After reading · Part II · Chapter 15
Part II · Chapter 15The Road-Mender’s Story
Reading boundary
Start: There had been earlier drinking than usual
Stop after: now, go home!
Summary
Defarge brings the road-mender to a garret, where the Jacques hear how soldiers captured Gaspard, the man who had ridden beneath the Marquis’s carriage, hanging by its chain. Gaspard was imprisoned, then hanged above the village fountain forty feet high; his body remained there, poisoning the water and terrifying the people.
The group adds the château and its family to its register for destruction. Defarge then takes the road-mender to Versailles, where the man enthusiastically cheers the royal spectacle. Madame Defarge explains that such praise helps keep rulers unsuspecting while ensuring that, when directed against them, excitable people will act with equal force.
Who’s who
- The road-mender — Witness to Gaspard’s capture and execution.
- Monsieur Defarge — Organizer among the Jacques.
- Madame Defarge — Keeper of a knitted register.
- Gaspard — Executed for killing the Marquis.