I will now analyse the characters in which Dickens uses to make his point clear and the opening chapters of ‘Hard Times’.
The first chapter of Hard Times is setting the scene. It starts off with a person talking. This person seems very strict in what he is talking about. He talks on the subject of raising children and in what way they should be raised. Dickens uses the word ‘facts’ a total number of five times in the first paragraph alone which shows how narrow-minded this character is. Dickens doesn’t tell us this characters name until the second chapter which holds the readers suspense. The character speaking is quite robotic in character. He is more of an object or machine than a real human being. Dickens in the second paragraph goes on to describe the scene and the said character’s appearance. “The scene was a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a school room.” This description of the classroom gives us an idea of how dull and boring Victorian schooling was at this time. Dickens goes on to describe the strict characters appearance. He is described as square in appearance reflecting his square personality.
The use of caricature here is quite effective. I think that this character and the dull drab classroom may be symbols of the Hard Times ahead hence the title ‘Hard Times’. Overall the first chapter is painting the picture for us and making us want to read on to find out who this character is.
In chapter two, ‘Murdering the Innocents’ a lot more is revealed. We find out in the first two words that the square character in chapter one is Sir Thomas Gradgrind. An authority figure. Sir Thomas Gradgrind is a headmaster of a school. It is then clear that the speech in chapter one was being given to the pupils at the start of a new school year. In chapter two the reader is given insight in to Gradgrind’s utilitarian outlook. This means that Gradgrind only believes in teaching useful material i.e. facts and that every thing else is irrelevant.
I think that utilitarianism is linked with the title of chapter two, ‘Murdering the Innocents’ because this schooling system will murder the children’s imagination.
In chapter two we meet several new characters, the main ones being Bitzer, Cecilia Jupe, Mr. M’Choakumchild and of course Sir Thomas Gradgrind. The names themselves highlight aspects of their characters. For example Cecilia Jupe is an imaginative, fun child who stands out from all the other children. Her name also means musical skirts both words being very artistic. Mr. M’Choakumchild’s name also stands out for obvious reasons. It is not only an expression of harsh discipline carried out in schools but also emphasises how a child’s imagination can be stifled. Lastly there is Sir Thomas Gradgrind, which means to grind the facts in to the children’s heads. We see that Dickens uses names to get his point across along with other literary devices.
In chapter two the utilitarian view comes through in M’Choakumchild and Gradgrind as they explain to a class why you should not use wallpaper that has horses on it because in fact horses do not run up and down walls, and you should not use crockery which has birds on it because in fact birds do not fly on crockery. These phrases, especially the one using the horse are repeated several times. Dickens uses a lot of repetition and exaggeration to emphasise the truth at the heart of the matter.
Another way in which Dickens gets his point across is by using the titles of the chapters e.g. sowing, reaping and garnering. All terms associated with gardening. This could be reflective of the harsh upbringing of the children, a conditioning which involves sowing the seeds of fact in the children’s minds and therefore reaping the benefits of this for the working world.
To conclude I believe that through the use of repetition, exaggeration, names and titles off chapters, Dickens creates a very vivid picture of how brutal, strict and un-childlike Victorian childhood really is. Without the use of repetition and emphasis I believe Dickens views would have less of an impact on the reader.
