The book starts in the way it does to immediately show the reader how reliant on facts the education system has become. Facts, calculations and precision in everything are encouraged, producing heartless and ‘hard’ individuals, devoid of feelings or compassion. ‘Fancy’ is completely discouraged, as is any use of the imagination, which is devoid of financial gain or practical benefit. Mr. Gradgrind uses his control to humiliate a pupil in front of the class in the opening scene. Gradgrind uses the ‘number system’ to select Sissy from the class. The girl’s father works for the circus which does not please Mr. Gradgrind so his solution to the predicament is to cover up this plain fact with lies “He doctors sick horses...Very well, then. He is a veterinary surgeon…” Gradgrind’s control is so strong that the lies he tells are believed and become facts. Sissy has grown up in the circus, where play and imagination are encouraged. It is an environment that fosters emotions and compassionate behaviour and an environment that is free and unrestricted.
The girl’s confidence is undermined further when she is asked to describe a horse. After a moment of awkward silence focused on Sissy, the school’s idea of a perfect pupil proceeds to churn out many facts about the horse resulting in a precise but uninspired definition. The ‘perfect’ response, it seems, is a list of meaningless and thoughtless facts. Bitzer appears dull and uninteresting, “if he were cut, he would bleed white”.
‘Some boy’, as he is referred to (perhaps Dickens is venting his irritation at this type of child by using such a general, characterless term) defines a horse:
“Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders, four eyeteeth, and twelve incisive. Sheds coat in spring; in marshy countries, sheds hooves, too. Hooves hard, but requiring to be shod with iron. Age known by marks on mouth.“
This explanation of a horse is completely factual, devoid of emotion, imagination or ‘fancy’.
Sissy is positioned at one end of the room, receiving a full beam of sunshine from the window, appearing radiant and even angelic, whilst Bitzer, who sits at the other end of the classroom, fails to catch the end.
“The girl was so dark-eyed and dark-haired that she seemed to receive a deeper more lustrous colour from the sun...the boy was so light-eyed and light-haired that the same self-rays appeared to draw out of him what little colour he ever possessed.”
Dickens uses this idea to highlight the difference between Gradgrind's ideal pupil and Sissy who has not yet succumbed to the dehumanisation. This may have another meaning too; Gradgrind has not yet drained Sissy of her colour and emotions (she appears alive), yet Bitzer, a frequent victim of Gradgrind’s lessons, has been sapped of these qualities. Dull facts have taken their place.
Dickens presents Gradgrind as a hard man and this is reflected in his name, which is harsh and blunt. Dickens describes Gradgrind’s mouth as “wide, thin and hard set”, and his voice as “inflexible, dry and dictorial”. He is described as square and stubborn too “The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s square wall of a forehead, which had his eyebrows for its base”. His head is described as a, “warehouse-room for the hard facts stored inside”. Mr. Gradgrind, like any teacher seems to have his favourite pupils. They are usually children that are intelligent and bright, which again, is not uncommon among teachers. Dickens describes Gradgrind as “square”, he says that he wore a “square coat”, had “square legs”, “square shoulders”, a “square wall of a forehead” and a “square forefinger”, which all help to add emphasis to Gradgrind’s strange stature. The repeated use of the theme ‘square’ gives the image of something completely equal, symmetrical, in a way perfectly calculated, just like Gradgrind’s mind. A square is boring and dull though it suitably imitates Gradgrind. Dickens said of his eyes, “To have found commodious cellarage in two dark caves, overshadowed…”
This states that Gradgrind’s eyes, (eyes often being thought of as a true character display), show no sign of life or liveliness, the fact that the eyes, representing life and imagination, are overshadowed by the ‘wall’, tells me that Gradgrind has lost all character and imagination. Barry Hines presents Gryce in a similar way but cunningly uses a modified version of onomatopoeia via his name that evokes images of slime, grease and evilness. Both authors use this ‘naming’ technique to portray characters in each novel. Mr. M'Choakumchild from ‘Hard Times’ certainly stretches the limit of a realistic person's name but it does create images of children choking extremely effectively!
Mr. Gradgrind is portrayed as a very rigid person, with a certain monotone about him. He hates all fiction and is absent of feeling and emotion, which makes him very uninteresting to pupils. This is reflected in pupils like Bitzer, who makes the horse sound boring, like a machine even. Thomas Gradgrind totally believes in the teaching of facts only as did most schools as teachings during this period were void of poetry, make-believe tales, or song. Children were brought up upon facts and figures because it was found that children in London believed that Jack the Giant-killer, Jack and the Bean-stalk, and Jack and Jill were real life people. The children in these areas were ignorant dreamers who aspired to ‘be’ like the famous Jacks and slay giants, dragons and other mythical creatures and ride off with the princesses. This was why statisticians and people in power immediately called for a plan that would ‘store the minds of children with nothing but facts and figures’. When this system inevitably fails towards the end of the novel, Dickens could be trying to show the reader that to teach children successfully, emotion and feeling must somehow be incorporated into their education.
A Kestrel for a Knave is based in and around a secondary modern school (similar to Hard Times) run by Mr. Grice. It accommodates the failures of the eleven plus exam; those ultimately destined for working class jobs. Pupils faced harsh, violent punishments that were suppressed by the authority. The boys, however, still rebel against the system, as it seems to the reader that eventually the punishments become a way of life. The boys are called by their surnames (an improvement upon numbers but still lacking emotion). It would seem that the system has failed Billy as he is in his last year at school and isn’t yet competent at reading or writing. Though the lack of support from his mother may have heeded Billy’s progress significantly, I’d presume that Billy has probably been left to study with little or no help from his mother or his brother; Jud.
One lesson we witness in A Kestrel for a Knave also aims to teach the pupils about facts. However Mr. Farthing who is a caring and a more fatherly teacher (once again links in with the name) teaches this lesson. Mr. Farthing has gained some respect from the class of boys from his kind personality. Although the lesson has the same content as the lesson in Hard Times, it becomes obvious that Farthing’s teaching is different. He manages to involve Billy in the lesson, which is an achievement as Billy is normally shy, lacking motivation. Farthing teaches in a more relaxed fashion, allowing the lesson to flow whilst also welcoming input from the boys. He encourages Billy to participate and makes him feel positively unique as he has something interesting to share with the class. Billy speaks about Kes, who he has raised and trained, and Farthing seems genuinely interested “Jesses, how do you spell that?” He writes words on the board, involving the whole class while discussing one person’s unusual talent. Billy becomes the teacher for a while as Farthing does not control as Gradgrind does. The lesson becomes full of individuality as Billy shares his unusual hobby and his confidence grows. This would never have happened in a lesson taught by Gradgrind, he would never encourage a pupil to take over his position and would think a pastime like Billy’s ridiculous. The way in which Farthing nurtures Billy’s thoughts reflects the way in which Billy has nurtured Kes and the time and devotion that Billy has shown the bird is matched, although on a smaller scale, by the way Farthing waits for Billy to reveal his thoughts and questions him gently.
However, few teachers manage children as Farthing does therefore few children are encouraged and nurtured on a one to one basis, most are merely generalised: Billy and some fellow students stand in Mr. Gryce’s office, where a poor messenger gets caught up with the group and is forced to temporarily keep hold of their cigarettes. Mr. Gryce finds the cigarettes, accuses the small boy of being “a regular cigarette factory” and calls him “deceitful”. The boy, who appears never to have had a beating in his life, receives the cane, which proceeds to make him vomit violently. Gryce seems to think that he knows everything that there is to know about the education system. For that reason he doesn’t listen to the boy’s frequent interruptions and attempts to save himself. The reader of the Bible in the previous scene read his extract during the school assembly with no expression and very little punctuation. The sense of irony stands out that this is completely the opposite of the twentieth century education method.
Mr. Sugden is a physical education teacher at the secondary modern school. Sugden is a bully and again Barry Hines has highlighted the teacher’s personality with his name, this time employing rhyme as his assistant, as Sugden is a thug. Billy dislikes physical education and does not have the proper kit, since his mother either doesn’t want to buy him one or cannot buy him one (the latter seems more believable as Mrs. Casper squanders most of her money on luxuries for herself such as cigarettes and alcohol). Instead of discreetly giving Billy a kit to wear, Sugden chooses to mock him in front of his classmates. Sugden’s verbal bullying brings out the negative aspects of Billy’s personality as the way in which Billy is treated provokes him to answer back and be cheeky. Not only does Sugden have an inferior attitude towards his pupils as well as verbally bullying his pupils but as a big man he does not hesitate to physically abuse them too. “He hit Billy twice with the ball, holding it between both hands as though he was murdering him with a boulder.” “Mr. Sugden bounced the ball on Billy’s head compressing his neck into his shoulders”. His attitude is immature and shows no sportsmanship or fairness, two lessons which should always be reinforced in physical education lessons. His role as adjudicator is one that he does not deserve as he is too juvenile to cooperate fairly.
Mr. Sugden’s appearance is neat and tidy though; during the football scene Sugden is dressed in a ‘violet tracksuit’. To be able to analyse and understand Sugden, we need to see him at his absolute worst, which the football scene illustrates perfectly. Sugden believes he has authority in the changing rooms and also on the football pitch and therefore is very aggressive throughout the football scene “Slack work lad, slack work.” Sugden’s frustration is pushed to the limit when a dog appears on the pitch. “If Mr. Sugden had a gun, Mr. Wolf would have been dead in no time.” At this time, Billy once again proves that his connections to animals and nature in general are very strong. The teacher thinks he is the only important person in the lesson and Hines has successfully created this image by using the ‘bracket technique’; Hines incorporates brackets to the different roles Sugden plays to inform the reader what part he is playing at a particular moment in the match ‘Sugden (commentator)‘ and also to demonstrate the importance and amount of control Sugden has on the game. His negative attitude has a clear affect on the boys, who leave the lesson cold and uninspired. Mr. Sugden uses formal English although occasionally he may slip up and use local dialect. Barry Hines uses Standard and Non-Standard English in his novel. A Kestrel For A Knave’s main characters are from Yorkshire and have very recognisable accents. If Hines were to use Standard English throughout the book, we would not see a complete picture of the characters. Billy uses his local dialect all the time as he simply has not been taught Standard English since everyone around Billy, his friends, family and neighbours use the local dialect so Billy has never experienced Standard English enough to pick it up.
The title ‘Hard Times’ makes it seem believable that Dickens is writing honestly about a time that has harsh methods of education. Charles Dickens possibly attended a school like the one in Hard Times so he may aim to make the problems obvious to people who otherwise could fail to notice society’s difficulties. Barry Hines also writes truthfully regarding the education system in his era and I think he also aims to highlight the errors of the organization that controls what schools teach their pupils. However Barry Hines writes more realistically as the book is more recent and therefore easier to relate to. Both authors’ present systems, which now seem very wrong but at the time they were thought of as acceptable. Both books probably contain memories of the authors’ school days and particularly in A Kestrel for a Knave the scenes seem very believable. Neither system would be justifiable now but in their time the schools’ teaching methods seemed fair and acceptable to those involved.
Working down the mines was the most common form of employment at the time of Billy’s childhood. This seemed to be the thing that Billy feared most - ending up working down “t’pit”. The fact that the school offered almost no profession alternatives must have affected Billy’s view on his education’s value. For example, when Billy is interviewed for career choices, he shows no interest or compassion. One-word answers to all the questions asked show that Billy is unenthusiastic, impatient to leave the meeting to check on his hawk.
The environment in which the people of the Hard Times era grew up was a very harsh, unfeeling and cold one. This was also true for Billy in Kes; his environment was similar to that of the Gradgrind children. They are stifled in their surroundings, prisoners of a world of utilitarianism. Gradgrind’s school is very plain and bare, Dickens describing it as a “monotonous vault”, and “intensely whitewashed”. Pupils learning in this environment would find it extremely boring. No encouragement is given to exercise imagination. Billy Casper’s school is similar to Hard Times’ equivalent. Each is too plain, dull and lifeless. Dickens names his fictional area ‘Coketown’, which says a lot about the image he is trying to portray. ‘Coke’ makes the reader think that it is a very typical industrial town, and the fact that the product they export is in incorporated in the city’s name symbolises that it revolves around work, and making money, therefore having many self-seeking and money-hungry inhabitants. Coke is black, messy and generally an unfavourable substance. The fact that coke is incorporated into the name of the town represents what the town is like - dark and dirty. Dickens has again used the naming-technique but this time for a place, not a person. Dickens sees this place as oppressive and destructive; it is a prison from which few escape
“Nature was as strongly bricked out as the killing airs and gasses were bricked in; at the heart of the labyrinth of narrow courts upon courts, and close streets upon streets… and the whole an unnatural family, shouldering, and trampling, and pressing one another to death.”
Billy’s behaviour seems to have been affected by his bleak home and school and home environment. An example of this is when he swears at his mother and runs off. He can be forgiven for this as his mother and brother are very unreasonable people; products of utilitarianism. They show little if any love or compassion towards Billy, and use him only to benefit themselves. An example of this behaviour is when Mrs. Casper tries to force Billy to buy her some cigarettes. Billy is protesting (truthfully) that he will be late for school, but his mother does not care. Although he despises school, he has summoned the effort to get himself there, and his mother (whether intentionally or otherwise) has severely discouraged him. With such disregard about his education from his mother, it will affect his views. However, in the natural environment Billy’s behaviour is completely different. Qualities not apparent in the urban environment shine in the natural one as he is patient, hardworking, athletically gifted, a good trainer, quick to learn. All these attributes are reflected in the kestrel that he successfully and independently trains.
One final point I feel I should make is that Billy and Sissy were both abandoned by their fathers. This, in addition to the education system, could have had a detrimental effect on their lives.
Both authors use the ending to put across a final epitaph, both being quite different. In Hard Times, everything culminates when Tom Gradgrind, Gradgrind’s wayward son is caught robbing a bank by Bitzer. Gradgrind tries to persuade his former pupil and work associate to show some compassion for him and his family, and let Tom be. In talking about himself: “And crushing his miserable father?” “Pity us!” This shows that he is going against the concept of what he has taught and believed in for many years, as he knows that Bitzer turning his son in would be far more beneficial to him than him not. Bizter says:
“...but I am sure that you know that the whole social system is a question of self interest...I was brought up in that catechism when I was very young, Sir, as you are aware.”
This proves that he is completely self-concerned, and all sign of feeling and compassion has ebbed due to the Gradgrind’s education system which does have an element of irony in it as it is Gradgrind who is begging him to break his own rules. Mr. Gradgrind then offers him a princely sum to try and make him change his mind, and Bitzer even goes as far as to make complicated calculations to see which will make him the most money in the end, - therefore declining Gradgrind’s offer. He declares that
“I was made in the cheapest market, and have to dispose of myself of in the dearest.”
The fact that Bitzer does not have any grasp of loyalty, compassion, pity, or charity means that Tom is condemned.
The ending of Kes seems slightly abrupt, considering that most mention of Billy with Kes in the book was drawn out with extended language. This is probably to show how Kes has been ripped from Billy’s life so cruelly, which is reflected in the short, emotionless language used to describe the burial. The ending is left rather ambiguously; we are not sure what path Billy’s life will take. But by this Hines may have been implying that due to Kes, there is a different path he can take now, Billy has the choice to make something of his life. The children’s lives are followed in the two books, and are portrayed as victims of their individual systems. The consequences of this are shown both to be negative; in A Kestrel for a Knave young Billy Casper’s life is an awful one, and in Hard Times when they reach adulthood they are unable to function properly as adults. Therefore, both systems can be seen as failures. Gradgrind’s system appears to dehumanise the pupils and individualism is not encouraged. A pupil who is seen to be a success of Gradgrind’s school would have been brainwashed, completely empty of personality but full of information in the form of facts that do not properly prepare the children for the life that they are to lead. I believe that Mr. Gryce’s method is the system that has prepared the children best for the life they are to lead, as they are more able to cope with the problems that they will encounter. As seen in Hard Times, Gradgrind’s class simply can’t cope with emotional pressures and so collapse under the strain as Tom did when he chose to steal from his father.
Billy, Sissy and most children from his background began life through no fault of their own with a huge handicap. The children have little chance of improving their situation and are therefore all destined to lead relatively uncomfortable lives. Barry Hines and Charles Dickens attempt to expose this social deprivation at many stages in their books. From this we learn that Hines and Dickens have a strong bias towards Billy, Sissy and all similar children in general. Perhaps each author wishes to blame the children’s futile existence on the wealthier citizens - the Upper Class. Whether or not the authors intended to, both Hard Times and A Kestrel For A Knave gave credence to what the adolescence of England was being taught at that time.