Hard Times
_Hard Times_ was first published in _Household Words_ as a series and then compiled into 3 books. Dickens intertwined several people's lives in these writings. Louisa had two very different relationships with her father and brother. Louisa's relationship with her father is one where she believes at first that he is just using her to show how his "facts and only the facts" teachings work, and later she finds out that he really loves her and cares deeply for her. Unlike her relationship with Tom, her brother, which starts out with her believing that he loves her and cares deeply for her, and later she finds out that he was only using her.Louisa's relationship with her father changes with each stage of their lives. Mr. Gradgrind is a man of means who is very interested in the school of facts, and he wants he children to rely on nothing but facts. When we are first introduced to this relationship, Louisa is very mouthy and rebellious. Louisa and Young Tom were caught peeping at the circus by their father. Mrs. Gradgrind asked Louisa why she was peeping at the circus when she knew better than to have anything to do with something other than facts. Louisa stated "That's the reason!" (19) Mr. Gradgrind approaches L
" (142). "It is possible to hear the tones of a lover in these words;" (364) "As I am here beside you, barefoot, unclothed, undistinguishable in darkness." (142) Daniel Deneau believes that the way Tom and Louisa were isolated and schooled is what caused them to "experience an abnormal brother-sister relationship." (363) Louisa, in return for her father's love and understanding of her, comes to regard him as an advisor when she asks his advise on whether to see Mr. Bounderby, Tom and Rachel. She also was there to help and support her father with the news of Tom's robbery of the bank and the framing of the innocent Stephen Blackpool. She tries to comfort her father by telling him that "you have three young children left. They will be different, I will be different yet, with Heaven's help." (203) him about emotions. After the father recovers from that question, he starts stating the facts. The facts of this case are "You are, we will say in round numbers, twenty years of age; Mr. Bounderby is, we will say in round numbers, fifty. There is some disparity in your respective years, but in your means and positions, there is none; on the contrary, there is a great suitability." (76-7) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ouisa about marrying Mr. Bounderby, and her attitude is subdued. The father is proud of the fact that Louisa has no sentiment. "You are not impulsive, you are not romantic, you are accustomed to view everything from the strong dispassionate ground of reason and calculation." (75) But when she asks her father if he thinks she loves Mr. Bounderby, he gets extremely uncomfortable because she is asking !
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1522
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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