We have progressed to the stage of class that involves mapping the locations we are reading about in our books. For both A Tale of Two Cities and Les Miserables, it is an advantageous way to bring the sites to life. Reading about the walk Sydney Carton takes around Paris or the garden that Jean Valjean and Cosette frequent is one thing, but seeing it in real life is another. We have mapped both specific locations and journeys of characters, and both are rewarding in their own way.
“Then the night, with the moon and the stars, turned pale and died, and for a little while it seemed as if creation were delivered over to Death’s dominion.”
One of my favorite parts to track was Sydney Carton’s final journey in A Tale of Two Cities before he was executed in Charles Darnay’s place. The section of the book was incredibly moving and beautiful. Carton is one of my favorite characters, and watching his development from a depressed and aimless man to one who has found his purpose in saving others is lovely. In his final journey around the Seine, you can see how far he has come.
We have not walked this exact passage yet, but we did walk the paths of the tumbrils as they brought Carton to the guillotine. The walk was done in broad daylight, which may slightly detract from the introspective state it should put you in. However, the view was gorgeous as we passed the Louvre, the Palais Royale, and Place de la Concorde. After reading the book, each location feels tinged with years of pain. It was difficult to imagine the horror of the French Revolution given how far removed we are from it. Reading A Tale of Two Cities almost seemed to enhance this sense of distance as we saw the events as a backdrop to the stories of fictional characters rather than just learning about it. However, walking the path made it more real.
Dickens tends to focus on individual characters and events through their eyes rather than just recounting historical events. The impact of this is twofold. It can make the actual events much easier to understand because you can see them from a human perspective. However, this human perspective offers certain limitations. You can never achieve an objective idea about historical events because of the limitations of the character you see it through. I am a big subscriber of perspectivism. I don’t think it’s possible for any of us to access a truly objective perspective on an event because all our thoughts and experiences are filtered through our past. As a chemistry major, I believe in some truths, but the vast majority of facts are inaccessible to us because we mirror the world through our human perception. As a result, we can never truly understand the reality of something because our own views and ideas limits us. Therefore, as I revisit these mapped locations I am forced to rethink my interpretation of them. When reading, I saw the walk along the Seine through the perspective of Carton, the tumbril’s path through the view of the revolutionaries, and the route across France through Darnay’s interpretation. Now that we visit these places in person, I have to see how my perspective and interpretations shape these.
As I walked past the Louvre and Palais Royale, I tended to pay more attention to superficial things. I noticed the architectural style, the crowds of people, and the general grandeur. I thought more about how the sheer opulence of the palace must have been leagues away from what 95% of the population of France experienced. Everything that stood out to me and what I thought of it was shaped by what we had studied in class and what I’ve learned about the French Revolution. This starkly contrasts what is focused on in A Tale of Two Cities.
“Along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble, hollow and harsh.”
A Tale of Two Cities captures the horror of the tumbrils while also capturing how numb people have become to it. These revolutionaries are so used to seeing this spectacle that they hardly bat an eye. Their perspective has been dramatically altered by how regular this level of violence has become. The people are dissociated from what this really means for the revolution and themselves. If I were shipped back to 1792 right now to watch the passing carts, I would not react the same. This is, however, a moot point because I didn’t experience the years of oppression and injustice the revolutionaries did. I didn’t feel the purity in the initial goals of the people and how it twisted its way into violence and vengeance. All of this to say I will never experience these locations the way Dickens or Hugo wants them to be because I never lived the life of an eighteenth century peasant. Despite this, there is still much I can take from the experience regarding how I see the world. Since everything I see reveals my own views of the world, this bookpacking trip offers a unique opportunity to reflect on what preconceptions I have and how these might limit me. It is so easy to get lost in our own mindset and views that we lose sight of the fact that everything is so much more complicated than we think. I think literature and travel overlap in the ways they help people step out of their own perspectives. They are some of the rare ways to see the world in a new light, and I hope to take advantage of the opportunity and how it challenges my own perspectives.