How Does Dickens Present the Conflict of Fact and Fancy in 'Hard Times'. - Grade B
Analyse Dickens presentation of the conflict between fact and fancy in ‘Hard Times’
The novel Hard Times by Charles Dickens epitomises the social, political and economic values of Victorian England. Dickens attacks the conditions and exploitation of the workers by the factory owners, the social class divisions that favour dishonesty over honesty depending on the hierarchy of class status. He finds the utilitarian (fact) school of thought where facts and statistic’s are emphasised at the expense of imagination, art, feelings and wonder (fancy) emerging during this period disconcerting. Hard Times is divided into three separate books entitled: ‘Sowing’, ‘Reaping’ and ‘Garnering’. These sections exemplify the biblical concept of ‘whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap’ [Galatians 6:7]. Dickens uses harvesting as a symbol of something that is unchangeable and fancy as something that is changeable in people’s mind and imaginations. He demonstrates that both fancy and fact must work together in order for one to become a healthy human being.
The central character of Hard Times who most embodies the factual approach is Thomas Gradgrind. He is introduced to the readership at the beginning of the novel. In chapter one, ‘One Thing Needful’, Thomas Gradgrind is shown as the ‘speaker’. He is described to have a ‘square forefinger’ and ‘square wall of a forehead’ and their voice is described as ‘inflexible’, ‘dry’ and ‘dictatorial’. Dickens uses humour to exemplify the shape of his head: ‘all covered with knobs, like the crust of a plum pie’, this humorous mocking of Gradgrind’s appearance by Dickens, establishes Dickens position on the factual interpretation of life by the utilitarians. Gradgrind is therefore a character that represents facts as his grotesque appearance reflects his method of teaching and furthermore the name ‘Gradgrind’ reflects the dull and repetitive motion of grinding. This reinforces the fact that Gradgrind’s teaching methods are as
The novel Hard Times by Charles Dickens epitomises the social, political and economic values of Victorian England. Dickens attacks the conditions and exploitation of the workers by the factory owners, the social class divisions that favour dishonesty over honesty depending on the hierarchy of class status. He finds the utilitarian (fact) school of thought where facts and statistic’s are emphasised at the expense of imagination, art, feelings and wonder (fancy) emerging during this period disconcerting. Hard Times is divided into three separate books entitled: ‘Sowing’, ‘Reaping’ and ‘Garnering’. These sections exemplify the biblical concept of ‘whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap’ [Galatians 6:7]. Dickens uses harvesting as a symbol of something that is unchangeable and fancy as something that is changeable in people’s mind and imaginations. He demonstrates that both fancy and fact must work together in order for one to become a healthy human being.
The central character of Hard Times who most embodies the factual approach is Thomas Gradgrind. He is introduced to the readership at the beginning of the novel. In chapter one, ‘One Thing Needful’, Thomas Gradgrind is shown as the ‘speaker’. He is described to have a ‘square forefinger’ and ‘square wall of a forehead’ and their voice is described as ‘inflexible’, ‘dry’ and ‘dictatorial’. Dickens uses humour to exemplify the shape of his head: ‘all covered with knobs, like the crust of a plum pie’, this humorous mocking of Gradgrind’s appearance by Dickens, establishes Dickens position on the factual interpretation of life by the utilitarians. Gradgrind is therefore a character that represents facts as his grotesque appearance reflects his method of teaching and furthermore the name ‘Gradgrind’ reflects the dull and repetitive motion of grinding. This reinforces the fact that Gradgrind’s teaching methods are as