My Hero

Heroes are supposed to be the guys with the innocent face, nicely shaped body, and all the good virtues; or so I am told. But, Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities has a cynical, care-free attitude which shows in his face, is not the best shaped man in the novel, and shows a degree of socially condemned actions. Be that as it may, Carton is Darnay, Lucie, Gablle, many others, and my hero.
A protagonist merely has to lead the story’s narrative, but a hero has to relieve other characters from impending dangers. For Sydney Carton, relieving Charles Darnay and his family from the tangled doom of the French revolution was the burden. Carton comes to Darnay’s rescue in both of such cases. At Darnay’s trial at London, where he is accused for being a spy in service of France only because he is a French immigrant sighted at a particular place, he appears out of nowhere and makes the foremost evidence in favor of the accusation invalid. He does this by simply asking the witness to distinguish him from Darnay. When the witness who previously claimed to be capable of identifying Darnay anywhere cannot tell the two almost identical looking people apart from each other, Carton succeeds in rescuing the accused. Carton faces a harder task yet when he decides to smuggle Darnay out of Bastille. Bastille, unlike Old-Baily at London, is controlled by people determined to put Darnay to the guillotine whether the condemner wants to undo the condemnation or not and Carton is forced to use illegal methods. At the end, Carton succeeds in using the same talent from Old-Baily to rescue Darnay—he dresses up as Darnay and with the aid of Solomon Barsad, exchange himself and Darnay. Even though the narrative is centered around Lucie and Darnay, her lover, their family could not have been protected from the turbulent events without Carton.
When I was yet green, I used to believe that at the end, heroes are the people who win all they desired for and keep what is rightfully theirs. Now, having matured a bit, I find people who are willing to sacrifice their own goals for those dear to them as the true heroes. Carton sacrificed his devotion, wealth, life, and rightful credit so that he might protect the joy of life of those he valued. Carton has a sincere, loving heart for Lucie. Yet, he sacrificed his own desire because Lucie was already in love with Darnay. Carton had inherited his family’s wealth. This also he sacrificed without taking back one bit when he passed all his identity to Darnay. Carton gave up his life for Darnay’s and asks for none in exchange. Even as he earnestly searched for a meaning in his life, he yielded it without hesitation the moment he felt his life was needed to secure the happiness of those he loved. Carton accomplished novel deeds worthy of great respect. Still, he did them in such a way that even his very best friends did not know them well. Even to his last moments, he made no effort to be credited. Such honorable sacrifices should not be disregarded any more than a war-hero’s valor in battle.
To conclude, Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities is my hero because he is the one that relieved others from harm’s way and he is the one that gave up all he had for the good of his beloved ones. In a time of great turbulence, Carton went out of his way to secure others’ lives from ill accusations. Although he had as much claim to his love, inheritance, life, and due respect, he sacrificed all of them for his friends and their family. A man that may not fit so well with my childish dreams, Carton shall never have to go looking for a seat of honor in my heart.