Hard Times Bounderby

Tom fears that his own kind will be overrun by others, such as dreamers like Gatsby. Tom hides “behind his wealth” (Pidgeon 179) and “leave others to clean up [his] messes” (Pidgeon 180). Tom’s arrogance and racism help create his character and establish his place in the society. Tom’s personality depicts his cruel ways of protecting the old money’s ways of life from the new money people. He considers himself above of everyone else.

Furthermore, like many members of the bourgeoisie, Bounderby tries to better himself at the expense of the proletarians. While Bounderby was a member of the lower class in his youth, he has completely turned his back on them. He treats the proletarians with contempt, and he believes that all the proletarians desire “to be fed on turtle soup and venison, with a gold spoon.” Dickens is creating an irony here. Bounderby believes that all the proletarians want to get rich without working, yet the proletarians are actually doing all the excruciating work in the society. However, the wealth is not going to the proletarians but to Bounderby himself.

In its most basic state, lips are a visible body part used in articulating sound and speech. But, the utilization of lips to formulate words for communication overshadows the message the physical feature conveys itself. In the Passing, Larsen utilizes lips to provide insight on how emotionally repressed Clare and Irene are. Rather than blatantly explaining how the characters are restrained, the author hints at it through the use of their lips. In the beginning of the novel, the narrator introduces Clare Kendry as a struggling adolescent being told of the death of her father. Initially, the narrator describes her with “her lips pressed together” (Larsen 173). Through her compressed lips, the readers gain visual insight on Clare subduing her overwhelming range of emotions. By closing her lips tightly, Clare reveals her frustration in smothering her grief and disbelief in learning of her father’s death. Similarly, Irene also displays her frustration and anger through her pressed lips while listening to the racist comments of Jack Bellew (Larsen 201-202). Rather than having an impassioned outburst, both Clare and Irene repress their emotions to maintain the graceful and feminine status. Subsequently, bound lips parallel the repression of women due to the societal standards they have to

Tom’s neglecting manner of Daisy brings out his supercilious manner of feeling superior to others. In another instance, Tom’s supercilious manner is shown once again. In fact, we find out a little secret about Tom’s life. Tom describes a man, named Wilson as, “Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York.

When you look at an example like this one, you start to think whether or not these upper class people believed in their own morals and if they even had any. But one thing is for sure, such arrogant actions only go a short way until they come back to haunt you. Because Mrs. Van Hopper was so blinded by her own self and worried so much about what was going on in other people's lives, she had lost her attention from her companion friend, which let to a love affair between the narrator and Mr. Maxim de Winter.

Matilda’s mother did not allow her to visit Polly, an old friend that died, and Matilda reacted by yelling back at her mother. “She was my friend! You must allow me. Why are you so horrid?” Isabel learned that her little sister Ruth was sold an as a result she started yelling at her master, Mrs. Lockton.

Upon her arrival Steinbeck uses pathetic fallacy of the ‘rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut of’ this immediately sets a dark, hostile, clouded feeling and tone which reveals her dangerous side and how she cut of the warmth and light from the room. Despite Steinbeck warning us of her flirtatious side he refers to her as ‘a girl’, young and innocent. This is his first faint hint that not all is as it seems. Steinbeck also describes her as having ‘wide spaced eyes’ suggesting that she could possibly be scared or maybe even intense and seductive

Tom’s major concern lies with the way Gatsby obtained his money. With this concern comes Tom’s criticism of Gatsby as a “Bootlegger,” because of his information on Gatsby (76). Tom immediately separates Gatsby from himself, by placing Gatsby into the category of new money. With this sly criticism Tom insults Gatsby’s achievement and connects him to an infamous world of crime, ultimately trying to prove that Gatsby isn’t the man everyone believes him to be. He later says “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife….” (77). In his rage, Tom’s attitude toward Gatsby’s class and morals is displayed through his supercilious critique of Gatsby’s apparel, Tom contest Gatsby’s learning at Oxford by saying “An Oxford man! ... Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.” (65) Within this criticism Tom’s incredulous attitude, brings out his superior social status through his narrow minded view of proper

Tom belittles cheating as a “spree,” brushing aside the mistreatment of his marriage. He ultimately convinces himself that his actions could not bring

Tom does not care about anyone else in the process of getting what he wants. Daisy is never being treated how she really should and one of the only things keeping them together is there child. Tom is not the person to ever with acquainted with, his personality is lacking all of the good things like Gatsby has. He will never be good enough for Daisy but she just will not see that.

In understanding the complex nature of the American Dream, Tom is the most egotistical of them all. His family has enormous wealth. Tom represents “old money” and the intergeneration transfer of wealth; which he offensively exploits. He lives in East Egg where the old aristocrats live. Tom is also a hypocrite, and his constant use of racist comments towards other ethnic groups and those less fortunate than himself indicate to me the reader that he feels he is superior.

Expressions such as these only distance Tom from benign human tendencies, leaving him less worthy of receiving any compassion from his audience. By creating a character like Tom, Fitzgerald leaves the reader with the impression that one born into and consumed by wealth will become the most unappealing and bland character of all. In this way the author leaves a sense of emptiness associated with Tom and continues to sew the thread of emptiness in all other characters consumed by wealth in his story.

In this short story, Louisa’s internal independence plays a major role in who she is as a woman. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman describes Louisa as an introvert because she is someone who enjoys being alone. She spends fourteen years of her life being isolated at home, waiting for her fiancé to come back from his job in Australia. During those years, she learns how to be by herself through the hard times and the pleasant ones “Louisa’s feet had turned into a path, smooth maybe under a calm, serene sky, but so strait and unswerving that it could only meet a check at her grave, and so narrow that there was no room for any one at her side” (Freeman 66). This demonstrates how she is so use to not having anyone by her side. This is why she creates her own path through all the dark times she had to face on her own. In many ways this can foreshadow the ending of the short story. This shows how she always counted on herself and

Feeling no regret at all, she then began flirting with the man back who was giving her the attention she always dreamed of. Being interested in the stranger, “Her breast swelled passionately “[…]” Kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost touched the cloth” (Steinbeck 18). The man then realized what she was doing, but did not react; instead he acted as professional as well as he could. After his departure, she then felt a depression knowing that she might have lost her one chance of happiness. As her husband is taking her out to dinner later on in the night, she asks Henry questions about his hobbies of watching fights and realized that she never had anyone as interested of her gardening skills as much as the departed man did. She felt that at this moment, her dream was then put on hold once more, so her shadow of loneliness and emptiness took over. Her shadow was revealed towards the man who gave the attention she wanted from her husband. She no longer hid or neglect her shadows because she realize what made her happy and went for it in order to fill her

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.