Hard Times:Discussion

            In the third book the symbol of the fire is continued as Dickens displays the passion that now has festered within the main character of Louisa   Her inner fire symbolizes the warmth created by her secret fancies in her otherwise lonely, monotonous existence.  This is first exemplified in the third book when Louisa is talking to her father the day after she has had her complete breakdown.  After she talks to him Dickens writes “A dull fire….smoldered within her like an unwholesome fire”(218).  This allusion to fire again in the passage indicates the passion that Louisa possesses inside of her being.  The significance behind this is that no longer is Louisa longing to posses this fire, no longer does she aimlessly stare at it, she finally possesses it, and it is there to last as it “smolders” within her.  This signifies the break from her false life of being a fake wife and daughter, and shows that now she is going to let her passions guide her.  This identical idea can then be seen later on in the passage, Dickens writes “Louisa on the night of the same day, watching the fires as in days of yore, though with a gentler and milder face”(286).  This passage establishes that no longer does Louisa stare at the fire with a longing feeling within her spirit, now she seems to understand that she posses this power as she stares at it with a “gentler and milder” face.  This seems like a fitting ending to the journey of Louisa.  Rather than becoming consumed by the ideas of her father and Bounderby, Louisa has discovered her own passions and no longer will fall victim to the false philosophies of individuals within her life.