Nothing but Facts

Charles Dickens, wrote many memorable stories like A Christmas Carol. However, reformist, Charles Dickens challenged schooling in the text Hard Times. The teacher, Gradgrind, was a very strict teacher. In fact, most of the time he stated that his students (which they were probably in elementary to middle school in our era) that they were never allowed to use their imagination, but instead they need to learn facts, and nothing but the facts. In todays “modern” school system, it is very different and more “normal” in children’s eyes. Major differences vary among subjects, reading and writing were one of the big changes in the twenty-first century. The Victorian Period was indeed a boring era. Texts they read were not as interesting as texts like The Hunger Games or Divergent. Those texts written by the people in the Victorian age were not as intriguing. Charles Dickens purpose can vary among reasons, but Gradgrind stated, “’Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else.’” (Prentice Hall Literature [page 999]) in the Victorian Era. Examples of each of the following elements that help clarify the author’s purpose, the name of a character, a character’s statement or dialogue, and a description of a place in the text Hard Times all falls onto Gradgrind.

Gradgrind, an intriguing name if one might say to themselves. The name Gradgrind sounds very unpleasing, and indeed the man was not a nice man. Creativity was the last thing on Gradgrind’s mind in the text Hard Times. As stated by Gradgrind, “’in this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!’” (Prentice Hall Literature [page 999]). One can only imagine why Gradgr...

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...me. And so to speak, the guy that has done more with their life and has been successful, guaranteed, they will get the job whether it is with their education or not.

An education is a basic building block to a successful life. People like Gradgrind, should never teach even though that this was okay, me being a rebellion would never want to learn this way. My mind is as creative as it gets, but I can express myself in so many ways, whether it is in my art work or through my athletic ability. Dickens did a phenomenal job with his text Hard Times. Which indeed explains the reformist in Charles Dickens. Some examples of each of the following elements that help clarify the author’s purpose, the name of a character, a character’s statement or dialogue, and a description of a place are indeed from the character Gradgrind.

Works Cited

Prentice Hall Literature Volume 2