Chapter Eight, “Never wonder”, is more important within Dickens' philosophical context than in the actual "story" that is being presented in the novel. The battle between the literary agents of "fancy" and the hard mathematical analysts can be seen again in Dickens' use of fire imagery to convey the sense of the storyteller (in this case, Louisa Gradgrind, but also, in a larger sense, Dickens) as a somewhat magical, more modern version of the ancient oracles. In Greek myth, oracles were ordained priest-like figures who were usually female and
known for looking into the fire and "reading the signs." Incidentally, this scene of a sister reading the fire to her younger brother is repeated in another one of Dickens' novels, Our Mutual Friend. The fire can be a symbol of the hearth, of familial warmth and love between siblings but we find here is that this warmth is largely frustrated.
The contrast to Fancy and imagination comes with the enduring cold, despite the fire. In a metaphorical sense, we can describe the Gradgrind’s' family life as very cold and lacking in emotion. An important distinction can be made between coldness and hate, indifference and dislike. The parents neither hate nor dislike their children, but they are emotionally cold, indifferent and distant. In opposition to emotion and "wonder," they prefer science. We see mechanical imagery in the way that Louisa and Tom describe their emotions (as a coiled "spring," for example) and in the lack of freedom and repression of emotions. In a way, repressing ones true emotions, feelings and desires is a form of dishonesty and this chapter foreshadows later scenes in the novel, where Louisa's repression becomes a matter of loyalty, which is a key theme of the novel.
The narrative structure of the novel often uses various chapters as parallels or as cause-and-effect sequences. In this case, "No Way Out" might be compared to "A Loophole" in the same way that we can contrast the lack of freedom suffered by the poor (Stephen) and by children, Tom and Louisa Gradgrind. On the subject of marriage, Stephen's fate foreshadows Bounderby's marriage (presented at the end of Book One) and by the end of the novel, Bounderby will find himself in a similarly awkward situation.
The tone of this chapter is incredibly negative in regards to Sparsit and Bounderby. While they were not the favorite characters before this point, Dickens characterization is really a social commentary on class conflict and the difference between the lives of the rich and the poor. While Sparsit is described as a "fallen lady," there are more intense images describing the lives of the poor: “the serpent”, “the rising smoke”, “Lucifer the fallen angel” and the “grim, black ladders” attached to each house. Each of these images becomes an explicit symbol of how easy it is for the poor to fall farther into the dumps. On the one hand we have Blackpool whose steady fall throughout the novel is simply on account of his already being down and having no other direction in which to travel. On the other hand, characters like Bounderby and Sparsit will also suffer their own social "falls" but it will be on account of their own arrogance and pride.
"Fading Away" presents us with the images of decay, lingering and failure, all of these foreshadow pain in the lives of the major characters. And a good part of this pain comes in the fact of fate being so prolonged. Blackpool is not so fortunate
as to suffer once and finally, instead, life gives him so many false hopes that he is forever entangled in the negative affairs of his life. Just as his old wife is described as a metaphorical "evil spirit," the old lady who returns seemingly out of nowhere to comfort Stephen in his hour of need, is a symbol of fidelity.
Even though Stephen has the opportunity to leave Coketown, the potential freedom is overwhelmed by stronger, more negative images. The law of fate "rose like the sea" much as Bounderby exhibited the image of the powerful wind. In both cases, nature's images are employed to express the power of the forces that are against Stephen. They are as strong as nature because they present him with a fate that he cannot escape from. At the same time, the nature imagery suggests the death and decay of Coketown alongside the power of sadness and of Bounderby. Mostly symbolic, is the deteriorated sunrise, which is very sharp because sunrise is when the sun's radiance dissolves the darkness of the previous night.
Dickens writes that the "sun made but a pale waste in the sky, like a sad sea" much as other characters "looked wan." We can add to these symbols, the fact that the town is "in eclipse" and is metaphorically blinded by the eclipse and the "smoked glass" of the town. The sun and sea images have been distorted, which is the only way to show how disorderly and improper the order and respectability of Coketown truly are.
The narrative structure of chapters seven and eight (book the 2nd) combine a plot device with a metaphor. It should be immediately noted that there is neither literal “Gunpowder” nor a literal "Explosion." Rather, the plot relies upon the cause-and-effect progression of the story in order to maximize suspense. Metaphorically, the "gunpowder" is simply the combustible material of tension and argument in strained relationships. But the "explosion" will turn out to have little to do with what is deceptively foreshadowed by the "gunpowder" in this chapter. In other words, actions are built up to the brink of climax but Dickens often leaves them lingering and turns to other element of the story.
Dickens's social commentary is especially revealing if we think about how the poorer characters are heavily subject to fate. The wealthier characters, however, suffer their calamities in terms of cause and effect. The major emphasis of the foreshadowing in this chapter is the budding potential for an extra-marital romance between James and Louisa. While James once noted that Louisa had "stone" features, we now find the allusion to the Gorgon sisters, Medusa, chief among them. James feared that Louisa was hardened and ugly, but in fact she only wears her stone face without having lost her beauty. Ironically, the Gorgons do not have the stone faces, rather the young heroes who failed and gazed upon them are the ones turned to stone.
As heroes go, it remains to be seen whether Harthouse will successfully woo Louisa from the husband to whom she is obliged. Even as he metaphorically reads Louisa with a "student's eye" the truth of the matter is that he is a failed teacher in a failing system and she is more complicated than he surmises.