To sacrifice is to deprive oneself of something valued for the sake of another person. Sydney Carton did not think that his life was valuable, yet he gave it up for the sake of another person: Charles Darnay. Is this sacrifice? Indeed. Carton wanted his unimportant life to have meaning so he found a way to give the people that he loved a gift, his life. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens shows how a broken, wasted life can be mended; through love for Lucie and her family, Sydney Carton is able to transform into a hero from his once tasteless, bitter life.

At the beginning of the book, Carton is harsh, rude and bitter. He begins to push away people that love him and even people that he does not even know. Charles Darnay and Carton are in a tavern drinking after a...