Analysis of page 1 'Hard Times'

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Analysis of page 1 ‘Hard Times’

Chapter 1 ‘One thing needful’ starts the book off by introducing Mr Gradgrind’s character. The Chapter is set in the local school of Coketown; a small mining town. Set in the 1800’s this book was first published in 1854. Some say this book reflected dickens own childhood more than fiction, much like ‘David Copperfield’. Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and was the second of 8 children. He led an unprivileged childhood as his father was sent to jail for debt, this meant that Dickens briefly had to work at a blacking warehouse at the age of only twelve because of this.

        Dickens opens the chapter with speech; however he does not tell the reader who says this, thus creating suspense. In his first paragraph he includes the word ‘facts’ five times. Dickens uses this device, repetition, to emphasize a specific point. The speaker says; ‘Facts alone are wanted in life’. This implies his opinions and views are very fixed and he is not open minded. This also connotes he is not open to new concepts and change. He highlights this point by saying; ‘Stick to facts, sir’. He says this to the schoolmaster, advising him and almost to instruct him to do as he says.

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Dickens describes the school room as; ‘plain’, ‘bare’ and ‘monotonous’. This gives the connotations of boredom and a stereotypical lecture theatre in a school. The word ‘monotonous’ would imply the room having little decoration, being unelaborated. The school room is illustrated as a; ‘vault’ this would suggest that the school had certain similarities to a prison or a cell. After this he uses a metaphor device to describe the school room; ‘monotonous vault of a school room’. He uses this device to make the description seem more real and to make it more engaging to read. He describes the speaker’s ...

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