Gradgrind’s ambition is to, ‘plant nothing else and root out everything else,’ but facts. The children are not even to, ‘fancy’ anything. So much so, the room in which the children are being taught is just a, ‘plain, bare, monotonous vault,’ of a classroom. The word vault, indicates the children are trapped in the education system. Every bit in the room is the same, boring and dull and in no way creative – so the children would get no mental stimulation from it. It leaves little to the imagination, as with Gradgrind himself. Dickens uses technical and geometric words, like ‘square,’ and, ‘plain’ to put forward to us his rigidity in his belief as though the whole education system was personified through Gradgrind. In addition, the subject of facts also helped Dickens to describe Gradgrind. Through his, ‘inflexible,’ voice. Unchangeable, like the childrens futures. Also, his necktie, wrapped around his neck, ‘like, a stubborn fact.’ With the inspector watching the class, this style of education was enforced on the teachers. As a result, they themselves were ready to teach the children in such a way, it would blow the children, ‘clean out of the regions of childhood.’ Gradgrind himself, believes that this is the right way of teaching. Consequently, he has learnt little about the complexity of human nature, causing him to believe that everything about people can be simply reduced to science, and that by training the, ‘vessels’ in the way he is, he is giving them a future and a chance in life, when really he is removing them. The metaphor, ‘vessels’ is the word Gradgrind uses for children. It shows first hand how he thinks about his children. A class comes in, he fills them with facts like a bucket, then they go to work in a factory. A new class comes in, and so on, all the time, them learning nothing about morals and principles of life.
Chapter two is metaphorically named, ‘Murdering of the Innocents’. It shows what the education system is potentially doing to the children in it. It is not only killing the children’s imagination and identity, but also deprives them of a decent future. With the education currently received, the children will be both physically and mentally, ‘deformed’. The true impact on the education system to the children, is shown in chapter when two children are juxtaposed. One child, by name of Sissy has just moved to the school, and another child, Bitzer, has been taught at the school for most of his life. Our first introduction to Sissy, is by her being called, ‘number 20,’ by Gradgrind. This is because a name shows a personality, and imagination, along with nicknames. As a result, Gradgring calls herself, ‘Cecilia’. Anything in the children’s lives which requires imagination, a unique style, is removed by Gradgrind, quite easily because of the respect the children have for him. He rejects Sissy’s father belonging to, ‘the horse-riding’. He then gives the job the title of a, ‘veterinary surgeon’. This is ironic, because Sissy has dealt with horses all her life, so understands them more and probably knows more about them than Gradgrind does, yet he doesn’t want understanding, he wants facts. That is why Sissy cant give the definition of a horse.
Bitzer is near to Sissy so is called upon when she fails to give the definition of a horse. Bitzer is a product of the education system of the time. He is unnatural and cold, and the many references made to, ‘pale,’ and, ‘white’ show he is lifeless and if, ‘cut would bleed white.’ There is nothing unique about him. The education has stripped him of all personality. His, ‘short-cropped hair,’ and, ‘short ends of lashes,’ show he is undeveloped and missing something. Education has ruined him. He recites a complex speech that has been learnt by heart. Although this shows he is knowledgeable, anyone can just read a paragraph. Also, Bitzer probably knows the meaning of few words he has just said. This is the lesson that Dickens tries to get across, by comparing Sissy to Bitzer. Sissy has the complete understanding of the subject of horses, yet Bitzer merely has knowledge, and knowledge is nothing without understanding. This is what Gradgrind failed to master. He believes the children are like, ‘monotonous machines’ and can do the same repetitive work without feeling or thought. The only way to turn them into this though, is to train and control them. Military words, like, ‘discharge,’ and used to show this.
A lesson which Gradgrind tries to teach to the children, is that anything you would not see in reality, should not be represented in art. Horses aren’t seen, ‘walking up and down the side of rooms,’ thus there should not be representations of horses on wallpaper. Just as tropical birds or butterflies, ‘don’t land on crockery,’ and, ‘carpets shouldn’t have, ‘representations of flowers on,’ because in reality you wouldn’t put, ‘tables and chairs,’ on flowers. But, Sissy has the understanding to realise that the flowers wouldn’t do anyone any harm. They are just pictures. Gradgrind soon stops her when she begins to talk about imagination. This is the ONE thing Gradgrind doesn’t want her to have, just, ‘facts, facts, facts.’ The children’s future teacher is called Mr. M’Choakumchild. The name itself shows the children are going to be choked by facts. To show further, how the system destroys children, words like, ‘Maim, and distort,’ are used by the teacher, but by Dickens, they represent the children’s futures, both physically and mentally.
The town is described in great detail in chapter 5. The town is physically stained with, ‘smoke and ashes,’ from factories. It an, ‘unnatural red and black,’ colour. The town is constantly referred to as evil. It is like the, ‘painted face of a savage,’ and the winding smoke trails above the town, look like, ‘serpents.’ This is a biblical reference for evil. The town shows no plan for the future. It constantly works, ‘all day long.’ Within the town there is no variation, both in buildings and streets. Everything was built to be, ‘severely workful’ and for its purpose, with no thought to decoration or cleanliness.
Vocabulary used, shows the day to day life in the town, to be repetitive, constant, and with no other thrills than to get up early, go to work, comeback lat and go to bed. And it would be the same, ‘tomorrow, and every year.’
The bosses and people in charge of the town had the power to influence people at work, and their spare time. Although there were not trained to have an imagination, and believe nothing but fact, they were still encouraged to go to church. But even the churches were only, ‘pious warehouses.’ There are eighteen chapels, but still, there is no sense of faith. All the buildings are the same. The, ‘jail might have been the infirmary,’ at first glance. The final word on Coketown, is that it has a sense of entrapment. You were born in Coketown, learnt nothing but facts, and died in Coketown, with nothing else ever entering your life.
The description of Coketown is an exaggerated one, but the way the industrial reviolution was going, its what Britain would’ve looked like. The time when nothing mattered but profit, money, and fact. There was no real religion however many churches there were. At the time, they worshipped profits and money, and profits and money were their God.