“The lion then composed himself on his back on a sofa on one side of the drinking-table, while the jackal sat at his own paper-bestrewn table proper, on the other side of it, with the bottles and glasses ready to his hand. Both resorted to the drinking-table without stint, but each in a different way; the lion for the most part reclining with his hands in his waistband, looking at the fire, or occasionally flirting with some lighter document; the jackal, with knitted brows and intent face, so deep in his task, that his eyes did not even follow the hand he stretched out for his glass- which often groped about for a minute or more, before it found the glass for his lips (p. 80).”
During this quote, Mr. Carton and Mr. Stryver are sitting in Mr. Stryver’s office filling out paper work from the trial. Mr. Carton is filling out large amounts of paperwork whereas Mr. Stryver is filling out a few “light” forms that take little if no effort to fill out. This quote is all about setting up the important characters. This extended metaphor about the jackal and the lion describe Mr. Carton and Mr. Stryver, respectively. To truly understand the metaphor, the true definition of a jackal must be known. A jackal is a wild dog in Africa that hunts on the plains, but the jackal does more than this. Jackals are known for who they hunt for. When they make their kill, they eat some and leave the rest for the lions. In doing so the lions get to eat the jackals kill without the lion having to do any work. The jackal is the lion’s provider, and yet the jackal receives no credit. This is exactly what is happening in the relationship between Mr. Carton and Mr. Stryver. Mr. Carton puts a lot of effort into being a good member of court (specifically a lawyer), yet Mr. Stryver takes all of the credit. Is it all Mr. Carton’s fault that he lets Mr. Stryver take credit for his hard work? He is definitely responsible, but Mr. Stryver too is almost equally responsible for Mr. Carton’s lack of credit. This is because Stryver is extremely pushy (shouldery), and works only so that he can move up the food chain, whereas Mr. Carton lacks the pushiness to be able to go only for self-gain. Because of foreshadowing that is aimed at Mr. Carton (in this section and the chapter about the trial), it can be expected that Mr. Carton is going to be a very important character later on in the novel. It may be very important to remember how he is not shouldery, and has been only a jackal for the numerous lions in the world.
It is to be noted that if the lion makes a kill and does not eat all of it, the lion will often allow the jackal to come in and finish off the meat. It should also be noted that the definition of a jackal being a provider is not true in the wild. The jackal is not the lions' only source of food, but the lion can hunt for itself. Yet the figurative meaning of the word "jackal"(and how it is used in literature) is of a hard worker who provides for a "lion" yet gets none of the credit.
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