Hard Times Essay
Hard Times Coursework
Hard times was written in 1854 by Charles Dickens. Dickens was a famous Victorian novelist who wrote about the civilization that surrounded him. He was knowledgeable and middle-class but had some sympathy with the way poor people were treated. He was vital of utilitarianism and felt that those in power showed little understanding of the poor. His sympathy with the poor stemmed from his upbringing and his father's failure to stay out of debt. Hard Times is Dickens' shortest novel and is considered by many to be a satire. The story revolves around the stubborn disciplinarian Mr Thomas Gradgrind. Through the writing of this character, Dickens examines the utilitarian philosophy of the time and exposes some of the hypocrisy of those in positions of power.
Satire is a literary technique whereby the flaws of an individual are exposed through the use of ridicule, irony and sarcasm. Dickens does this by using plenty of exaggeration, repetition, reverse personification, irony and many other techniques. In this novel Dickens conveys his view on the utilitarian system by revealing every aspect of the system to be flawed. This results to an absolute mockery of the system which is a satire of utilitarianism.
The central theme of ‘Hard Times is an attack on Utilitarianism. ‘Fact’ is at the centre of utilitarian, education system and Dickens makes this clear by using repetition. It is clear that for a utilitarian, ‘Facts alone are wanted in life’ and that there is no room for imagination or creativity. Even the way Gradgrind speaks is very formal and factual. Dickens uses very, short and sharp sentences to highlight the calculated way of speaking “Now, what I want… service to them”. There is some irony used in the first paragraph. “This is the principle on which I bring up my own children”. Dickens uses this to show that even his children were brought up by this utilitarian regime. The irony of this statement is that both Gradgrind’s children, who
Hard times was written in 1854 by Charles Dickens. Dickens was a famous Victorian novelist who wrote about the civilization that surrounded him. He was knowledgeable and middle-class but had some sympathy with the way poor people were treated. He was vital of utilitarianism and felt that those in power showed little understanding of the poor. His sympathy with the poor stemmed from his upbringing and his father's failure to stay out of debt. Hard Times is Dickens' shortest novel and is considered by many to be a satire. The story revolves around the stubborn disciplinarian Mr Thomas Gradgrind. Through the writing of this character, Dickens examines the utilitarian philosophy of the time and exposes some of the hypocrisy of those in positions of power.
Satire is a literary technique whereby the flaws of an individual are exposed through the use of ridicule, irony and sarcasm. Dickens does this by using plenty of exaggeration, repetition, reverse personification, irony and many other techniques. In this novel Dickens conveys his view on the utilitarian system by revealing every aspect of the system to be flawed. This results to an absolute mockery of the system which is a satire of utilitarianism.
The central theme of ‘Hard Times is an attack on Utilitarianism. ‘Fact’ is at the centre of utilitarian, education system and Dickens makes this clear by using repetition. It is clear that for a utilitarian, ‘Facts alone are wanted in life’ and that there is no room for imagination or creativity. Even the way Gradgrind speaks is very formal and factual. Dickens uses very, short and sharp sentences to highlight the calculated way of speaking “Now, what I want… service to them”. There is some irony used in the first paragraph. “This is the principle on which I bring up my own children”. Dickens uses this to show that even his children were brought up by this utilitarian regime. The irony of this statement is that both Gradgrind’s children, who