know, this isn't the classic, broadly drawn out story withcharacters and lots of side paths like we're used to from Dickens, but nevertheless I think it's one of his best, especially as a historical document.
Published in, it offers a harsh indictment of the horrible social conditions in a fictional English industrial town 'Coketown', And at the same time it illustrates Dickens' moralistic look at gruesome reality,
The protagonist, the goodhearted weaver Stephen Blackpool, is the symbol of the natural wisdom of the laborers 'the Hands', He becomes victim of both the industrial class as the labour union, Clearly Dickens didn't trust the unions as defenders of the working class, but he rather saw them as a violent, disruptive and double harted element.
The author preferred reforms from above, in a context of harmonious cooperation between employees and employers,
Dickens also denounces the arrogance of the bourgeoisie through the industrial Bounderby and the nihilistic politician Harthouse, And he offers a sharp critique on the emergent philosophy of positivism, with its obsession for hard facts and ruthless logic a clear reference to the French philosoper Auguste Comte.
Above this all hovers the wisdom of charitable female characters like Cecilia and Rachael, Perhaps you can say that Dickens' classic novels are more impressive from a literary point of view, but this social document sure made a lasting impression on me.
Mr. Thomas Gradgrind , a very wealthy, former merchant, now retired, only believes in facts, and mathematics, two plus two, is four, . . facts are important, facts will lift you into prosperity, facts are what to live by, they are the only thing that matters, everything else is worthless.
. . knowing. He sets up a model school, were the terrorized students, will learn this, and other subjects that are unfortunately, also taught the eminently practical man, teaches his five children at birth.
. . facts! They fear him, a dictator, at home, his weak minded, sick wife, just looks on, wrapping herself up, to keep warm and complaining of her weariness.
But fictitious Coketown , Manchester is a dirty, factory town, incessant noises from countless machines, powered by coal, chimneys forever spewing dark gases, polluting the air, thick smoke like a twisting snake high above the atmosphere, moving this way and that, spreading all through the surrounding areas, the filth, the sickness, and early death, to the inhabitants, but the "hands" are not relevant, money is, making lots of it, that, and only that.
A foul smelling canal, and even more, a purple river, flows by , the buildings becoming an ugly gray, quickly, the people have to escape to the countryside, to breath fresh healthy air.
Travelers going by this place, can only imagine there is a city there, under the black cloud covering, yet they can't see it.
Mr. Gradgrind best friend, if there is such an animal, in his circle, is the banker, and manufacturer, Mr, Josiah Bounderby, always telling anyone, within hearing distance, that he himself, rose from the gutter, to become a rich man, no help.
. . he did it alone. Story after story, of his sleeping in the streets, hungry, soiled, without a farthing to his name, Abandoned by the evil, uncaring, widowed mother, brought up by his horrible, drunken grandmother, who beats the child repeatedly, Entertaining, heartwrenching, you felt for this man, how he suffered greatly in youth, except it's not quite true, . . in fact, lies. Louisa, Mr. Gradgrind's oldest and favorite child, is very pretty, the bachelor Bounderby, has eyes for her, when she reaches the proper age of about, the fifty year old man, asks for her hand in marriage, of course, conveying this fact first, to her father.
Louisa says what does it matter, a prisoner in her own home, the girl hasn't seen anything of the world, disaster follows, the couple have nothing in common, what can they talk about Mrs.
Sparsit, her husband's meddling housekeeper, from a good family, hates her, Louisa, flirts with the restless, gentleman, Mr, James Harthouse, who proudly states that he is no good! Still Louisa, only loves her brother, "The Whelp", young Thomas, getting money from his sister, gambling, drinking, wasting it all and always coming back for more.
The selfish boy, works in the bank
for Mr, Bounderby, his now, brother in law, when the well runs dry, the drunkard "finds" somepounds sterling, inside the bank, not properly being used and sees, that it will be.
Implicating an innocent "hand", Stephen Blackpool, fired recently by Bounderby, for speaking too much, shunned by the trade union members, for not joining, he walks the streets a lonely man, with an alcoholic wife who deserted him, she still periodically comes back , to sober up, and a sweetheart, that he can't marry too.
Mr. Blackpool, seeks work elsewhere, not knowing he's a suspect, in the puzzling crime, The industrial revolution makes some people rich and others sick, but there is no going back , the dye has been cast, . . this is what victorian people had to explain utilitarianism because they didn't have the good place on netflix Hard Times is my return to Charles Dickens as an adult.
I have read Oliver Twist and David Copperfield as a child, I didn't have an appetite for Dickens when I was young, for his subjects were sad and depressing, But as an adult, I understand and appreciate him, He touched so many sides of the society which were rarely spoken of before, He penetrated into human minds so thoroughly and exposed both their black and white sides, Although these qualities in his writing made me sad and depress before, the same qualities have made me fall in love with his writing now.
Hard Times is Dickens's shortest novel, Through a well outlined and wellwritten story, Dickens comments on the lives, living, and conditions of towns in the light of industrialization.
This social commentary gives a perfect picture of the lives and conditions of living of workingclass people and the dominating power exercised on them by their masters over every aspect of their lives, suppressing them and using them to secure their wealth and position in life.
There is also a strong criticism of utilitarianism, This theory was introduced in the aftermath of the industrial revolution to make it easy for the masters to control the working class, depriving them of any capacity to reason and making them live a submissive life according to their whims and fancies.
Dickens's use of Facts against Reason throughout the book subtly mocks the theory and exposes the social downfall that it would lead to.
He brings the character of Louisa Gradgrind and demonstrates what tragedies one would face if they are suppressed of their capacity to feel and to reason.
Although it is a little overstated, the point is clearly proved,
I liked the character variety in the book, They ranged from kind, goodhearted, sweettempered to cunning, boastful, treacherous, This wide variety added colour and contrast to the book, The story was engaging, his social views kept me well connected with it all along, I enjoyed his satire very much, Dickens is a realistic writer of the Victorian era and that is the secret of his popularity even today, .