The most overarching theme in A Tale of Two Cities is probably that of redemption or resurrection. Many prominent motifs in the novel (including debt, burial, and imprisonment) circle around this theme, and it’s at the heart of several major characters’ storylines. Doctor Manette, for instance, is metaphorically raised from the living death of imprisonment, while Charles Darnay is saved from death at the last minute through Sydney Carton’s sacrifice. The idea of resurrection even surfaces in moments of comic relief—most notably, in Jerry Cruncher’s work as a “Resurrection-Man”—that is, a graverobber.

The significance of this theme to the novel is best explained by the Bible verse Carton quotes in the moments before his death: “I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die” (325). A Tale of Two Cities often attempts to reconcile pairs of apparent opposites with one another, and the paradox contained in this statement is the culmination of that trend. Within the context of Christianity, the meaning of the passage isn’t simply that belief carries the promise of life after death, but also that certain forms of life aren’t really true life at all.