Manette’s characteristics. To analyze Dr. Manette’s characters, these ways are really needed to understand deeply his character.
Dr. Manette is described like a human being in a real life who is able to change and develop his personalities in to a better one. Dr. Manette real name is
Alexandre Manette and he is a French Gentleman. People call him Dr. Manette because of his job as a physician p. 273. Another reason people call him Dr.
Manette is also because of his scientific knowledge, vigilance and skill in conducting ingenious experiments p. 78. Dr. Manette is a prisoner in France and
works as a shoemaker. As a shoemaker, he has an appearance of an old man with a white raggedly cut beard, a hollow face, and exceedingly bright eyes. He also
has dark eyebrows and confused white hair. His body is withered and worn p. 34. Dr. Manette is traumatized, dependent, loving, smart, brave.
4.1.1 Traumatized
Dr. Manette, Lucie’s father, is supposed to be a guardian for Lucie Manette. He is supposed to be a father who will always protect Lucie from any
kind of harm. Yet, he is unable to carry out his responsibility as a father because what happen to him in France. Dr. Manette’s imprisonment in the Bastille prison
of France for twenty years has made him a traumatized person. On the day Lucie Manette meets his father for the first time, she is
accompanied by Mr. Lorry and Monsieur Defarge. Dr. Manette is working as a shoemaker in a garret. In this place Lucie has seen that something is wrong with
her father. When the three of them enter the garret, there is someone who is making shoes. The three of them greet him but there is only a small and faint
response and he continues his work without any further comment. When Mr.
Lorry asks his name, the shoemaker does not properly answer the question. Instead of mentioning a name, the shoemaker is mentioning a name of place and a
number. ‘Did you ask me for my name?’
‘Assuredly I did.’ ‘One hundred and five, North Tower.’
‘Is that all?’ ‘One hundred and five, North Tower.’ p. 35; ch 4; book 1
From the statement, it can be concluded that Dr. Manette or the shoemaker is mentally ill. The name that he mentions is actually the name of a place where he
was imprisoned. Furthermore, when Lucie is asking the reason why he is in that place, Dr. Manette could not explain it. He does not remember anything of how
and why he is in that place for a very long time. pp. 33-42; ch 4; book 1 When Dr. Manette and Lucie Manette have escaped successfully from
France and lived together in London, he is still mentally ill. Sometimes in the middle of the night, he will be heard walking up and down in his room. Lucie
Manette already knows that her father’s mind is walking up and down in his old prison. Because of that, Lucie will hurriedly goes to his side and accompany him
to walk up and down until Dr. Manette’s mind is composed p. 82; ch 6; book 2. The reason why he is walking up and down at night is that he cannot imagine
living separately from Lucie Manette. Her daughter has become the light of his life and he will die if he ever to be separated from Lucie pp. 115-116; ch 10;
book 2. As a father who has spent most of his time being taken care of by his only
daughter Lucie Manette, Dr. Manette is supposed to be already cured from his mental illness. On the day when Lucie Manette goes for her honeymoon with her
husband, Dr. Manette cheerfully sends Lucie away. Unfortunately his mental illness is so deep that it cannot be cured easily. That night he is found by Mr.
Lorry and Mrs. Pross making shoes. He makes shoes using the old tool that he keeps in his room. It is actually a sign that Dr. Manette is still traumatized of
living alone like what happens to him while he is in prison. Whenever he gets stressed, he will revert back to this shoemaking habit. No matter what Mr. Lorry
says to him, it does not affect him at all. Mr. Lorry does not hear any slight response from Dr. Manette.
Dr. Manette actually has noticed that there is something wrong with him. He already notices that he is mentally ill. One day Mr. Lorry seeks some guidance
from Dr. Manette. Mr. Lorry tells Dr. Manette that his friend is mentally ill. Mr. Lorry tells that his friend for nine days and nights keeps working on something
that eventually wears him down and asks if there is any kind of treatment to stop this. This is actually a plan to make Dr. Manette realizes that something happens
to him. Dr. Manette gives an answer to Mr.Lorry that there is a reason for the problem and there is a way to solve it. From the conversation of Dr. Manette and
Mr. Lorry, it can be concluded that actually Dr. Manette knows the identity of this man that Mr. Lorry is talking about and he understands the problem that this man
faces pp. 169-174; ch 19; book 2. After a long time being lovingly taken care of his daughter, Dr. Manette
condition has improved a lot. He does not show any symptoms of a mentally ill person anymore and he grows to be more energetic day by day. Despite of the
good improvement shown, his mental illness cannot leave him completely. Every time he gets stressed, he always reverts back to his old shoemaking habit. On the
day he fails to safe Charles Darnay from execution in France after putting a lot of effort, he reverts back to his old shoe making habit. Dr. Manette crazily searches
for his old shoe making tool that has been destroyed by Mr. Lorry p. 293; ch 12; book 3. It becomes clear that the mental illness that Dr. Manette has cannot be
cured completely, only by the support of his beloved family that the illness can be suppressed.
One knows that Dr. Manette is a traumatized person through three ways of characterization; speech, conversation of others, and mannerism. His trauma
comes from the time when he is imprisoned in France. During his imprisonment he always keeps his mind occupied by working as a shoemaker. His shoemaking
is actually the embodiment of his trauma. This habit always returns to him whenever Dr. Manette feels stressed.
4.1.2 Dependent
