The teachers are given dry, dubious names upon Dickens ill-bred view on the teachers and the education system. The first teacher Dickens introduces us to is ‘Mr Gradgrind’. Gradgrind is given a bad image by Dickens, but just by Gradgrinds name the reader can make their own image upon him. The word ‘grind’ is purposely used by Dickens, it is a tough, hostile word and from reading the rest of the chapter, it is as though Gradgrind is grinding facts into the children or grinding the imagination out of the children. The reader perceives Gradgrind as a nostalgic, old fashioned, strict teacher.
The second teacher we hear about is again described as a rigid, merciless person, just like Gradgrind. This teacher is ‘Mr M’Choakumchild’. The words that stand out are ‘choak’(choke) and ‘child’. Choke is a strong restricting word and when combined with ‘child’ I get a certain chill down my spine and like most other readers I feel horrified with what the children go through. But what Dickens is cleverly aiming to do is make M’Choakumchild be seen as someone who is choking the children’s imagination.
Dickens compares M’Choakumchild to Gradgrind which tells us how horrible he is. An extract from chapter 2 says ‘He and some one hundred and forty other schoolmasters had been lately turned at the same time in the same factory, on the same principles, like so many pianoforte legs’. Dickens describes all teachers identically with constant repetition of the word ‘same’. Saying that all teachers are the same means that M’Choakumchild must be strict, disrespectful and a fact lover just like Gradgrind. Describing all teachers the same makes them sound robot like and severe minded.
Gradgrind is foreseen by myself as a harsh, stern teacher and Dickens shows this when he says ‘Thomas Gradgrind… a man of facts… who proceeds two and two as four and nothing over’. Gradgrind believes there is only one way of learning and this includes only facts, with nothing else being mentioned and this gives me a slightly gutless feeling.
Gradgrind is portrayed as an insolent man in chapter 2, Gradgrind says ‘Girl number 20… who is that girl’. From calling someone a number rather than a name shows the teachers are not treating the children like humans but like robots, just like the teachers are and how they act. Doing this is expelling the children of an imagination and being disrespectful, and this lowers his reputation from myself.
The description of the teachers is as imaginative as the teachers names themselves. In the first chapter Dickens describes the voice of Gradgrind ‘The speaker’s voice was inflexible, dry and dictatorial’. ‘Inflexible’ is a stiff, hard word, ‘dry’ is a brittle, tasteless word and ‘dictatorial’ is an overbearing, strong word. The 3 words are good ingredients for boring imagination and that’s what the teachers want to see.
Dickens describes Gradgrinds head. Dickens says ‘The speakers hair which bristled on the skirts of his bald head, a plantation of firs to keep the wind from its shining surface, all covered with knobs like the crust of a plum pie’. The ‘bristled hair’ hair is telling us of Gradgrinds callous, firm, rough edged character, the ‘plantation of firs’ is the containing of all the facts inside his head, his head is like a farm with plants of facts and the ‘crust of the plum pie’ is the thing that is keeping the overloading facts locked in his head. I think this is a vivid description and the use of metaphors works perfectly for me.
We know Gradgrind is a very boring man and backs this up when describing Gradgrinds appearance. The extract says ‘the speakers obstinate carriage, square coat, square, square legs, square shoulders – nay his very neck cloth’. The consistency of square makes me feel wearisomely. Dickens use of the phrase ‘obstinate carriage’ means refusing to change, but the thing that is refusing to change is the square features of Gradgrind. Dickens constantly uses square because it is a boring yet forceful word just like Gradgrind himself.
Despite Gradgrind being a dubiously vulgar character, he is also a very intelligent man. A description of Gradgrind says ‘With a multiplication table in his pocket ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature and tell you exactly what it comes to- it is a mere question of figures, a case of simple arithmetic’. From that sentence I feel seriousness from a man who worships his ability. Dickens wants the reader to feel annoyed by Gradgrinds cockiness about his great knowledge on finding maths easy.
The intelligence of Gradgrind is full to the brim, but its all facts and nothing else. In chapter 2 Dickens says ‘He (Gradgrind) seemed a kind of cannon filled to the muzzle with facts’. This makes me feel slightly shuddered to the fact that Dickens compares Gradgrind to an arsenal of guns. Gradgrind is compared to a ‘cannon’ because he is like a gun and the facts are his ammo, that are waiting to fire at the children. The only thing controlling the amount of facts he uses is the ‘muzzle’ that restricts them.
The first student we hear of is Sissy Jupe. Gradgrind asks Sissy of her father’s occupation, Sissy tells him that her father belongs to the horse riding. ‘Gradgrind frowned and waved off the objectionable calling with his hand’. From this extract I find Gradgrind a disrespectful person and it gives me a certain soft spot for Sissy. Gradgrind disrespects Sissy when he responds to Sissy, when she says that her father belongs to the horse riding, Gradgrind motions his hand and looks down on Sissy. Gradgrind makes out Sissy should not be proud of her father because he is not as good as Gradgrind.
We get an idea of Sissy’s appearance in chapter 2 when Dickens gives a description of her. Dickens says ‘The girl (Sissy) was so dark eyed and dark haired that she seemed to receive a more lustrous colour from the sun’. I get a warmth and can imagine innocence, cuteness and prettiness from Sissy. Dickens purposely uses strong, effective words to make the reader feel like this. ‘Lustrous’ is a word that can get the deepest thoughts out of the reader. Sissy has not yet had her imagination banished by facts and that’s why she seems much brighter.
In chapter 2, we are introduced to Bitzer. Bitzer’s description is as follows ‘The boy (Bitzer) was so light eyed and light haired that the self same rays appeared to draw out of him what little colour he ever possessed’. I can see that the reason behind Bitzer’s dull look id down to him being drained of his imagination by Gradgrind. Dickens creates Bitzer as he is the opposite of Sissy and he has had his imagination banished.
The title of the novel is ‘Hard Times’, from reading and reviewing the first two chapters I can see why Dickens chose to call the novel ‘Hard Times’ as this illustrates exactly what the children were going through. I believe Dickens chose to write ‘Hard Times’ to get his point of view across. And from what he hoped he achieved and that’s why 21st Century schools are different. My essay illustrates what Dickens was saying. Finally I agree with what Dickens wrote, he wrote a enthusiastic novel that proved the utilitarian system wrong.