Evidence supporting that Dickens may have been in favour of the idea of paternalism is shown at the beginning of “Hard Times” through Thomas Gradgrind’s character. Gradgrind is shown to be bringing up his children based on a utilitarianism view. “I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children”. Even with these views, Dickens shows it is also important to incorporate an element of Romanticism which is an idea that “pretty things” are embraced, and seen as an escape from day to day realities. Dickens tries to portray the importance of encouraging imagination, and the idea that a child’s imagination must be allowed to flourish in order for them to develop true intelligence. Gradgrind aims to suppress the imaginations and “fancy” ideas that the children have which is the reason why for example, the character of Bitzer grows up basing his life purely on fact and it is he who later on in the book triggers the downfall of other characters.
Charles Dickens portrays the character of Sissy Jupe as having a moral conscience, she has her own opinions and is in favour of the idea of Romanticism, “If you please, sir I am very fond of flowers”. This also links back to the agricultural references. The character of
Sissy Jupe is shown to have more human emotions than characters such a Bitzer who takes Gradgrind’s teachings to heart and becomes a product of the education system.
Charles Dickens portrays Bitzer to have very little human emotions, as when he is asked to describe a horse he gives a very factual response, “Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders…”, although this would be accepted as the correct answer, Bitzer gives no emotional response to what he is saying where as Sissy Jupe was unable to give a factual description of a horse but she would have been able to express how horses make her feel in a fanciful way, implying her emotional intelligence.
There is a strong contrast between Bitzer and Sissy Jupe’s characters. The paragraph where Sissy and Bitzer are sitting in the same ray of light shows they are complete opposites but it can also suggest that because of their differences they are two halves of one person, “the girl was so dark-eyed and dark haired”, “the boy was so light-eyed and light haired”. Because Sissy represents Dickens’s view of Romanticism and Bitzer is the product of a very strict and straight forward education and it seems his imagination has been drained because of this, this suggests that if the two are blended together then a more rounded individual will be produced. Sissy can also be compared to Dickens himself as he was forced to work in a factory from a very young age and the education system that Sissy enters in to is a metaphor for a factory environment.
This may relate to such incidents as the factory act of 1833 which was the law that was passed to ensure that children could not work during the night and had to receive a minimum of three hours of schooling.
This allowed children to gain a decent education so that they would be more in control of their future. However, this law could have had a negative effect as the people who educated the children were the same people who ran the factories meaning the factory owners could teach the children useless facts about manual labour so they couldn’t get a job anywhere else and carried on working for the factory.
Thomas Gradgrind’s attitude which is described in the opening paragraph of “Hard Times”; “ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you what it comes to” suggests that the children are the raw materials ready to be manufactured into products such as “vessels” or “pitchers” which will then be filled with facts similar to what would happen on a production line. This again shows Dickens views on the education system and how it is was in a bad state by portraying the children as inanimate objects with no imaginations. The education system portrayed in “Hard Times” can also be seen as a machine as the children are being produced for labour, as if they are going through the conveyer belt of education, ‘little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them’. This metaphor creates the image of mass production with every outcome, almost identical. The phrases, ‘arranged in order’ and ‘imperial gallons’ enforce the idea that everything in the education system is performed mathematically and based on fact.
The word fact is repeated constantly throughout “Hard Times”, “Fact, fact, fact! Said the gentleman” this is done to emphasise to the reader that fact is an important feature in education but the repetition also informs the reader that the Victorian education system focused too heavily on the pursuit of facts.
Gradgrind can also support such ideas as Utilitarianism as he is seen to deliver the greater good of facts to the pupils. Even though Charles Dickens shows how utilitarianism can create people with little humanity. ‘Measure any parcel of human nature’ this shows how the education system only concentrates on what is the greater good statistically by measuring humans and not considering the effect it would have emotionally.
The title of the first chapter is ‘The One Thing Needful’ which is a religious reference implying that the love and teaching of Jesus is needed for a person to develop. Dickens tries to convey that this idea is an important factor in the education system but how more is needed than just facts. The ‘One’ could imply how Gradgrind only thinks one thing is important when it comes to teaching, that being fact. Dickens also uses Gradgrind to show how the Victorian ‘s believed people were formed by facts into a specific role in society, ‘you can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon facts’.
Dickens uses a variety of techniques shown through characters such as Gradgrind to show floors in the education system.
During the first two chapters of ‘Hard Times’ Dickens is able to show the effect the education system has on children. Gradrind says to Sissy Jupe when talking about having pictures of flowers on a carpet or on wall paper, “what is called Taste is only another name for Fact”, his opinion is that if you would not walk on flowers in real life then there is no point or sense in having them on a carpet; “And is that why you would put tables and chairs upon them, and have people walking over them’. This gives the impression that beauty and creativity is not encouraged or looked upon highly in the Victorian era. Also this could be a metaphor illustrating how children are like flowers, natural and untouched but the education system tramples on their imagination and creativity, causing them to be damaged like the flowers would be. Dickens uses such metaphors to portray his ideas about how learning can be like imagination being destroyed, this can be shown as well in the way the children are constantly referred to as ‘vessels’ and numbers. Describing the children as vessels gives the impression that the children start off completely empty and then are filled to the brim with nothing but facts leaving no room for anything else.
The title of the second chapter is ‘Murdering the Innocent’ which implies that this way of teaching is brutally killing the children’s imaginations and the factors that make them human. Dickens uses the idea that children begin as ‘flowers’ to show how a child is tender, fragile and needs to be nurtured to blossom into a well rounded human being with a good balance between knowing facts and having creative emotional and moral intelligence.
Dickens uses characters like Bitzer and Sissy Jupe to portray how the education system can affect children‘s lives. Near the beginning of ‘Hard Times’ Sissy Jupe has an encounter with Gradgrind where she is shown to be different from the other children due to her colourful circus background. Sissy is seen contrasts greatly to the rest of the class, especially Bitzer as she is new to the environment and unfamiliar, ‘I don’t know that girl.’ Also even her name is shown to be fanciful and “not a real name”, ‘Don’t call yourself Sissy Call yourself Cecilia’. Sissy is portrayed to be from a vibrant background where she has many friends who allow her to develop her creativity and moral conscience. Sissy is also portrayed as a very innocent and girlish character, the name Sissy itself is very feminine and childlike. Her second name, Jupe, sounds like jump which creates an image of playfulness, and it also is the French word for skirt which adds to her innocent image.
Sissy has a very polite and demure approach towards Gradgrind, ‘If you please sir”.
This can be seen as how Sissy has been slightly affected by the education system already but due to her upbringing she still has her morals and personality intact. When Gradgrind asks Sissy for her definition of a horse she is unable to give a factual answer as all she knows of horses is their beauty and how they make her feel. Sissy in fact knows more about horses than Gradgrind as she has been around them all her life but her knowledge is fanciful rather than factual so it is not accepted.
Dickens makes the character of Sissy stand out from the rest of the class ‘the intensely white-washed room, irradiated Sissy’ this creates an image of Sissy being an individual. Sissy is portrayed to represent a child’s innocence and creativity. Dickens uses this image of Sissy to create a Satirical view of the education system. Compared to characters such as Louisa, Sissy is a much more morally rich and happier character. Sissy also shares similarities with characters in another of Dicken’s novels, Little Doritt, who have not had a wealthy upbringing but have had a the love of their family which allowed them to develop their moral conscience.
Another character who gives a portrayal of the education system is Bitzer. Bitzer can be seen as a product of the education system as he bases his life on fact which is what the Utilitarianism education system provides. Bitzer, when instructed to, gives a very factual description on a horse but is unable to express anything creative or fanciful about one, ‘Sheds coat in the spring; in marshy countries’. Bitzer’s language is similar to that of an encyclopaedia and he has no opinion of his own. Dickens uses Bitzer to convey to the reader how the education system produces inhuman children with little real intelligence who can only recite facts. Because of this Bitzer is shown to have no moral conscience this can be seen later on in the novel when Bitzer shows no compassion or lenience towards Tom Gradgrind, he is only able to consider how his decision will effect his career.
Dickens tries to emphasise his point about how Utilitarianism in the education system can
create heartless people whose primary function is work. The formation of Bitzer’s character later on in the novel can be blamed on the education system as it has basically taken all creativity and humanity out of him, ‘draw out what little colour he possessed’.
Dickens uses this to show how the education system has taken all of Bitzer’s ‘colour’ from him; colour being something which represents creativity and happiness as opposed to the dullness of black and white. Dickens tries to portray that all children have ‘colour’ in them but the education system draws it out and replaces it with facts. Bitzer’s overall effect on the reader is that he is someone with little morals, as he is a very two dimensional character who expresses little emotion within his speech. Gradgrind’s favouritism of Bitzer over Sissy emphasises that he is a prime example of Victorian schooling. Sissy contrasts with Bitzer greatly she has had an upbringing full of love and creativity allowing her to become a caring person who has compassion for other humans as shown when she cares for Louisa later on in the book even though Louisa gave her little compassion. Overall it seems that Bitzer represents the effects of Utilitarianism and Sissy, Romanticism.
Dickens uses other characters such as Mr M’Choakumchild and Thomas Gradgrind to portray the way in which the education system works and effects society. Gradgrind is shown as a character that is stern in his ways and very forceful with his opinions of education. Such characteristics can be seen in his name, which is made up of two words,
grad and grind. “Grad” may refer to a graduate, someone with a degree which suggests
Gradgrind is a man of education and implies he is involved with the system of education.
“Grind” could mean to grind something down. This may be referring to his methods of education in which he grinds down the children’s imaginations and replaces them with facts. Overall his name gives the impression of the education system which shows the reader he has little care for children’s personalities and is only interested in facts and production.
Gradgrind is described like a defined caricature, “square coat, square legs, square shoulders’ this creates the image of Gradgrind being very boring or “square” in both image and personality. Dickens uses the word square as it is a shape that can not be changed apart from it’s size. This implies a person who can be very hard and stern as well as being a rather boring character. This description of Gradgrind is also Satirical. Gradgrind is portrayed as a strong believer in Paternalism and Utilitarianism. Dickens uses characters such as Sissy to ridicule Gradgrind’s views, “They wouldn’t crush or wither, if you please sir. They would be pictures”.
Dickens uses this to show how Gradgrind and the other teachers use a form of Romanticism to demonstrate to the children that it is a useless way of thinking. Gradgrind gets Sissy to imagine the flowers on a carpet being real, but Sissy points out that is only fantasy. Also, Gradgrind seems to contradict himself as he is a fairly wealthy man and the higher classes are more likely to have fanciful decorations around their homes than poorer people like Sissy.
Other characters which portray the education system are characters such as the Inspector and Mr M’Choakumchild. M’Choakumchild’s name can give an impression of the people in higher society’s opinions of education. His name sounds like “choke a child” which tries to show that people in higher society in fact hate children and would much rather not have them around. Dickens uses such a name to create an image of a brutal thug, making the reader dislike the character and feel sympathy for the children. Dickens uses the inspector to show how he starts to process the children’s imagination into fact, ‘Of course not no, said the gentleman with an indignant look at the wrong half’, the Inspector asks questions about the children’s opinions and turns their answers into a simple yes or no.
Dickens is trying to portray that the people in charge of the education system manipulate common sense to make the children believe in what they want them to. Because of this the children will grow up to have no passion for issues as they only believe what they have been told. This can be seen later on when Bitzer is shown to have no morals as he only knows what to say from his education. The character of Mr M’Choakumchild is portrayed to be an intellectual person, ‘Orthography, etymology, cosmography… and drawing models, were all at the ends of his ten chilled fingers’. Dickens portrays M’Choakumchild to have a variety of talents but due to the long listing it can create the impression that these are just titles and he has no real intelligence and once again he is a product of the education system himself.
Dickens furthers this point by implying that M’Choakumchild has little talent in teaching, ‘’If he had only learnt a little less, how infinitely better he might have taught”. Dickens illustrates his views that it is not how much fact is known but it is the way in which it must be taught that is the importance in teaching children. Dickens believed children should be taught in a way that their ideas are encouraged rather than suppressed to develop their sense of character and allow them to fulfil their full potential.
Throughout ‘Hard Times’ Dickens portrays his ideas on education and how he believed there was a problem that should be addressed. From the text it can be concluded that Dickens believed that the education system is a based around ideas of paternalism and Utilitarianism. Dickens uses characters such as the Inspector, Mr M’Choakumchild and Thomas Gradgrind to portray how this is done in a class room to prepare children for a life of factory work. He then uses the characters Sissy and Bitzer to illustrate how the education system affects the children, in ways that it suppresses imagination and creativity to enforce only facts. The character of Sissy is used to show Dicken’s views of
how if the idea of romanticism was used then children would develop into people with morals and allow them to be happy in themselves and acquire true intelligence.
Overall Dickens uses a variety of techniques to develop characters which are able to portray the ideas he has on the Victorian education system. To conclude, Dickens successfully portrays his views on the Victorian education system by using a range of techniques and through his use of characterisation.
By Chelsea Cleveland-Hurley
