A Tale of Two Cities, Book II - Chapter I. Five Years Later quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How does Dickens describe Tellson's Bank at the opening of Book 2, Chapter 1?

   • As a grand and imposing institution, the finest and most modern bank in all of London
   • Correct answer: As small, dark, ugly, and incommodious -- yet fiercely proud of every one of these defects
   • As a recently renovated building that had abandoned its old traditions in favor of progress
   • As a well-lit and inviting establishment that attracted customers with its elegant furnishings

   Dickens writes that Tellson's "was very small, very dark, very ugly, very incommodious" and that its partners "were proud of its smallness, proud of its darkness, proud of its ugliness, proud of its incommodiousness."

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2. 2

   Question 2. What parallel does Dickens draw between Tellson's Bank and the country of England?

   • Both welcomed innovation and rewarded those who proposed new methods of doing business
   • Both were in financial ruin and on the verge of collapse due to poor management decisions
   • Correct answer: Both often "disinherited their sons" for suggesting improvements to long-standing customs
   • Both were secretly funding revolutionary movements in France through financial channels

   Dickens notes that Tellson's partners would disinherit a son for suggesting rebuilding, and that "the Country... did very often disinherit its sons for suggesting improvements in laws and customs that had long been highly objectionable."

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Dickens satirize in the passage listing offenses punishable by death?

   • The French aristocracy's lavish spending habits and their indifference to poverty
   • Correct answer: The indiscriminate brutality of England's criminal justice system in the 1780s
   • The cowardice of English judges who refused to enforce existing laws against crime
   • The reluctance of Tellson's partners to prosecute criminals who threatened the bank

   Dickens lists petty offenses like stealing forty shillings or holding a horse that all carried the death penalty, noting with irony that "it did the least good in the way of prevention -- it might almost have been worth remarking that the fact was exactly the reverse."

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4. 4

   Question 4. What is Jerry Cruncher's official role at Tellson's Bank?

   • He is a junior clerk who works inside the bank examining signatures on cheques
   • He is one of the senior partners who manages the bank's dealings with French clients
   • Correct answer: He is the odd-job man, occasional porter and messenger who serves as "the live sign of the house"
   • He is the night watchman responsible for guarding the bank's valuables after hours

   Dickens describes Jerry as "an odd-job-man, an occasional porter and messenger, who served as the live sign of the house," stationed outside the bank on a wooden stool.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Which of these events actually happens in Book 2, Chapter 1?

   • Correct answer: Jerry throws a muddy boot at his wife after catching her kneeling in prayer
   • Doctor Manette visits Tellson's Bank and meets Jerry Cruncher for the first time
   • Mr. Lorry sends Jerry on an errand to deliver a message to Paris by coach
   • Lucie Manette enters the bank and inquires about her father's financial accounts

   After waking to find his wife praying, Jerry shouts "You're at it agin, are you?" and "threw a boot at the woman as a third" salutation. It was "a very muddy boot," introducing the mystery of why his boots are covered in clay.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Why does Jerry Cruncher object so violently to his wife's prayers?

   • He is an atheist who believes religion is a dangerous superstition that corrupts society
   • Correct answer: He believes her prayers are working against his prosperity and causing him bad luck
   • He is jealous of the time she spends praying instead of preparing his meals properly
   • He is afraid the neighbors will hear her praying and report them to the authorities

   Jerry accuses his wife of "praying agin your father's prosperity" and blames her for his bad luck: "if I had had any but a unnat'ral wife... I might have made some money last week instead of being counter-prayed and countermined."

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does the word "incommodious" mean as used to describe Tellson's Bank?

   • Luxurious and extravagant, designed to impress wealthy clientele
   • Correct answer: Causing inconvenience or discomfort, not offering adequate space or ease
   • Situated in a remote or difficult-to-reach part of the city center
   • Operating under outdated financial regulations imposed by the government

   "Incommodious" means inconvenient and uncomfortable. Dickens uses it as the climactic adjective in his list of Tellson's defects: "very small, very dark, very ugly, very incommodious."

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8. 8

   Question 8. What simile does Dickens use to describe how Tellson's treats its young clerks?

   • They were treated like soldiers, drilled and disciplined until they marched in perfect order
   • Correct answer: They were hidden away in a dark place, like a cheese, until they had the full Tellson flavour
   • They were polished like silver, displayed in the window to attract new customers to the bank
   • They were trained like apprentices, learning every aspect of the banking trade methodically

   Dickens writes: "When they took a young man into Tellson's London house, they hid him somewhere till he was old. They kept him in a dark place, like a cheese, until he had the full Tellson flavour and blue-mould upon him."

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9. 9

   Question 9. What mysterious physical detail about Jerry Cruncher does young Jerry notice at the end of the chapter?

   • His father's hands are always scarred and bandaged, as though cut by sharp instruments
   • His father's clothes smell of earth and dampness even on warm, dry days at the bank
   • Correct answer: His father's fingers are always rusty, and young Jerry wonders where the iron rust comes from
   • His father's face is always pale and drawn, as though he never sleeps at night properly

   Young Jerry mutters: "Al-ways rusty! His fingers is al-ways rusty! Where does my father get all that iron rust from? He don't get no iron rust here!" This foreshadows Jerry's grave-robbing, which involves handling iron coffin fittings.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What odd circumstance about Jerry's boots does Dickens mention?

    • He buys expensive new boots every week but they always look worn and battered by morning
    • Correct answer: He often comes home with clean boots, but the same boots are covered with clay next morning
    • He refuses to clean his boots himself and forces young Jerry to polish them before breakfast
    • He wears mismatched boots of different sizes, one significantly larger than the other

    Dickens notes the "odd circumstance" that "whereas he often came home after banking hours with clean boots, he often got up next morning to find the same boots covered with clay" -- hinting at secret nighttime digging.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Which of these does NOT happen in Book 2, Chapter 1?

    • Dickens describes the heads of executed criminals displayed on Temple Bar outside Tellson's
    • Jerry Cruncher accuses his wife of trying to "flop" away his family's bread and butter
    • Correct answer: Jerry Cruncher is sent on a secret nighttime errand to dig up a recently buried coffin
    • Young Jerry harasses smaller boys passing through Temple Bar while his father waits for work

    While the chapter drops heavy hints about Jerry's grave-robbing through his muddy boots and rusty fingers, his actual nighttime "resurrection" work is not depicted until later chapters. This chapter only foreshadows it.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What is the significance of the name "Hanging-sword-alley" where Jerry Cruncher lives?

    • It suggests a prosperous neighborhood where military officers and government officials reside
    • It foreshadows Jerry's eventual role as a soldier fighting in the French Revolution later
    • Correct answer: It contributes to the chapter's atmosphere of menace, violence, and death that surrounds Jerry
    • It refers to a historical landmark where famous duelists settled their disputes by swordfight

    The name "Hanging-sword-alley" adds to the pervasive death imagery surrounding Jerry Cruncher, complementing the heads on Temple Bar, the death penalty passage, and the hints about his secret occupation involving graves.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What function do Jerry and young Jerry serve at their post outside Tellson's Bank?

    • They serve as lookouts, warning the bank partners of approaching government tax inspectors
    • Correct answer: Jerry waits to be called for porter errands while young Jerry bullies smaller boys nearby
    • They distribute handbills advertising the bank's services to passersby on Fleet Street
    • They guard the bank's entrance and check the credentials of customers before admitting them

    Jerry sits on his stool awaiting calls of "Porter wanted!" while young Jerry, "when not engaged in making forays through the Bar, to inflict bodily and mental injuries... on passing boys who were small enough for his amiable purpose."

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14. 14

    Question 14. What does "reversionary interest" mean when young Jerry enters on his "reversionary interest in the straw"?

    • A passionate enthusiasm for collecting and hoarding small objects found on the street
    • Correct answer: An inherited or future claim to something after the current holder gives it up
    • A deliberate act of rebellion or defiance against parental authority and expectations
    • A childlike curiosity about ordinary things that adults take entirely for granted

    "Reversionary" means relating to the right to succeed to something after the present holder. Dickens humorously describes young Jerry inheriting his father's chewed straw when Jerry Sr. leaves on his errand -- a tiny comic inheritance.

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15. 15

    Question 15. What is the structural purpose of Book 2, Chapter 1 within the novel?

    • It resolves the cliffhanger from Book 1 by revealing what happened to Doctor Manette
    • Correct answer: It transitions the setting from Paris to London and introduces key characters and themes for Book 2
    • It introduces the French Revolution and explains the political causes behind the uprising
    • It reunites all the major characters from Book 1 at Tellson's Bank for a pivotal meeting

    Chapter 1 bridges the five-year gap between Books 1 and 2, firmly establishes the London setting, introduces Jerry Cruncher (who will be important throughout), and develops key themes -- institutional decay, death and resurrection, and social injustice -- that drive the rest of the novel.

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