Chapter 2
In chapter 2 the text starts to really show what it is about, we start to see what Gradgrind is like and what he is like at his model school around the students, we also see how Gradgrind views his students. Firstly we are introduced that Gradgrind is a man of reality! This relates to our previous knowledge of the characters as a man of fact. This is shown in an example of Gradgrind being like “a cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts, and prepared to blow them clean out of the regions of childhood at one discharge. We can also see how Gradgrind detests fiction by the way he exclaims that sissy should not have flowers on a carpet which would be walked on, as she would not walk on them in reality. We then go on to see Gradgrind’s modal pupil Bitzer. Bitzer is the model pupil of Gradgrind’s model school. He is in the story to show how Gradgrind alters the minds of the children, in many ways Bitzer is like Gradgrind but not in physical appearance. For instance Bitzer has light colour hair and blue eyes. Another feature in chapter two is the interrogation of sissy dupe by Gradgrind, in this interrogation Gradgrind is asking sissy dupe lots of questions about horses and other things which he calls facts but are really just his opinions on the matters. Gradgrind tries to pressure, his students into having the same opinions as him. In the novel it describes Gradgrind as a bomb full of facts about to explode, this shows that he is trying to force facts into his pupils brains just like a bomb, also it shows that he is so full of facts that he cant keep them all in and he is about to explode because of all the building up of facts. Dickens shows that he is naturally interested in illustrating that fiction cannot be excluded by doing all he can in the novel to prove Gradgrind is wrong he feels that we all need facts and fiction in our life, Dickens feels that it is not normal for the equilibrium to be distorted like this. Dickens uses mono-syllabic language to help emphasise certain things one example of this is when Gradgrind says “what I want is facts.” Dickens uses this kind of linguistic terms to create a sense of urgency in his tone. We see that Gradgrind wants disparity to force facts into his pupils. At the point sissy dupe were interrogated Gradgrind uses certain language as to help describe Dickens opinion, such as when he says “girl number 20, give me your definition of a horse” this shows that Gradgrind tries to pressure sissy and this shows that Gradgrind is a fact filled strict old man.
Chapter 3
In chapter three we learn more about Gradgrind by seeing were Gradgrind lives and about his child hood, we also learn more about his children tom and Louisa and the experiences they have and how dickens describes these things. Firstly we see that Gradgrind’s home stony lodge is very much like Gradgrind it is cold, boring and emotion less in the text it also says that the windows were similar to his eye brows, like big dark caves hanging over his eye. In chapter 3 we also learn more about Gradgrind’s children tom and Louisa, Gradgrind educated his children only on facts just like he does with his pupils at his model school, they were not allowed to go out and play like normal children, instead they were confined to their studies were they were told to find fascination in books and facts as playing and fun was not factual enough for Gradgrind and had no real point to it. Therefore Gradgrind’s children had a great curiosity for such things as they had never been able to them during their youth, for instance when tom and Louisa were at the circus Gradgrind was shocked that his children were out associating with the so called vagabonds of the circus, he didn’t understand why tom and Louisa would want anything else when they had facts. Tom and Louisa were probably interested in the circus as it was something different for them getting away from their cold dad and his boring dry facts.
Chapter 4
In chapter 4 we meet Bounderby who is a banker and factory owner. He is a medium man with a beard typical of time. Dickens has used Bounderby in his novel to show that the occasional street urchin on the streets can make it to become successful business man.
In the beginning of the text, Dickens use good linguistic term by using the simile sentence saying “Mr Bounderby was as near being Mr Gradgrind’s bosom friend, as a man perfectly devoid of sentiment can approach that spiritual relationship towards an another man perfectly devoid of sentiment”. This simile sentence helps us to understand how close Gradgrind and Bounderby are. It says that he is near to being Mr Gradgrind’s bosom friend. To describe that, Gradgrind holds Bounderby close to his heart like a mother grasping her baby to her bosom. Later on in the chapter Bounderby was describing his childhood as a young vagabond, Dickens uses repetition of words “egg-box” to exclaim how bad Boundary’s childhood was. It was said by Bounderby, as he described his grandmother. “She kept a chandler’s shop” and kept me in an egg-box. That was the cot of infancy; and old egg-box”.
In this chapter we get to know more about Bounderby and Gradgrind, and how two people with very different childhood grew up to be so very similar Dickens uses antitheses to show this. WE
e also get to meet Mrs Gradgrind who was, (quote from text) “a thin little white, pink-eyed bundle of shawls of surpassing feebleness, mental and bodily”, and who whenever she showed a symptom of coming to life was variably stunned by some weighty piece of fact tumbling on her. Mrs Gradgrind hoped it was a dry ditch, from this quote we see that Mrs Gradgrind is an unwell woman who, when she shows any sign of getting better is beaten back down by her husbands facts.
Dickens uses similes and metaphors to describe Mrs Gradgrind; e.g. he describes her as a pink eyed bundle of shawls, reinforcing what he already knew of her physical appearance. Dickens has already told us that she is thin, so the metaphor suggests she is swamped by her clothes making her look even scrawnier.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Dickens uses the first four chapters to show us the main character and introduce the ideas of the novel. This is done by using key linguistic terms and aids like metaphor’s to add to descriptions of people. The first four chapters are used to show u descriptions of the main characters and descriptions of the lives they lead and what kind of people they are and were they live est. This is very helpful as it introduces us to the rest of the story.
