Industrialization and Utilitarianism in Dickens' Hard Times
Charles Dickens uses his fictitious town in Hard Times to represent the industrialization of England at that time or close to it. Most of this representation, however, isn't accurately described compared the way things really were during industrialization. It is important to remember throughout this paper that not only is Hard Times a work of fiction, it was meant to be a satire, a parody of ideas and ways of thinking at the time. In most respects, it wasn't meant to accurately describe the way things were.
Dickens covers up his parody with a realistic and extremely accurate depiction of the typical industrial town. Coketown is described to be the very picture of conformity, with all the buildings looking like one another. "It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage" (Dickens 30). It also isn't just the factories that look this way; the bank and even Bounderby's house look just like the rest of them. "The Bank offered no violence to the wholesome monotony of the town. It was another red brick house, with black outside shutters, green inside blinds, a black street-door up two white steps, a brazen door-plate, and a brazen door-handle full stop" (Dickens 117).
There is also the recurring image of the massive amount of smoke from all the factories. "It as a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves forever and ever, and never got uncoiled" (Dickens 30). "The Fairy Palaces burst into illumination before pale mo...
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... the book, the fact that it is a work of fiction makes this acceptable.
Works Cited
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In the nineteenth century, various inventions like the steam engine stimulated demand for products, thus introducing factories and workshops to manufacture those commodities. The popularization of Manchester initiated assorted reactions towards the industrialization of the cities surrounding Great Britain. While the industrial revolution ensued, numerous concerns occurred which all contemplated the affects of factories and industries engaged by the working division of society. As industry began to evolve for the operational lower classes, the positive, negative, and mutual reactions are denoted by various speakers whom were among the diverse social classes of society.
The piece was chosen primarily because of the magnificent presence that is felt as one enters the room, or cathedral, where the piece may be located. The viewer's eye is drawn immediately to the central figure of Saint Peter who was seated as pope at the time. Giving the main focus of the work to the pope is representative of the importance that was placed on the papal seat. This importance was exemplified, during the time of this altarpiece's creation, by the crisis of the Great Schism. Furthermore, a scene of Christ's crucifixion can be seen directly above the panel of Saint Peter further emphasizing the importance of Christ in the painting, and in the medieval time period as well. Overall, the piece depicts four images from the life of Saint Peter, which surround the center panel on the left and the right sides. In addition, scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and St. Blaise, a fourth century martyr, are also present. All the characters in the panels more or less have halos and therefore are holy figures. The twelve apostles line the bottom of the panels, perhaps suggesting that they were the foundation of the Catholic religion. Basically, the painting is designed for a church altar, it has religious figures in it, and it is filled with Bibles and images of Christ's crucifixion. All of this relays a strong message to the viewer that this is what is important in life; one should pay close attention to religion and have respect for it.
This book provides a very detailed outline on how and where rock and roll originated. It places much emphasis on the transition from Black to White rock artists and how society reacted to this change. Szatmary also presents sufficient information on the many aspects of rock and roll, ranging from what the lyrics are about, to the beginnings of rock and roll and new age rock.
Alan Dawley, Class and Community: The Industrial Revolution in Lynn (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2000), Kindle edition, chap. 1.
Dickens used his great talent by describing the city London were he mostly spent his time. By doing this Dickens permits readers to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the aged city, London. This ability to show the readers how it was then, how ...
In Britain, industrialization changed the lives of workers in many ways. One way workers lives changed is being able to earn higher wages. They could make more money in factories than on farms. Wi...
O'Brien, Patrick, and Roland Quinault, eds. The Industrial Revolution and British Society. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.
^ a b Nardinelli, Clark, Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution (Indiana University Press, 1990)
From the late 18th century to the mid 19th century, the economy in England was transformed from an agricultural to a manufacturing –based economy. In 1801, agriculture provided employment for 36% of the British population. By 1851, only 10% of the British population was employed in agriculture, while over 40% was employed in industry (Hopkins, 36). As a direct result of this transformation, a surplus of jobs were created and displaced farming families moved in to fill them. Factory and Mine owners exploited the situation by offering families a means to make more money, by putting their children to work. Industry profited from this arrangement by saving money, since child labor was more “cost effective”. According to one historian, Clark Nardinelli, “in 1835 56,000 children under the age of thirteen were working in textile factories alone. By 1874, the number of child laborers in the market hit its peak with over 122,000 children between the ages of 10 and thirteen working in textile factories (4).”
Under his presidency, Nixon and Henry Kissinger, his leading advisor on national security and international affairs, adopted realpolitik, an idea that said that political goals should be defined by concrete national interests instead of abstract ideologies. In 1949, the communists won the Chinese civil war and established the People’s Republic of China, but the United States refused to officially recognize the country. When Nixon started his political career as a Californian governor, he was one of the loudest anti-communists. However, in the 1970’s Nixon began to recognize the People’s Republic of China as the country was one of the world’s largest economy. In 1971, China invited an American ping pong team to play against their players. Along with this invitation, Henry Kissinger began to have discussions with Premier Zhou Enlai. In February 1971, Nixon became the first president to travel to China. He issued the Shanghai Communiquè, announcing a desire for open, normalized relations and sat down for extensive meetings with Zhou Enlai and Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong. These meetings marked the beginning of improved US and Chinese ties. In 1979, both countries established full diplomatic relations with each other. Nixon’s and Kissinger’s meetings provoked a response from the USSR. Leonid Brezhnev, the leader of the Soviet Leader, in fear of isolation from the growing relationship with China and the United States, invited Richard Nixon to visit Moscow. In May 1972, Nixon made the trip and established diplomatic relations with the Soviets. The countries adopted a policy of détente to help ease Cold War tensions. In addition, they also signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I), which froze the deployment of intercontinental ballistic missiles and placed limits on antiballistic missiles. In the Middle East, Nixon and
At 7:31 p.m. July 15, 1971, 2 years after President Richard Nixon was re-elected as President of the United States of America, he made remarks that were broadcast on television and radio that would change the history of the Sino-American relationship. In the “Remarks to the Nation Announcing Acceptance of an Invitation To Visit the People's Republic of China”, Nixon announced that he would accept the invitation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to visit before May 1972. Nixon claimed that this action sought to normalize the relationship with the PRC, and would allow the leaders of the both nations to discuss common interests. However, Nixon emphasized that the tour was not ‘directed against any other nation.’ This, of course, was to comfort two other major stakeholders against the new relationship, the pro-western faction China – the Republic of China (ROC) and PRC’s communist ally USSR. The other point that Nixon emphasized was the concept of peace, he suggested the efforts to rebuild trust and good relations with PRC were an effort to ‘build a lasting peace’ in the world.
Increased civil and economic challenges at home, along with the massive geopolitical fallout of the Vietnam War ushered the United States into the 1970s with a newfound foreign policy outlook. This perspective can be surmised as an outlook of realistic pragmatism in which the US acknowledged the necessity to work with other countries, as opposed to unilaterally shape the world in accordance to America’s interests. This realpolitik strategy was helmed by Henry Kissinger in his role as National Security Advisor under President Nixon and as Secretary of State under President Ford. While Kissinger’s strategy ultimately accomplished America’s exit from the Vietnam War through Vietnamization, decreased US-Soviet
ZBARACKI, M. J. & EISENHARDT, K. M. 1992. Strategic Decision Making. Strategic Management Journal, 13, 17-37.
Baden-Fuller, C. (2004). Executing strategic decisions successfully. Long Range Planning, 37(3), 197. Retrieved from http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0024630104000627
Whereas music has changed throughout the course of Black history, the meaning behind older songs has created the music’s origin. Music in the Black culture early on had changed the lives of many slaves, from leaving hidden messages of escape routes, to giving tips on overthrowing their ‘masters’. Other reasons had included the act of being racist, and other treatments many Blacks were given. The evolution of music for the race has led to a variety of different styles, along with stories told in their music.