His hatred towards the effects of Utilitarian education is also portrayed through the names of his characters. By using names like ‘Gradgrind’ the reader immediately imagines the character is strict and very forceful- it gives the impression he grinds down children’s’ minds, which matches his Utilitarian styles of teaching. ‘Mr. M’choakumchild’ shows a slight sense of onomatopoeia in the harsh sounds of the consonants which resembles the choking of a child. From the moment the characters are mentioned, the reader is almost forced to have a negative outlook on the teachers. To contrast the stern names, sibilance is used to create soft, welcoming characters. By using names like ‘Sissy’ for characters inexperienced by Gradgrind’s standards, Dickens conveys a direct line separating sibilance from harsh-sounding names.
The novel is opened by introducing the relevance of ‘Facts’ which is all anyone needs to know from a strict Utilitarian’s point of view. “Plant nothing else, and root out everything else” shows that fact, and nothing else, is everything a person needs to know. “Plant nothing else” suggests the children do not need anything but facts to live- they do not need an imagination and without an imagination the children cannot imagine a life without facts. By saying “root out everything else” it proves that Gradgrind’s life has been built purely upon facts and all that matters to him, is that of which he can measure- “Ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature” which shows how tied up in facts, multiplications and measurements he really is. The constant repetition of the word ‘facts’ implies that this is the most important part of Utilitarianism and the school and the whole education system, not just Gradgrind, is like this.
Sissy Jupe is conveyed as a warm, happy, colourful character. Her shy and polite manner is another factor that contrasts the reality of Victorian education. Dickens presents her in this way to firstly make Gradgrind appear more powerful and also to make Sissy appear more innocent. In the second chapter, ‘Murdering The Innocents’, Sissy is first introduced. The chapter is packed full of sarcasm and intimidation from Gradgrind to Sissy. By criticising her name, “Sissy is not a name” the reader starts to empathise with her and creates a stronger dislike towards Gradgrind. However, although she is told to call herself Cecilia, Dickens continues to refer to her as Sissy throughout ‘Hard Times’. Furthermore, Gradgrind slates her father and his career in the circus. “We don’t want to know anything about that, here” also depicts Gradgrind as an emotionless character, who only agrees with those whose career serves a purpose. Further on in the chapter, Sissy is put on the spot by Gradgrind- “Give me your definition of a horse” which is clearly practically impossible to do without spending your life under the influence of facts (like Bitzer who later defines the horse without any hesitation).
Dickens’ description of Bitzer is also contrasted with Sissy’s physical appearance. Bitzer is a pale, life-less character and is described as “light-eyed” and “light-haired” and “if he were cut, he would bleed white”. Dickens describes him in this way to show the long-term effects of the schools’ expectations and how all life can be taken away from somebody so much that even their’ blood has lost all colour. He is positioned at the bottom end of a sun beam radiating from the window where Sissy is seated. Sissy is illustrated as “so dark-eyed and dark haired” and “received a deeper and more lustrous colour from the sun” which shows she is still full of life, as she’s not been at the school for long.
As the title of the second chapter suggests, ‘Murdering The Innocents’ implies a literary death of the children’s spirits. The total and complete demoralisation of their will and personalities is expressed through the emotive language and contrast between the verb and noun. Using the violent finality of the word ‘murder’, Dickens conjures up an image of unrelenting despair of the children’s lives. Then, by referring to the children as ‘innocents’, it gives the impression that they are completely under Gradgrind’s influence, with no knowledge of their own to ever do any wrong.
Through words, Dickens can depict a scene of extreme deprivation and hardship, which supports his views of an education system based on the Utilitarianism principles. Through his experiences of Victorian life, he presented the reader with thought-provoking images of the system in which he wished he could change. He shows his continued displeasure in the simplest yet most significant ways throughout (which have been explained throughout the essay) by introducing a range of techniques to uphold the grim picture of life during his childhood. Thus making Charles Dickens a prolific author, who has effectively portrayed the underlying beliefs he had by criticising the Victorian education system in Hard Times.
