Charles Dickens, a successful writer born in 1812, wrote many famous novels during his life. Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities about the French Revolution in 1859, sixty years after it ended, and was still able to capture so much detail in this captivating but heartbreaking novel. Dickens's use of numerous symbols and metaphors throughout the novel is extremely effective. Through these symbols, Dickens skillfully weaves various themes into the story. Destiny is an important theme which he expresses using the symbols of shadow, knitting and fountains. One of the symbols that Dickens uses to represent the theme of fate is the shadow. Dickens accurately describes the shadow, writing, “The shadow which accompanied Madame Defarge and her party now seemed to fall, menacing and dark, upon both mother and child” (Dickens 207). This shadow belongs to Madame Defarge, who intimidates Lucie a lot because of her confidence and her cruelty. Lucie is also frightened by the mysterious black shadow she projects. Her shadow is cast on others by everyone's forgetting of the powerful power she holds over everyone, by her mysterious comments, and by her callous attitude when she blacklists them. Lorry remarks after Madame Defarge's visit to him and the Manettes: "I am not ungrateful, I hope, but this awful woman seems to cast a shadow over me and over all my hopes" (208). From this, readers understand that Madame Defarge is so wicked that Lorry and other people can sense it when they are in her presence. Her shadow also has an emotional effect on others because she presents herself as such a threatening person that she crushes the characters' hopes, as she does with Mr. Lorry in this quote. Dickens middle of paper ......the meaning of this quote, which says that time flies and there is nothing that can stop it or change anything along the way. The repetition of the mention of fountains reinforces the idea of ​​destiny very well. Dickens brings the novel to life by expressing the theme of destiny through several symbols, which are shadow, knitting and fountains. His powerful use of symbols helps connect many different themes. All of the themes he uses work really well together to give more meaning to the plot. A Tale of Two Cities is a great novel because Dickens was able to make the plot flow so well with his exceptional writing skills. His impressive ability to integrate themes into the novel through symbols calls for fluid and meaningful reading. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. A tale of two cities. Dover Thrift ed. Np: Dover, 1999.Print.