Book II - Chapter V. The Jackal Practice Quiz — A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Book II - Chapter V. The Jackal
What is Sydney Carton's role in relation to Mr. Stryver?
Carton serves as Stryver's "jackal"—he does all the behind-the-scenes legal research and analysis that makes Stryver's courtroom success possible, while Stryver takes the public credit.
Why is the chapter titled "The Jackal"?
The title refers to Sydney Carton, who functions as a jackal to Stryver's lion. A jackal scavenges in a lion's shadow, just as Carton does the preparatory legal work while Stryver reaps the professional rewards.
What nickname does Stryver use for Carton during their work sessions?
Stryver calls Carton "Memory," acknowledging Carton's essential ability to extract and remember the key points from complex legal documents.
What unusual physical ritual does Carton perform while working?
Carton soaks towels in cold water and wraps them around his head to stay mentally sharp during the long hours of legal work, creating what Dickens describes as "eccentricities of damp headgear."
What time does Carton arrive at Stryver's chambers, and when do they finish working?
Carton arrives at ten o'clock at night and they work until the clocks strike three in the morning.
Where did Stryver and Carton know each other before their legal careers?
They attended Shrewsbury School together as boys and later studied law and French together in the Student-Quarter of Paris.
What pattern does Carton admit to from his school days?
Carton admits that even at school, he "did exercises for other boys, and seldom did my own"—a lifelong pattern of using his talents for others' benefit rather than his own advancement.
How does Stryver describe his own success compared to Carton's failure?
Stryver says he was not born into the front rank but fought his way there through energy and purpose. He criticizes Carton for summoning "no energy and purpose" and following a "lame way."
How does Carton respond to Stryver's claim of being self-made?
Carton wryly suggests Stryver's success came "partly through paying me to help you" and that Stryver was actually "born" in the front rank. He says Stryver's restless ambition left him no chance "but in rust and repose."
What does Carton call Lucie Manette when Stryver proposes a toast to her?
Carton dismisses Lucie as a "golden-haired doll" and denies her beauty, saying "Rot the admiration of the whole Court! Who made the Old Bailey a judge of beauty?"
What does Stryver suspect about Carton's feelings for Lucie?
Stryver suspects that Carton actually "sympathised with the golden-haired doll" and was "quick to see what happened" when she fainted during the trial, suggesting Carton's contempt masks genuine feeling.
What vision does Carton see while walking home at dawn?
Carton glimpses "a mirage of honourable ambition, self-denial, and perseverance" with "airy galleries," "gardens in which the fruits of life hung ripening," and "waters of Hope"—a vision of the meaningful life he might have led.
How does the chapter end?
Carton throws himself on his bed fully clothed, weeping into his pillow. Dickens describes him as "the man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness."
What does the lion-and-jackal metaphor reveal about Dickens's view of success?
It suggests that worldly success often depends more on ambition and self-promotion than on raw intelligence. Carton has superior analytical talent but lacks drive, while Stryver's boldness and energy propel him forward despite lesser abilities.
What is the "repast" that the jackal prepares for the lion?
The "repast" is a metaphor for the legal analysis Carton prepares. He distills complex case documents into organized arguments that Stryver then reviews, selects from, and uses in court.
How does Dickens describe the drinking culture of the era?
Dickens notes that "those were drinking days, and most men drank hard," and that the legal profession was "not behind any other learned profession in its Bacchanalian propensities." What Carton and Stryver drank together "might have floated a king's ship."
What is the significance of Carton being rumored to go home "like a dissipated cat"?
This simile reinforces Carton's reputation as a dissolute figure. He is seen staggering home "stealthily and unsteadily" at broad daylight, suggesting a nocturnal, aimless existence entirely subordinate to Stryver's schedule.
How does the chapter's setting reflect Carton's emotional state?
When Carton leaves at dawn, the air is "cold and sad," the sky is "dull" and "overcast," the river is "dark and dim," and dust spins in the wind like advancing desert sand—a pathetic fallacy mirroring Carton's inner desolation.
What foreshadowing does this chapter contain for the novel's climax?
Carton's vision of "self-denial" and his deep awareness of his wasted life foreshadow his eventual act of supreme self-sacrifice—giving his life in place of Charles Darnay—which redeems both his character and his unfulfilled potential.
How does Dickens compare Stryver's appearance to a sunflower?
Dickens writes that Stryver's "florid countenance" could be seen "bursting out of the bed of wigs, like a great sunflower pushing its way at the sun from among a rank garden-full of flaring companions"—an image of aggressive, showy ambition.