Monday, October 22, 2012
Hard Times:Discussion
We've been talking a lot about the "fire" within the text, but haven't really touched upon this idea of "darknes", which is closley related too the "fire" that is consistantley talked about. In the beginning of chapter three after Louisa speaks to her father about how terrible of a childhood she has, she spills out all of her emotions to Sissy. Louisa stated " I am so proud and so hardened, so confised and troubled, so resentful and unjust to every one and to myself, that everything is stormy, dark, and wicked to me" (Dickens 220). It is extremely important to note that Louisa is saying she feels all of these terrible emotions as a result of her "fact" based childhood. Although everyone in the town was forced to endure the same factual unbringing, Louisa is the only character to come forward and admit all of the terrible effects it has had on her. It has made her life "dark" and "stormy" and it stripped her of her individuality. She know is stuck in this very distraught state because she has come to the realization that her childhood has ruined her. Dickens suggests that this "factual" lifestyle will bring darkness to the people of Coketown's lives. Louisa who we often say is the only character in the text who has the fire in her to change, was also the only one to admit to this feeling of "darkness". It is apparent that Gradgrind must reevaluate his ideas on facts because his daughter has finally brought these "stormy and dark" reprecautions to his attention.
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I agree that Louisa’s fire erupts and that it is significant how she confronts the cold, factual education for what it is. I do not, however, believe Louisa is the only one who acknowledges the deficiencies of Gradgrind’s methods. I believe that very early on, Tom showed fierce discontent with his upbringing. On page 55, there is a clear example of this. Tom is speaking musingly and disdainfully of his education and upbringing, “‘I wish I could collect all the Facts we hear so much about,’ said Tom, spitefully setting his teeth, ‘and all the Figures, and all the people who found them out; and I wish I could put a thousand barrels of gunpowder under them, and blow them all up together!’”. Tom goes on to say that he will “‘recompense [himself] for the way in which [he][has] been brought up’”. Although Louisa’s case was much more overt and directed towards the root of her demise (her father), I don’t think it can be said that she was the only one with fire and a sense of disgruntlement at the way in which she and so many others had been raised. Louisa may have had more will to change, but she wasn’t the only one to admit to the dark side of “Gradgrindian” education.
ReplyDeleteI think that you could also see Sissy as a character who's fire not only burns but also creates good in Coketown. She may have been seen as dumb early in the book but that was only defined by the standards of a clearly misguided master. Dickens shows her fire just a few sentences after the quote you mentioned, "the once deserted girl shone like a beautiful light upon the darkness of the other." (220) Sissy has never gone away from her belief that facts aren't as important as many are led to believe, and this leads to her being able to keep in touch with her emotions. Her emotional stability leads to her ability to rise above the destructive fact based education. I feel that Sissy's ability to shine can be more powerful in bringing about a different mindset to Mr.Gradgrind. Not only did Sissy prove his methods wrong but she also helped his daughter from the destructive path his upbringing sent her down.
ReplyDeleteRyan, whereas I do see what you're saying, I personally feel as though Louisa was the only one who acknowledged the problem and actually acted upon her belief. On page 220-211 this is when Louisa confronts her father about her "terrible" "facted based" childhood. She clearly stated to Gradgrind "Now,father, you have brought me to this. Save me by some other means!" Here Louisa tells her father that he has not onlty brought her to this breaking point but also that "his philosophy and his teaching will not save her." She not only critisizes her fathers way of life, but also tells her father that he has essentailly ruined hers. She stood up for herself and directly spoke to her father about her problem with his way of life. This is why I feel she can be pin-pointed as the only person in the story who truley has the fire in her to confront her issues with this fact based society.
ReplyDeleteWould you then disagree with what Mikey brought up in that Sissy was also the cause of much change? In Mikey's quote it is even arguable that Sissy is the reason for Louisa's alteration. I also think your ignoring a very important character in Stephen. In book two, Chapters four and five, Stephen both confronts his differences with his fellow workers and, in chapter five, faces Bounderby and steadfastly defends the honor of those workers who just rejected him. With conviction, Stephen presents his grievances to Bounderby and rebukes his groundless accusations. Stephen delivers his opinions to Bounderby about labor with the same fire that Louisa does to her father about her education and rearing.
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