Sunday, October 21, 2012
Hard Times Discussion
So as I was looking through the book at the instances of fire, I saw that it was prevalent that Louisa is the only only who shares this deep attachment to the presence of fire. Both Tom and Louisa grew up in the same household under their father, Mr. Gradgrind, but Tom does not seem yearn for a "spark" of individuality in life unlike Louisa. What is different about Louisa's past experiences or attitudes/personality in comparison to Tom that allows her to have this attachment with the fire throughout the book?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
*only one
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I saw this pattern develop through the story just as you did. I have wondered this same thing. A possible answer to this could be the fact that Louisa develops some sort of bond with Sissy, and we see a parallel structure between Sissy and Louisa. Louisa always seems to lack a feeling of comfort and compassion, and Sissy gives her these feelings. Tom on the other hand never shows any real emotion, he has no problem not having compassion in his life. Louisa has this fire in her to be more like Sissy which is why she ultimately reaches to be more of an individual just as Sissy is!
ReplyDeleteI think that the fact that Tom doesn't develop a "fire within himself" shows the differences in the social institution of gender. Tom has other was of showing the negativity of his upbringing that Louisa doesn't have. Becaue Tom is a male, he has the ability to be socially accepted even though he gambles and drinks. Louisa on the other hand needs to be "proper" so that she doesn't bring a bad name upon herself and her husband. It is for this reason that she looks to the fire as a sign of the distruction of her individuality whereas Tom literally shows the distruction of his upbringing through his habits.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with the points that have been made I feel there is a different reason that Louisa was able to posses this fire and Tom was not. It seems that from the very start of the book Louisa was a much different person from Tom and that this fire was inside of her the whole time and was just "smoldering". In the first half of the book it seems that Dickens asserts that there is a difference between the two characters. When Tom and Louisa are caught looking at the circus and are confronted by Mr. Gradgrind, Dickens writes "Louisa looked at her father with more boldness than Thomas did"(19). This passage seems to allude to the fact that Louisa is not a submissive child and has strong ideas and feelings that are all her own (on the contrary to Tom). What Dickens is attempting to say trough this is that people are born with innate pursuits that cant be altered by their environment, thus asserting that robotic like societies are not possible because of the hidden ambitions of humans.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Scott here. I also thought of the circus incident, and thought that maybe Louisa is just naturally curious, and this curiousness is only intensified because of her upbringing. When Sissy first comes to stay with the Gradgrinds, Louisa asks her all about her father, and she asks questions with "a strong, wild, wandering interest peculiar to her" (61). I saw the description of a "strong" and "wild" interest as an innate instinct in Louisa; she couldn't help it. Also, the fact that it was described as "wild" implies that it can't be tamed, despite Gradgrind's efforts. I guess this also relates to what Angela was saying about Sissy having something to do with Louisa's "fire". Sissy kind of brings Louisa's curiousness out of her and definitely has a profound impact on her.
ReplyDelete