The Three Jacques

“Out of the wine-shop into the street, out of the street into a court-yard, out of the court-yard up a steep staircase, out of the staircase into a garret – formerly the garret where a white-haired man sat on a low bench, stooping forward and very busy, making shoes.

            No white-haired man was there now; but, the three men were there who had gone out of the wine-shop singly. And between them and the white-haired man afar off, was the one small link, that they had once looked in at him through the chinks in the wall.” (173)

This passage doubles a short scene that we saw back in the first wine shop chapter when Defarge is bringing Mr. Lorry and Lucie up to the room of Doctor Manette. In that scene, Defarge quickly ushers the three Jacques out of the narrow hallway before he and his guests enter. In class we had come to the conclusion that Doctor Manette was on somewhat a display for the three Jacques as an example of possible repercussions of their forthcoming actions. In the above passage we have the same three Jacques, in the same room, going about the same business as they had six (?) years earlier. This time however, in the scene thereafter, they learn of the fate of their friend and Jacques, Gaspard. Again, this story does not faze the gentlemen and they continue to make plans of attack. In addition to the obvious double, we are given some foreshadowing of, once again, the French Revolution.