Bounderby of Coketown represents the utilitarian attitude and, as such, is the villain of story and the target of Dickens’ political argument. – he is a powerful individual, driven by greed and guided by a distorted view of human nature. Dickens artfully weaves his enemy into a pompous, arrogant image reinforced with the traditional working-class themes that lead the reader that Bounderby represents all that is wrong with individual society, who unjustly lives in luxury at the expense of others. However, this image is a common one; hard-working labourers, who toil for long hours for little pay, resenting the boss, who appears to little work and yet reaps the full reward of their efforts – in this case, it is the efforts of the ‘Hands.’ They are viewed as mere factors of production, not much different than the machines they operate; moreover emphasising the utilitarian theme. Bounderby himself views anyone that asks for more than they already have as wanting to dine, ‘on the turtle soup and venison with golden spoons,” at his expense.
The people/‘Hands’ in the utilitarian system have no power; the character of Stephen Blackpool plays an important role in the novel as Dickens presents him as a martyr of the lower-class; a function to show this disempowerment of the ‘Hands’ in the system, whether through relationships, economically or legally. The reader can relate to Stephen as a character because he holds the most admirable human qualities. Essentially, Stephen is a victim of social class. He is in love with Rachael but can’t be with her. He also can’t divorce her because he cannot afford to – Stephen realises that it is too late to change.
“You had better have been satisfied as you were, and not have got married….”
“..Perhaps twice the money… and there’s no other law?”
This adds to the emotional complexity of something unattainable in Stephen’s character, making him more believable.
A theme that is recurrent throughout the novel is that of utilitarianism; something that is expressed through fact and character. “Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisors. Sheds its coat in spring…” A perfect example of a product of utilitarian education, Bitzer defines a horse off the top of his head in a split second. Utilitarianism is the assumption that human beings act in a way that highlights their own self-interest. It is based on factuality and leaves little for imagination. Ironically, the chapter that this description comes from is titled, ‘Murdering the Innocents.’ This proves to be ironic because these utilitarian attitudes, found throughout, are those that are killing the childhoods of the school children and we see that “Fact” comes before “Fancy.”
Another vivid example of this utilitarian logic in ‘Hard Times’ is by Mr Thomas Gradgrind. He is one of he main protagonists in the book, principal at the school in Coketown. He was a firm believer in utilitarianism and installed this philosophy into the students at the school, from a very early age, as well as his own children. “In this life, we want nothing but Facts, Sir; nothing but Facts.”
Throughout the novel, it is interesting that Dickens paints the aristocracy, through the character of Mrs. Sparsit, as a failed and outdated institution and yet, no comparison is made to traditional class distinctions or to the lifestyle previously enjoyed by peasants. The clear distinction drawn between the dirty, crowded worker dwellings and Boundeby’s luxurious estate is significant of the traditional differences between the live of the classes. In reality, the division of labour and technology brought about by the Industrial Revolution resulted in an improved standard of living for most of the working class.
Compared to the attitudes and lifestyles of slaves and serfs in centuries past, Dickens’ time might even be looked on as “good times.” Dickens himself begins another novel with, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Apparently Dickens is attempting to provide some balance to the utilitarian theme of the greater good. Through Sissy Jupe’s simple and wise answers in the classroom, Dickens reminds us not to forget those who receive little of the wealth generated by a growing industrial society. “If you please, Sir, I am very fond of flowers.”
Furthermore, another overwhelming presence of industry, “The Key Note,” of ‘Hard Times,’ Coketown itself, “a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it…unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage…a black canal…a river that run purple with ill smelling dye” and machines that worked, “monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a melancholy state of madness.” This is Dickens’s cold, yet realistic portrayal of the damaging effects of utilitarian industrialisation; a place where machinery is more important than the inhabitants. The nature of the people is unsurprising, therefore, at having the collective name of, “Hands,” which serves to make Stephen Blackpool more outstanding.
In conclusion, the novel that Dickens wrote was intended to provide a clear picture of the society of his day; socio-economic shortcomings – not just to entertain, to show right and wrong. Dickens’s characters in the novel are more than just caricatures for an allegorical novel; they are real, thinking, breathing, and feeling people who are driven by impulse, desire and acceptance. Dickens’s use of believable characters makes his novel more realistic and therefore more effective. If Dickens had chosen to write his novel using shallow characters, it would have been immediately dismissed as a social commentary. Through these characters Dickens’s major concerns can be expressed; major concerns that deal with utilitarian and social issues. “Supposing we were to reverse our arithmetic for material objects, and govern these awful unknown quantities by other means.” Utilitarianism has its place with material things, but is not appropriate in dealing with emotions.
James Kennedy U6 D
