Introduction: The Purpose of Hard Times
Charles Dickens is known as a writer of social criticism, and “Hard Times” particularly demonstrates his critical view of Victorian England. As opposed to particular attacks as evident in his earlier novels, “Hard Times” is a diagnosis of Victorian society as a whole. In the novel the failings of England are meant to be a reflection of a distorted society as a whole, rather than individual characters.
The story is set in the fictitious Victorian industrial Coketown, a generic Northern England mill-town partially based upon 19th century Preston. This scenery provides the canvas for Dickens’s attacks; moreover Coketown itself is a portrayal of his anger.
The Significance Of The Name “Hard Times.”
The name “Hard Times” is indicative of the criticism that is at the essence of the novel. Dickens’ felt that the hardest of times was being felt in the mills of Northern England by the aptly named “hands”, workers that have been commoditised by utilitarian principle. Dickens’ anger at the exploitation of workers is most clearly demonstrated through his mouthpiece Stephen Blackpool. In a sense he is Dickens’ prophet preaching the unfairness of his working conditions and that of his companions.
“Look how we live… and how you are awlus right and how we are awlus wrong.” Stephen’s comment encapsulates the diseased state of the Victorian state. Through Stephen, Dickens shows us that the oppressed have no justice, and even more that the rich don’t care.
Not only is the state of England tragic in the workplace, it is also soulless in the classroom, where Dickens construction further fits the title of the novel.
Role Of Names In Hard Times By Charles Dickens
In this novel the importance of names seemed to dominate all other symbolism. Interested by the names with obvious meanings, such as Gradgrind (which can either be seen as grinding students into graduates with facts and logic or the word grind can be associated with factories and machines) and McChoakumchild (which is a little too obvious).
Louisa comes from Louis, which comes from Ludwig. Ludwig means “fame from battle”. Louisa therefore represents a warrior who is caught in the battle between facts and imagination, as she desires to visit the circus but is scolded by her father and brought back to Stone Lodge.
Stone Lodge, the name of the home of the Gradgrinds is clearly supposed to evoke a feeling of coldness.
The name of the city, Coketown, is also symbolic. Coke is a term for a mineral used in the process of iron making. Therefore, the town represents industrialization.
Girl number 20 introduces herself as Sissy Jupe. Sissy is the pet name her father uses for her. Mr. Gradgrind quickly says, “Sissy is not a name. Don’t call yourself Sissy. Call yourself Cecilia” (Dickens 3). It just so happens that Cecilia comes from the Latin term “caecus” meaning blind. So by calling her Cecilia, Mr. Gradgrind is blinding her to imagination.
Prevalence of Utilitarianism
Hard Times is a direct indictment of Utilitarianism. Its doctrine is that the best action is the one that will result in the greatest happiness of the greatness number of people. This virtually promoted self-interest and practicality, and is the underlying ideology of the Industrial Revolution. Utilitarianism caused antipathy among those who opposed the ideology, “anti-Utilitarianists.” Their ideology was descendant from the early romantics, they denounced society’s excessive pursuit of money and mechanical mode of thinking, and deplored its lack of humanity.
Dickens was appalled by what was, in his interpretation, a selfish philosophy, which was combined with materialist laissez-faire capitalism in the education of some children at the time, as well as in industrial practices. In Dickens’ interpretation, the prevalence of utilitarian values in educational institutions promoted contempt between mill owners and workers, creating young adults whose imaginations had been neglected, due to an over-emphasis on facts at the expense of more imaginative pursuits.
Characters
Mr. Gradgrind
Utilitarianism is epitomized in Mr. Gradgrind. He is an exaggerated caricature that raises his children and bases his education system around the utilitarian principles that Dickens’ despises. “Eminently practical” is Gradgrind’s recurring description throughout the novel and practicality is something he zealously aspires to.
From the very beginning of the novel Dickens uses Gragrind to emphasise the mechanical mode of thought that pervaded the education system. This begins from the very first page, “Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but the Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life… Stick to Facts, sir!” In the first few chapters of the novel, Mr. Gradgrind expounds his philosophy of calculating, rational self-interest. He believes that human nature can be governed by completely rational rules, and he is “ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you what it comes to.”
This philosophy has brought Mr. Gradgrind much financial and social success. He has made his fortune as a hardware merchant, a trade that, appropriately, deals in hard, material reality. Later, he becomes a Member of Parliament, a position that allows him to indulge his interest in tabulating data about the people of England. Although he is not a factory owner, Mr. Gradgrind evinces the spirit of the Industrial Revolution insofar as he treats people like machines that can be reduced to a number of scientific principles.
Unlike some of the other utilitarian protagonists it seems that Gragrind is capable of redemption because he has best intentions at heart. Gragrind, seeing his failure of marrying Louisa to Bounderby and his son Tom’s knavery, realizes his imperfect principles and softens in the end.