"This had been the third morning in succession, on which there had been early drinking at the wine-shop of Monsieur Defarge (171)."
In the beginning of Chapter 15, Madame Defarge patiently awaits the return of her husband while her shop becomes exceptionably crowded at the early hour of 6 a.m. The men lazily spend their days in the shop as they empty out their pockets with the last of their change. Although it may seem as though these men are trying to escape their miserable lives, their hunger for change and political freedom is becoming deeper as their lives are getting rougher. The Wine of Life gradually vanishing in preparation for those whose lives will be lost. While the men seem to carelessly drink away their problems for hours, they are really just bloodthirsty for a revolution.
2 comments:
I journaled on this quote and I agree with you. At first I saw it a little differently. I didn't make the connection between the revolution and the non-stop drinking of wine. I like how you related those, that they are not thristy for wine but they are thirsty for lives, thus wine of life. Your post really helped me understand the quote and it shed some light on the chapter for me. Great Job!
I'm not sure what you meant when you said that the wine is gradually disappearing for the lives that will be lost. I definitely agree with you that the men are finding temporary refuge in the bottles because at the moment they're just waiting for something to provoke them, and until then, they will be hungry. Remembering back to earlier in the unit when we discussed what wine means to people, like the good and bad effects of it, it could be a bad thing that they want the wine that early in the morning so much. If one drinks wine too often, one can form an addiction. What the men could be forming in this passage is an addiction to wine which could explain their "drinking binge" later in the book when they want to kill all the aristocrats. The wine, or blood, is only a temporary alleviation to their agony, but drinking, or killing, more will not truly solve any problem.
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