Tale of Two Cities Essay Topics - Students Must Contemplate the Inspector

Tale of Two Cities Essay Topics - Students Must Contemplate the InspectorWhat is it about a Tale of Two Cities essay topic that is more appealing to teachers? How can you best approach the challenge of working with students on essay topics that capture the intriguing details of this classic novel that has provided so much inspiration for many of the great literature of our times?There are many more stark contrasts in this novel than we could hope to list here. But I will suggest that the main character, Inspector Javert, is a composite character, an amalgam of two or three different people. In doing so, I am not suggesting that the character is not interesting. I am suggesting that the point of the author is to allow the reader to imagine the world in which he lives and how the experience of being an Inspector Javert would change him or her.In many ways, this is a character of the unknown, of a person who is completely removed from us and yet who we desperately want to understand. Hi s greatest skill is his ability to become detached and distant from himself. This disconnection is his greatest asset as a detective and a man. He is able to dispassionately observe and write about the circumstances of crime and justice without being concerned about the outcome of the crime itself. The reader, experiencing these scenes from the perspective of the Inspector Javert, becomes equally detached from the characters involved.As a tragic hero, Javert could be anyone. One of the most common questions that I receive when I take up work as a novelist is 'What was your greatest inspiration for writing Inspector Javert?' Indeed, I have seen many people ask the same question when I have read their own ideas about what inspired them to write. So my response is always that the novel took shape as a sort of response to something in my life.You could consider a Tale of Two Cities essay topics to be anything but novel-length. For example, I recently presented a version of my autobiogra phy in class. The lesson was based on an essay that we had to write about the genesis of the work. The inspiration was the paper's subject - my childhood, but the inspiration still relates to the lessons learned.My insight into this kind of essay is not limited to contemporary essays. There are many reasons why students need to use Tale of Two Cities essay topics to help them begin to feel the same kind of detachment that is inherent in the Inspector Javert character. I mentioned earlier that the main character of the novel is an amalgam of two or three people.Imagine how the Inspector might feel about living with someone for thirty years who is a complete stranger. He has worked too hard to be living with someone he can't be familiar with or spend time with or trust. How would he perceive the stranger's motives? (Would they be just to get out of prison? Would they be a secret family member?)Indeed, the best thing about Tale of Two Cities essay topics is that the author or the teach er can remain completely abstracted from the characters. Of course, there are exceptions. You can always introduce the characters to the student by showing the reader that the Inspector spends his time taking care of a sick child, and as such, he has to wear all of the different hats of caregiver, investigator, father and friend.