Hard Times Essay

Hard Times by Charles Dickens was written during the mid-1800s, a time in which industrial society was causing severe class division and poverty. Dickens’ used the novel, and many others, to voice his social theories. In the first book of Hard Times, “Sowing”, Dickens sows, or plants the seeds, of the novel. The characters are introduced and the plot begins to develop. The main theme of the first book is the important difference between fact and fancy. The second book, “Reaping”, describes the harvest of what the characters had sown into their lives, such as dishonesty, fact over fancy, or unhappiness. Each character reaps a different harvest from what they have sown. The last book, “Garnering”, depicts the characters after the harvest, gathering what remained, or picking up the pieces around them. It could also refer to the completion of the story. Each book describes how life in 19th century England was filled with logic and conformity. However, some of the characters change from the beginning of the novel to the end on their views of feeling and expressing emotions and having imagination.
The first book of the novel, “Sowing”, represents the beginning of the novel and the sowing of the plot and characters. Mr. Gradgrind is introduced first and begins the novel by saying, “Now, what I want is facts.” He believes in teaching children nothing but hard facts. The character of Sissy Jupe, whose father is part of a circus, is also introduced. She is told by Mr. Gradgrind that the circus is not respectable and to not speak of it in the classroom. Sissy does not do well with facts, and prefers to use her imagination. However, Mr. Gradgrind tells her she must not believe in fancy, and instead tells her “you are to be in all things regu...

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...ewarded. However, most of the characters cannot be labeled good or bad, and some of their fates turned out different from what was expected. For example, Mr. Blackpool died, Mr. Gradgrind had to depend on the circus, one of the things he despised because of its fancy, to save the life of one of his children just to have him die anyway, and Louisa never has a family of her own. However, they were able to have some sorts of happiness within their troubled lives.
By the end of the novel, the future of each character is addressed, but the bigger picture of social issues is not as much. Dickens focused more on his attention to character detail rather than social issues, but they were still within the context of the story. Yet, through the characters of the novel, Dickens shows the dangers of having a society that believes in fact more than having emotions and imagination.