In the novel children are referred as animals! “You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon facts.” This quote shows how the teachers feel about the children, they think they are worthless and do not deserve to be treated in a humane manor. The quote may also imply that the teachers are trying to tame the children, into thinking fact is essential and nothing else is important in life beside fact! In the novel children are not called by their name, they are numbered in a numerical order! This emphasises the point that the utilitarian schooling system had no regards and care for the pupils, and that they have no say in the schooling system.
The titles of the chapters are very short and eye catching. I believe they are strongly exaggerated and rather melodramatic. The first title is “THE ONE THING NEEDFUL” this title expresses what the utilitarian education schooling system believes to be most necessary. Fact is the foundation of their school as it is structured entirely around fact! The title is also short which makes it sound more serious and melodramatic. The second title is called “MURDERING THE INNOCENTS” it is an instant attention grabbing title! It seems very extreme and powerful, it explains how the teachers and the schooling system are slowly depriving the pupils of any imagination or emotions.
The names of the teachers are also terrifying and excruciating! Could you imagine your first day of school, feeling naive and frightened and then collide with a teacher named Mr M’Choakumchild or Mr Gradgrind? These teachers seem evil, extremely strict and dominant. I believe Dickens chose those names so that the reader feels in this exact way! Therefore the reader can mentally visualise the people who enforce the utilitarian school system and live by the lifeless and inhumane methods!
The pupils are treated in a very torturous manner, especially Sissy Jupe. She is interrogated by Mr Gradgrind; he questions her in front of everyone and puts her in the spotlight. Bitzer on the other hand is a moral student in the eyes of the utilitarian teachers and schooling system, filled to the brim with facts and figures. He had a detailed explanation of a horse. “Age known by marks in mouth” this is just one little spec of information, which thunders out of his robotic brain.
Dickens describes the classroom as a “plain, bare, monotonous vault”. This implies the classroom is colour-less, empty and lacks characteristics. It is a dull environment and therefore has nothing to stimulate the pupils. The word ‘monotonous’ means all the same; nothing changes and is boring. The quote describes a room where things are locked away, as he uses the word ‘vault’ which indicates no way of escape and therefore the pupils are trapped in a useless schooling system were children are tamed instead of taught.
Overall it is clear throughout the novel that Dickens has an uncompromising prejudice towards the utilitarian education system and the teachers that enforce the system. I believe that Charles Dickens clearly explains his hatred towards the education system, whilst describing the school classroom. In a modern classroom there are posters and display work cluttered all over the classroom, however in a utilitarian school the classrooms are plain and bare.
I agree with utilitarian methods to a certain extent however they must also be mixed with a modern influence for the perfect schooling system. However in the 1800’s there was no modern mix, it was a strict utilitarian schooling system which I believe is truly wrong. It regards pupils as animals and they have no respect or dignity. Utilitarian methods are definitely essential in modern and pre historic schooling systems however to a certain extent and with a health mix of recreational lessons and not just focusing on ‘Fact’.
