Hard Times

A detailed Summary of Hard Times

"Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely

twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive.

Sheds coat in spring......" A perfect example of a product of

utilitarian education, Bitzer defines a horse off the top of his

head in a split second. Utilitarianism is the assumption that

human beings act in a way that highlights their own self

interest. It is based on factuality and leaves little room for

imagination. Dickens provides three vivid examples of this

utilitarian logic in Hard Times. The first; Mr. Thomas

Gradgrind, one of the main characters in the book, was the

principal of a school in Coketown. He was a firm believer in

utilitarianism and instilled this philosophy into the students at

the school from a very young age, as well as his own

children. Mr. Josiah Bounderby was also a practitioner of

utilitarianism, but was more interested in the profit that

stemmed from it. At the other end of the perspective, a

group of circus members, who are the total opposite of

utilitarians, are added by Dickens to provide a sharp

contrast from the ideas of Mr. Bounderby and Mr.

Thomas Gradgrind Sr., a father of five children, has lived his

imaginations. True, they are smart people in the factual sense

workers as "Hands," because that is all they are to him.

after seeing it backfire in his face more than once.

extremely funny how, at a time of need, Gradgrind's

the workday, resulting with money in his pocket. When one

work that was put on him while at the school. Ironically

great downfall because their narrow-minds could not endure

Coketown, and has tried his best to do so with his own

as Gradgrind such power over a town? I do like how

Gradgrinds school, replies that the school was paid for, but

the success of the other students of the school besides

Approximate Word count = 1513
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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