Hard Times Flashcards
Where is the novel set?
In a fictional city of Coketown, which stands for a real industrial mill town in mid 19th century Victorian England
What type of city is it?
it’s a sort of brick jungle: the machines of factories are like mad elephants, and their smoke looks like serpents
What does this city seem to be turn into?
This place of hard facts and hard lives seems to be turned into some kind of magical but hellish land
How do all the buildings look like?
all the buildings, covered with shoot coming from coal, are the same
How are the mill owners?
nothing seems to bother the mill owners, they seem to be proud of the polluted air of Coketown
What does the black residue symbolize to some?
to some the black residue that wraps up the town may symbolize productivity and industry
to others it may just be depressing
How is Hard Times divided into?
into three sections or books, and each book is divided into separate chapters
What does Book One show?
Book One “Sowing” shows us the seeds planted by the Gradgrind/Bounderby education:
Louisa, Tom and Stephen Blackpool
What does Book Two show?
Book Two “Reaping” reveals the harvesting of the seeds planted in the previous book:
Louisa’s unhappy marriage? Tom’s selfishness and criminal ways, Stephen’s rejection from Coketown
What does Book Three show?
Book Three “Garnering” is linked to a dominant symbol -instability- which is no longer the solid ground upon which Mr Gradgrind’s system once stood
What type of philosophy can be identified? through whose actions?
The philosophy of Utilitarianism comse forth largely through the actions of MrGradgrind and his follower Bounderby:
as the former educates the children through facts, the latter treats the workers in his factory as emotionless objects that are easily exploited for his own self interest
What does Mr Gradgrind believe?
He believes that human nature can be measured, quantified and governed entirely by reason
What does Mr Gradgrind’s school try to do?
His school tries ti turn children into machines that behave according to strict rules
What is Dickens’s primary aim?
to illustrate the danger of the teaching method called object lesson, originally conceived as a method of education arising from children’s own experiences and suited to their particular stage of development but distorted in its introduction to English schools
there, form acquired more importance than subject matter, leading to lessons where humans were actually dehumanized
What does Har Times focus on?
Hard Times focuses on the difference between the rich and the poor at Dickens’s time, between factory owners and workers who were forced to work long hours for low pay in dirty, loud and dangerous factories
