Hard Times
"Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namelytwenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive.Sheds coat in spring......" A perfect example of a product ofutilitarian education, Bitzer defines a horse off the top of hishead in a split second. Utilitarianism is the assumption thathuman beings act in a way that highlights their own selfinterest. It is based on factuality and leaves little room forimagination. Dickens provides three vivid examples of thisutilitarian logic in Hard Times. The first; Mr. ThomasGradgrind, one of the main characters in the book, was theprincipal of a school in Coketown. He was a firm believer inutilitarianism and instilled this philosophy into the students atthe school from a very young age, as well as his ownchildren. Mr. Josiah Bounderby was also a practitioner ofutilitarianism, but was more interested in the profit thatstemmed from it. At the other end of the perspective, agroup of circus members, who are the total opposite ofutilitarians, are added by Dickens to provide a sharpcontrast from the ideas of Mr. Bounderby and Mr.Thomas Gradgrind Sr., a father of five children, has lived his
The utilitarians ultimately ended with agreat downfall because their narrow-minds could not endurethe pressures that life can impose on oneself. He is one of the wealthiest people in Coketown; owning abank and a factory, but is not really a likable person. It almost seemed like they would noteven take him seriously because he was such. Hismethod was somewhat indirect in the sense that he workedbackwards to get his point across, but turned out to be veryeffective as the story progressed. Dickens does not tell us much aboutthe success of the other students of the school besidesBitzer, who is fairly successful on paper, but does not havethe capacity as a person to deal with life's everydaystruggles. Bounderby maintained throughout the story hisutilitarian views, which basically stated that nothing else isimportant besides profit. Thebook details the philosophy, then shows how miserably itfailed. This was definitely unfairbut the social classes were structured in a way whichallowed those who had money to look down upon thosewho were less fortunate. Jane is not spoken of much untilthe end of the book but I like the way Dickens showed theeffects of the utilitarian lifestyle as opposed to thenon-utilitarian lifestyle. True, they are smart people in the factual sensebut do not have the street smarts to survive. Blackpoolwas told that he could not divorce his wife because it wouldbe against the laws of England. This is why Louisagoes frantic and ends up crying in her fathers lap. JamesHarthouse, a young, good looking guy, is attracted to Louisaand deceivingly draws her attraction to him. Josiah Bounderby is another prime example of utilitarianism. If one element of the bookstands out in my mind, it would be this one.
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