Friday, June 27, 2014

Who is Cruncher's message for, and what is the gentleman's occupation in "Tale of Two Cities"?

Jerry Cruncher's message is for Jarvis Lorry, a representative for Tellson's Bank.  The message is from the bank, and gives only the instruction, "Wait at Dover for Mam'selle".


Jerry Cruncher delivers his message while the receiver is traveling in a mailcoach headed for Dover.  Urging his horse to a gallop, Cruncher overtakes the coach and approaches it "fast and furiously" as it labors up a hill.  The coachguard greets him with a loaded weapon, fearing that he might be a highwayman, and is suspicious even when Cruncher identifies himself.  It is only when Mr. Lorry affirms that he knows who the horesman is that the guard grudgingly allows Cruncher to deliver his message.  The message is brief, and Mr. Lorry sends back a response which is even more cryptive - "RECALLED TO LIFE" (Chapter 2).


Jerry Cruncher is a porter for Tellson's Bank, but for his real occupation he is a grave-robber.  Cruncher steals fresh corpses from newly dug graves and gives them to a medical school so that the students can have first-hand experience studying human anatomy.  Although grave-robbing is against the law, Cruncher considers it "honest work".

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