, and who is not part of the aristocracy. To support a major theme of this novel, the scarecrows and birds with fine song and feathers, the wine and knitting, all represent the theme of man's inhumanity to his fellow man. The Revolution was a tragically devastating period, full of senseless and meaningless violence, deception of neighbors as well as betrayal of the government and blissful ignorance of the environment. Many scenes and dialogues in this novel highlight what helped make the revolution a period of intense political destruction. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens includes many themes relating to the French Revolution and the moralities and immoralities that accompany violence, betrayal, and ignorance, using many different types of symbolism.