Look carefully at the opening two chapters of Hard Times and explain some of the ways in which Dickens' attitudes to education are presented.

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Look carefully at the opening two chapters of Hard Times and explain some of the ways in which Dickens’ attitudes to education are presented. Look in particular at:

  • Presentation of Gradgrind and M’Choakumchild.
  • Write about Sissy Jupe and how she contrasts with Bitzer.
  • Comment on the use of language and the distinction between narrative and direct speech for effect.

Dickens wrote Hard Times in 1854, when the industrial revolution was active.  This influenced the way the book was written. In the first two chapters of Hard Times, Dickens’ attitudes to education are presented. He uses two characters, Gradgrind and M’Choakumchild to show the bad views of education and the opposition to Dickens’ views. There is an immediate tension between Dickens' way of thinking and Gradgrind’s and M’Choakumchild’s. Gradgrind and M’Choakumchild call the children vessels and do not use names but numbers. The children are allowed no independent thought. While Bitzer is how he is “supposed” to be, Sissy Jupe is free spirited and rebellious and exposes the contrast between the two characters. Dickens’ wrote Hard Times when society was changing and opinion was frowned on and fact only was needed.

Gradgrind and M’Choakumchild are both introduced in the first two chapters and are alike in some ways, e.g. they both believe facts are all the children need, although the descriptions of the men are very different. The second paragraph of the first chapter is the introduction to Gradgrind and where he is described thoroughly and it is detailed. He is first introduced and described as ‘the speaker’. Dickens’ builds up the picture of Gradgrind by using repetition, he keeps repeating “the emphasis”. Dickens’ way of building up the picture is like using building blocks which are very square and plain and Gradgrind is described as very square and plain. It could be recognized as a simile. Dickens adds a climax and builds tension to the portraying of Gradgrind. However there is a bathetic realisation when the reader acknowledges that it is Gradgrind who is being described. Gradgrind’s personality is displayed by Dickens. It is said that Gradgrind always mentally introduces himself, which suggests that he self conscious and wants to know who he is before he shares it with anyone else. He is also organised and this is seen when it says “with a rule and a pair of scales, and the multiplication table always in his pocket”. M’Choakumchild is introduced later in the second chapter; he is one of the one hundred and forty schoolmasters. Instead of the way he looked being described, like Gradgrind, his intelligence was described. The subjects and skills that he studied and has knowledge about were listed, e.g. “biography”, “algebra” and “vocal music”.  M’Choakumchild knows a lot about these subjects because they are full of facts and imagination is not really needed to know about them. He believes that fact is all that the children need to know and like Gradgrind does not believe in freethinking. M’Chockumchild is the one who will teach the children how to be like in school life and social life. Gradgrind and M’Choakumchild are presented as plain people who do not like change. They have only one straight-forward idea of how the education system should be. They both see children as empty vessels and believe that they should be seen and not heard.

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Dickens’ shows the juxtaposition of two pupils in the first two chapters; Sissy Jupe and Bitzer. Sissy Jupe is known as ‘girl number twenty’ to Gradgrind. She is free spirited and rebellious especially when Gradgrind contradicts her father’s occupation. She is extremely independent. Children were seen as empty vessels by Gradgrind and M’Choakumchild but Sissy was no empty vessel. It is ironic that Sissy’s father is a horse breaker and therefore a breaker of spirit but Sissy spirit will not be broken. She contrasts with Bitzer because he is the complete opposite to her. He has a lack of ...

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