What it do, yo? This week we seein’ double wit a Tale of Two Cities by
Charles Dickens.
Da year is 1775 and Lucie Mannette been thinkin her pop Doc Mannette
been dead fo’ a long-ass time. But one day, word come dat he actually
been on lockdown in Paris fo’ da past 18 DAMN YEARS. So Lucie and a
bruh name Jarvis Lorry cruise ova’ to Paris where they meet Doc
Alexandre’s back-when assistant Defarge. Dis cat been lookin out
fo’ da good doc, whose mind has turned in to mush afta’ all dem
years in da clank.
But afta’ some quality time wit Lucie, Manette snaps outta it and
start goin’ back to his old self.
5 years later, Doc Mannette and Lucy up in court fo’ da trial of
Charles Darnay, who been accused of snitchin on tha British crown. Da
prosecution’s case against Chucky falls to sh** when one of da
witnesses say Charlie-boy don’t look no different than Sydney
Carton- who hookin’ up da defense with his mad street smarts. Carton
and Darnay look so much alike they could have the same mama!
Now dat he scott free, Darnay start hollerin at Lucie; but turn out
playa gotta get in line. So he gonna have to grind for some of
Lucy’s juicy.
Back in P-town, Darnay’s hood rich uncle runs ova’ a lil kid with his
carriage. But instead of gettin tore up bout it, he just pissed dat
po folk got blood on his 20 inch blades. Later, some peasant gets
REAL tired of dat rich whiteboy and straight ghosts his ass while he
sleepin. Darnay inherit all dat swoel family cash, but he don’t
want nuthin to do wit dat blood money.
Instead, he throw up the deuce to ol Paree and set up shop in London
where he gonna marry Lucie. Befo’ he do, tho, Carton tell Lucie she
da only thing dat give his sorryass life meaning- and if he can
eva’ hook a sistah up, he gonna do it. Blood fo’ blood, life fo’ life.
sh** goes HAM up in da streets of Paris when da Revolution breaks out
and rich people gettin’ shanked left and right. One of Darnay’s
boys gets thrown in da clink; and since he keep it gangsta, he head
to Paris to bust a bruta out. But all dem crunk po folk love nuthin
mo’ than fu**in wit rich kids, so it ain’t long before Darnay’s
dumbass gets locked up too. Nice plan, yo. So now Lucie and Manette
gotta head there to bail HIS ass out.
After a year and three months of rottin away in da slammer, the
trial goes down and doc Manette come out swingin da biggest legit
street cred dick you eva’ seen: He did the hardest time there is up in
da bastille- so dem revolutionaries get all up on his junk, and decide
to let Darnay go. But then dat same damn night he arrested AGAIN, this
time cuz Defarge and his crazy bitch biddy hatin on him hard core.
Up at tha’ NEW trial, dem bustas whip out an old letter written by
doc Mannete himself, where he callin out Darnay’s family fo all
da crooked sh** they did, sayin their deeds were so damn whack it
dat even his descendants should get whats coming to em. One unanimous
vote later, Darnay get sentenced to death. damn.
Jus’ when errything seems fu**ed, Carton swangs in to town, busts in
to da big house, and knocks Darnay OUT. Then he trades places wit em
since they look da same. Darnay gets tossed in to a carriage and
heads back to London wit his woman. As fo’ Carton? Fool gets his head
chopped off. But at least by saving Darnay, he finally did somethin’
legit with his life. Das some righteous sh** right thurr.
Now you might be thinkin’ dat this book’s main rap bout two separate
cities- London and Paris. Sure, Dickens preachin loud and clear
bout how separate and alone people and places be-
But the book actually hintin at da opposite- that errything is mo
connected than it look at first. Both London AND Paris got their
fair share of folks in love, turf wars between the rich and po, and
crews buckin’ social inequality.
Truth is, Paris and London are mo’ “double” than different. And if you
keepin it triple OG, you know Chuckie D slangin doubles all UP in
this text: we got not only Paris and London, but the City of God and
the City of Men, two Mannettes, Darnay’s double-dose of trials,
Darnay and Carton’s fresh selves lookin’ just like eachotha... hell,
even Charles Darnay’s name looks a whole lot like Charles Dickens.
There ain’t no betta example of dat doublin, though, than how the novel
open up:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it
was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was
the winter of despair...
Fo’ Chuck-Deezy, sometimes two jus’ don’t cut it. That fool goes WAY
beyond doubles when it come to tha dankest theme up in here:
resurrection. Da idea behind da phrase “Recalled to life” poppin up
when talkin bout Doc Mannette, Darnay’s ass gettin saved from
losin’ his head, and most importantly, Carton bein
metaphorically brought back from the dead.
See, even though Carton get his sh** wrecked in the end, he finally
do something good fo’ someone other than himself. It’s like he brought
his dead-as-sh** soul back to life by doin something wit legit
meaning. That’s why we seein him always droppin lines from the
biblical story of Lazarus: “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.”
And if you wanna resurrect yo deadass wardrobe, get yo-self some Thug
Notes threadz. Well read fo life! Peace.