Sydney Carton, “one of Dickens's best-loved and most memorable characters” (Stout 29), is not just another two-dimensional character; he seems to step off the pages and into real life through all the trials and tribulations he experiences. He touches many hearts and even saves the life of Charles Darnay, a man who is strikingly similar to him. In Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton is a selfish, cynical, self-hating drunk and incorrigible lawyer until he meets Lucie Manette; Throughout the novel, Sydney is overwhelmed by his noble love for Lucie and transforms from cynic to hero as he performs one of the most selfless acts a man can perform. The elusive Sydney Carton is portrayed as a “man of habit” (Sims 229-220). Because Carton is such a habitual man, it gives his character a sense of stability and, therefore, also gives the novel a sense of stability. Some readers even conclude that Carton's habitual patterns contribute to him sacrificing his life. When he replaces Charles Darnay, he "highlights the stability and constancy of his character initially obscured by his 'socially inappropriate' or 'elusive qualities'" (Sims 221). Sydney Carton sees the world through the eyes of a cynic. He assumes that the world is a bad place and that nothing exceptional will ever come of it or him. This way of thinking dates back to his days at Shrewsbury, when Sydney was just a young boy. Sydney is by nature very uncompetitive; therefore, it is constantly exploited. Even as a schoolboy, he is used to letting himself be used by others; he always does the exercises for the other boys instead of his own. This habit sticks with him all the way...... middle of paper ...... this in himself. Today, he is “the only great heroic character to be found in the works of Charles Dickens” (Petch 28), and just as he imagines, his story will live on forever. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. A tale of two cities. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859. King, Florence. “The Nerd’s Revenge.” National Review 44.15 (1992): 56. Academic Search Premier. Internet. March 19, 2014.Petch, Simon. “The Lawyer’s Business in A Tale of Two Cities.” Critique 44.1 (2002):27. Premier Academic Research. Internet. March 20, 2014. Sims, Jennifer S. “Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities.” » Explainer 63.4 (2005): 219-222.Academic Search Premier. Internet. March 18, 2014. Stout, Daniel. "Nothing personal: the character's decapitation in A Tale of Two Cities." Novel: A Forum on Fiction 41.1 (2007): 29-52. Literary reference center. Internet. March 17. 2014.