Charles Dickens, a very successful writer born in 1812, wrote many famous novels during his lifetime. Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities about the French Revolution in 1859, sixty years after it ended, and was still able to capture so much detail in a captivating yet heartbreaking novel. Dickens' use of many symbols and metaphors in the novel is extremely effective. Through these symbols, Dickens skillfully incorporates various themes into the story. Destiny is a significant theme which he expresses using the symbols of shadow, knitting and fountains. One of the symbols that Dickens uses to represent the theme of destiny is the shadow. Dickens accurately describes the shadow by writing, “The shadow that awaited Madame Defarge and her party seemed then to fall, menacing and dark, upon both mother and child” (Dickens 207). This shadow belongs to Madame Defarge, who is very intimidating towards Lucie due to her confidence and ruthlessness. Lucie is also frightened by the mysterious dark shadow it casts. His shadow is cast on others from everyone's oblivion due to the strong power he holds over everyone, through his mysterious comments and through his ruthless attitude when recording them in his hit list. Lorry observes after Madame Defarge's visit to him and the Manettes: "I am not ungrateful, I hope, but that terrible woman seems to cast a shadow over me and all my hopes" (208). From this readers understand that Madame Defarge is so evil that Lorry and other people can sense it when they are in her presence. His shadow also has an emotional effect on others because he appears as such a threatening person that he crushes the characters' hopes, as he does with Mr. Lorry in this quote. Dickens th...... middle of paper ...... the meaning of this quote, which says that time flies and there is nothing that can stop it or change anything along the way. The repetition of the mention of fountains reinforces the idea of ​​destiny very well. Dickens brings the novel to life by expressing the theme of destiny through different symbols, which are the shadow, knitting, and fountains. His powerful use of symbols helps connect many different themes. All the themes it uses work very well together to make the plot more meaningful. A Tale of Two Cities is an excellent novel because Dickens was able to make the plot flow so well due to his possession of exceptional skills as a writer. His impressive ability to integrate themes into the novel through symbols makes for a fluid and meaningful read. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. A tale of two cities. Dover Thrift ed. Np: Dover, 1999.Print.