Essay on Charles Dickens' Hard Times

He learned that politics, personal life, and Christianity were of the same piece. They were not three separate things but they were one.

Charles Dickens' Hard Times and David Lodge's Nice Work ----“Fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact everywhere in the immaterial.” – Charles Dickens In the early 1851, London staged the Great Exhibition to show the world, the achievements and inventions of the Industrial Revolution. Many people believed that this showed how much better, safer and healthier Britain was than its neighbours in Europe. People living in mansions amid lawns and fountains, with horse drawn carriages certainly felt that life couldn’t be better. However behind the publicity and the royal occasions there was another England, not so glorious.

He watched the De Laceys and learned how to talk, read, and how to love. He read about the creation of Adam and compared himself to the story of the fallen angel. This education may not be the deepest or most rational but it does connect deep into the minds of the reader.

A Lesson Before Dying and Fences increasingly focuses on vision for a different black masculinity based in social negotiation. These stories show black men banding together to demand their manhood against white oppression and racism. The stories offers an even more cohesive vision of black manhood and its potential for radical change (Magil). In A Lesson Before Dying, Grant Wiggins is an irate man who daydreamed of escaping from his childhood, but after finishing college he returned home to teach at the same school he went to growing up. While most see his education as an accomplishment, he sees his work as inadequate. He sees nothing has changed and believes the many years of slavery has frozen black people’s lives. Same goes for Troy Maxson in Fences. In his youth he had a chance to play pro baseball but couldn't move on because during the time blacks weren’t able to play in the Major Leagues. This discrimination affected him and he felt that blacks would never get the chance that whites got. Throughout both the novels we are forced to ask what it takes to be a good man. Troy and Grant both try to force other men on what they believe being a man truly is. Troy thinks that Cory is old enough to take care of himself and kicks him out, “You a man. Now let’s see you act like one.” Troy thinks this is how a boy becomes a man by fending for themselves like he had to. After the defender called Jefferson a hog, Grant is pushed to show Jefferson what it is to be a man because Miss Emma couldn’t. Later he’s seen telling his students that he’s trying to make them responsible so they don’t end up in Jefferson’s situation. Later Grant

He learned that people can be cruel. That the world is not the same for various people

He teaches his kids by doing by example. More than any parent in Maycomb County.

been taught or educated by someone, yet he knew how. One day while Nat was crying and carrying

you want to put it, but to the characters in the story of "The Lesson" They are naive, they

By educating his classmates, he enabled them to help Peter. This bit of information will now stick with me forever.

He first recounts how he spent his younger years learning. He then states that in his

Charles Dickens is one of the most renowned British writers with well-known and widespread work. Dickens was born in England in 1812 and died in 1870. During this time, Victorian England experienced an Industrial Revolution, which impacted his life tremendously. New factories and industrial machinery changed many lives of the lower class citizens. The family grew up impoverished and struggled to maintain a good lifestyle. The family’s financial situation was strained as John Dickens, Charles’s father, spent money that the family didn’t have. These societal factors were influential in Charles Dickens’s life, and the same themes present themselves in his works. When an author creates a work, frequently themes of their life events are incorporated into the theme of the book, consciously or unconsciously. Victorian Age industrial-influenced strife was a common theme in Dickens’s life and presented itself throughout Dickens’s books.

boy already knows or are present in him. From this the slave boy uncovers that

The French Revolution mainly took place in the city of Paris during the late 1700’s. The Revolution did not only affect the people of France, but also the citizens of England as well. The French Revolution is known as one of the most brutal and inhumane periods of history. If one studied the beliefs and views of the people involved at the time, one would see a reoccurring theme of “ being recalled to life”. Born from the world of literature, Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities takes a deeper look at the culture of the late 1700’s, in both England and France. Dickens uses the character of Lucie Manette to further examine one of the major themes presented in the novel, consisting of the belief of one being

Great Expectations’ main character, Phillip Pirrip- generally known as Pip- had a rough upbringing as a child. His sister, Mrs. Joe had “brought him up by hand”, after their parents and five brothers had all been laid to rest many years ago. Another character, Herbert Pocket experienced a bizarre childhood, though in a different manner. Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations develops through the novel following Pip, a young “common boy” who grew up in the countryside. As he matured so did his love for a girl of higher class, Estella. However, being a common boy, Pip was not good enough for his Estella, thus once he was given an opportunity to become a gentleman in London he seized it without much hesitation. Charles Dickens’ had his own

In Hard Times, Dickens presents life philosophies of three men that directly contradict each other. James Harthouse sees one’s actions in life as meaningless since life is so short. Mr. Gradgrind emphasizes the importance of fact and discourages fantasy since life is exactly as it was designed to be. Mr. Slearly exhibits that “all work and no play” will make very dull people out of all of us. He also proclaims that one should never look back on one’s life and regret past actions. Dickens is certainly advocating Sleary’s life philosophy because the subjects of the other two philosophies led depressing and unhappy lives. This is made clear when Louisa realises her childhood of fact without fancy has ruined her, when Tom’s life falls apart after leaving his father’s home in rejection of his strict parenting, and when Mr. Gradgrind himself realises the faults in his own philosophy and devotes the rest of his life to virtue and charity.