The Balance of the Head and the Heart

3151 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Utilitarianism in education

“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” (Dickens 5). So says Mr. Thomas Gradgrind, the proponent of a Utilitarian educational philosophy in Charles Dickens’ Hard Times. Cold, hard facts are what Mr. Thomas Gradgrind’s philosophy consists of, and cold hard facts are exactly what Tom and Louisa Gradgrind are raised on. They are taught by their father and by society to live their lives based on these facts. They are instructed to conduct themselves in accordance to them and nothing else. As stated by Taylor Stoehr, “Tom and Louisa Gradgrind are products of the Gradgrindian system, raised in Stone Lodge, taught in the school of hard facts, model grindings off the parent stone” (Stoehr 171). As a result of being raised in the loveless atmosphere of Stone Lodge and in accordance with the strictly enforced rules of the Gradgrindian system, Tom and Louisa are deprived of opportunities to cultivate imagination, emotions, and “fancy” (Dickens 5). The children are themselves fragmented and insufficient fragments who have been formed by a hard system of hard facts. By blocking every available outlet for the interplay of fantasy and emotion, Mr. Gradgrind unintentionally generates two extreme outcomes for his children. Even though the Gradgrind philosophy has completely different effects on Tom and Louisa Gradgrind, it ultimately deprives them both of the happiness that only a balance between the wisdom of the Head and the wisdom of the Heart can create.

Throughout their childhood and adult lives Tom and Louisa both come to resent the Gradgrind philosophy but are otherwise affected by it in completely different ways. Althoug...

... middle of paper ...

...n be seen as blank, unfeeling and depressed, much like the characterization of Louisa. In order to be completely balanced one’s training must consist of both the wisdom of the head, and the wisdom of the heart.

Works Cited

Butt, John, and Kathleen Tillotson. “Hard Times: The Problems of a Weekly Serial.” Dickens at Work. New York: Oxford UP, 1958. Rpt. in Twentieth Century interpretations of Hard Times. Ed. Paul E. Gray. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1969. 38-46.

Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. 1854. Kaplan and Monod 1-222.

Scheckner, Peter. “Gender and Class in Dickens: Making Connections.” The Midwest Quarterly 41.3 (2000): 236-250.

Simpson, Margaret. The Companion to Hard Times. Westport: Greenwood, 1997.

Sonstroem, David. “Fettered Fancy in Hard Times.” PMLA 84.3 (1969): 520-29. JSTOR. Concord U Lib., Athens, WV. 16 December 2009 http://www.jstor.org/.

Show More
Related

  • Making Hard Choices in The Grapes of Wrath

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    In literature as in life, people often find that they must make difficult choices in order to survive.  The reasons behind their decisions and the results of their subsequent actions affect our opinion of them.  In the Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, the author portrayed situations where two main characters became involved.  The nature of their choices, the reasons behind their decisions, and the results that followed affected them greatly.  However, the choices that they made were surmounted successfully.  Ma Joad and Tom Joad are two strong characters who overcame laborious predicaments.  Their powerful characteristics helped to encourage those that were struggling.

    Read More

  • A Raisin in the Sun vs. The Glass Menagerie

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tom is a young man bearing the responsibility of his handicapped sister, Laura, and his suffocating mother, Amanda. He works in a factory, and uses his paycheck to provide for the family. Jim, a fellow factory worker and former high school friend, knows Tom as Shakespeare, in that Tom writes poetry, sometimes to alleviate his suppressed feelings of frustration. Poetry is one of Tom’s methods of escape from the lunacy in his home. Adventure is something Tom does not experience much of, and is angst toward his less than mediocre life is expressed in many of his arguments with Amanda.

    Read More

  • Tom Joad In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tom is good natured and deals with what life throws at him, during the long trip towards work the family has realized the can count on Tom to help protect them. His past isn't going to define his future or change the way he feels about his family. As they arrive to California they get the devastating news that work is sparse and many people are dying of starvation, including Grampa who dies of a stroke. When the major change of losing a family member Tom realizes that life can be gone faster than you think and you see him changing into a more considerate person and a more sentimental person towards others. After they have buried Grampa, Tom comes across a “one eyed mechanic” who he helps fix his touring car. An act that he would probably never do in his past. Steinbeck shows Toms development into a more considerate person as the book

    Read More

  • The Battle between Heart and Head

    547 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, relates a tale of tragedy, mystery, and gothic romance. Covering the multiple issues of England in that time, Bronte writes of orphan treatment, social class, and Britain’s controversial law of prohibiting divorce in all circumstances. Orphaned at a young age and unwanted by her guardian Mrs. Reed, Jane searches for higher prospects in education at Lowood, eventually earning a position as a governess at Thornfield. Complications disrupt her life, when she becomes engaged to her employer, Mr. Rochester, and soon after discovers that he is already married to a lunatic. Leaving Thornfield, Jane finds a home with St. John and his two sisters. Eventually, she returns to her former employer, discovering Thornfield in ashes, Mrs. Rochester dead, and Mr. Rochester blind and free from wedlock. Flooded with motifs, Jane’s continual struggles between her passions and responsibility prevail as the main theme of Bronte’s entrancing narrative.

    Read More

  • Diction And Imagery In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

    478 Words  | 1 Pages

    Here, Dickens focuses on the word “suffering”, to reinforce the idea that being wealthy, which is related to being better than other, a materialistic view of society is not what gives happiness, but the surroundings and

    Read More

  • The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O'Connor

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tom Shiflet’s sinful nature is highlighted by both the Christian symbols present in the story and in the changing weather that accompanies his immoral act. A quiet life with Lucynell was not meant to be for Tom Shiflet, much to the dismay of Mrs. Crater. While Tom’s actions are by no means justified, one cannot overlook the fact that both these women were forcing Tom to change into something he was not. Tom was never meant to live the quiet married life, he was a drifter, a backcountry traveler who stopped to admire the sunset, and left under a cloud.

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    The quote, “Ignorance is bliss,” by Thomas Gray is a seemingly adequate description of the lives of Gene, Finny, and Leper until they are all roughly jolted out of their fantasy world and brought back to reality. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles does an acceptable job of showing how disillusionment can greatly impact and, thus, change the lives of people. The book showcases the cycle of disillusionment and the ramifications it implies. Throughout the book, we see Gene, Leper, and Finny’s views on the world change. This all culminates in Gene being elevated to a higher level of understanding of the world and seeing the truth about Devon and the war. The illusions created by Finny and Leper are also taken on by Gene, and he, in turn, shares in their disillusionment. Overall, disillusionment is a part of life and often serves as a tool to help many people grow and learn from the past.

    Read More

  • Resurrection in A Tale of Two Cities

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gross, John. "A Tale of Two Cities." Dickens and the Twentieth Century. Ed. John Gross and Gabriel Pearson. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962. 187-97.

    Read More

  • Christianity in a Tale of Two Cities

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this essay, I will argue that one of the underlying motives in Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is the reinforcement of Christian values in 18th century Victorian England. Dickens was very concerned with the accepted social norms of industrialized England, many of which he felt were very inhumane. Christian values were challenged, largely due to the recent publication of Darwin's Origins of a Species, and philosophy along with literature was greatly affected. In 1859, the industrial age was booming, making many entrepreneurs rich. However, the majority of the lower economic class remained impoverished, working in unsafe and horrific environments as underpaid factory workers. Additionally, child labor was an accepted practice in Victorian England's factories. Dickens, who worked, as a child in a shoe polish factory, detested this social convention with such strength that only one with experience in such exploitation could.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Freedom To Die For

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the story unfolds and we begin to see the depth of Louise’s thought processes, the imagery that expresses these feelings of new-found freedom, and the reactions, or lack thereof, to the loss of her husband. We start to realize that there are two meanings to this initial statement of “a heart trouble” (236). We may come to understand through these subtle inferences that her heart trouble can also mean that although she is loved by her spouse, she is a passive, intelligent, unhappy woman, who has not had the pleasure of

    Read More

  • Science in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Hard Times by Charles Dickens

    3616 Words  | 8 Pages

    12.     Oldham, R. (2000) Charles Dickens’ Hard Times: Romantic Tragedy of Proletariat Propaganda [Online]. Available: http://www.pillowrock.com [Accessed: 25th April 2005].

    Read More

  • Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

    1451 Words  | 3 Pages

    Our Mutual Friend, Dickens' last novel, exposes the reality Dickens is surrounded by in his life in Victorian England. The novel heavily displays the corruption of society through multiple examples. These examples, that are planted within the novel, relate to both the society in Dickens' writing and his reality. In order to properly portray the fraud taking place within his novels, Dickens' uses morality in his universe to compare to the reality of society. He repetitively references to the change of mind and soul for both the better and the worst. He speaks of the change of heart when poisoned by wealth, and he connects this disease to the balance of the rich and the poor. This is another major factor to novel, where the plot is surrounded by a social hierarchy that condemns the poor to a life of misery, and yet, condones any action that would normally be seen as immoral when it occurs in the aristocracy. It expands on the idea that only an education and inheritance will bring success in society, with few exceptions. Lastly, Dickens expands his opinions of society through his mockery of ...

    Read More

  • Hard Times: Literally

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although times now are very different from the times that Charles Dickens lived in for example there are many things that remain the same. School is still a require place to be for all of us under the age of eighteen with the requirements to stay in the school system for twelve years and finally graduate… it’s not done though then we are headed to university for even more education. The times of Charles Dickens weren’t all that easy and as it becomes apparent in his novel titled Form Hard Times the times for the school students were just as difficult as the outside world. The way it is described the schools could have been easily mistaken for a prison type setting. Although the schools were much different from now which some may argue that they have more similarities then differences. In Charles Dickens times he disagreed with some of the things in schools which basically was that everything within school was based around facts all school was back then was the cold hard facts which has it’s relation to the title. This is very unlike today where more schools provide both sides of the brain to work and spark the word imagination. From Hard Times by Charles Dickens really gives a feel for the entire setting by first of all having a certain name for the character, the characters word choice and finally a detailed description of the place.

    Read More

  • Pip's Education

    1547 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Charles Dickens: Great Expectations.” (2 Feb, 2006): 2. Online. World Wide Web. 2 Feb, 2006. Available http://www.uned.es/dpto-filologias-extranjeras/cursos/LenguaIglesaIII/TextosYComentarios/dickens.htm.

    Read More

  • Hard Times and Wuthering Heights

    2280 Words  | 5 Pages

    When considering representation, the ways in which the authors choose to portray their characters can have a great impact on their accessibility. A firm character basis is the foundation for any believable novel. It is arguable that for an allegorical novel - in which Hard Times takes its structure, Dickens uses an unusually complex character basis. The characters in Hard Times combine both the simplistic characteristics of a character developed for allegorical purposes, as well as the concise qualities of ‘real’ people (McLucas, 1995). These characters are portrayed to think and feel like we as readers do and react to their situations in the same way that most of us would. Such attributes are what give the characters life and allow us to relate to their decisions.

    Read More

More about The Balance of the Head and the Heart

Open Document