Dickens Hard Times was written in for a publication called "serial publication" which delivered the story in weekly segments. He usually used this style for his writing because it could reach the masses who usually could not afford books. Hard Times was written in three segments, what they call a "triple decker" novel. Dickens wrote about the common man and the common man's issues, so he brought these text to them in whatever way was conducive.
A motif within the novel that seemed to be consistent was the mechanization of humans. Dickens correlated the active acceptance of industrialism in England tot he working conditions of those who worked in the factories at the time. The people in the factories became almost as robotic as the machines they were running. Also, the industrial revolution threatened to revoke the imagination and emotions of said factory workers, anyone in the country as a matter of fact. This is seen in Gradgrind's character when he develops a school to teach nothing but hard facts and uses those same principles for raising his children. His friend Bounderby also has the same mindset in running his factory, treating workers like they are meaningless machines with no human emotions. The connection between Gradgrind's children and Bounderby's workers is drawn in Chapter 5 of book 1 saying that both led monotonous lives without enjoying the pleasures of the world. Dickens uses the novel to illustrate the danger in letting humans become like machines, and that imagination and emotions are needed to be human. Humanity isn't lost completely in the novel with characters like Louisa and Sissy; their thirst for imagination and wonder is the representation of the human element. Louisa realizes this when she tells her father that she is unhappy in her marriage and had a unfulfilled childhood because of the lack of pleasure growing up.
Using Gradgrind as a sort of extreme to highlight the industry take over in England, helps the reader to understand that, although radical, societies future could end up as Louisa's did--monotonous and unfullfilled.
Courtney, I like your close reading of Hard Times. You discussed the idea that this novel illustrates the danger of potentially letting humans act like machines. The example you gave was those working in factories almost started acting like machines. This idea of humans as machines appears in various forms of popular culture we are exposed to today. One of the most recent examples I can think of is "I, Robot" in which humans manufacture robots to help their society thrive. In a sense, humans become senseless about the world around them. This is evident in the police chief's doubt in Spooner's belief that the robots are causing chaos.
ReplyDeleteQuestion for thought: Why do you think Dickens used serial publishing instead of publishing it all at once?
Courtney, I enjoyed your post! I agree with your recognition of the mechanical characteristics given to the characters in Hard Times. As I was reading your blog post, I was thinking about the relationship of people working in factories during the industrial revolution and nowadays. In the book Hard Times, it is apparent that factory workers are treated as if they were machines. Nowadays, I feel the same is happening with some exceptions. In our society today, there are laws that prevent factory owners to dehumanize their employees but that does not mean that they are enforced. For instance, I consider working in the orchards like working in a factory because the purpose is high production at low paying rate. Employers—to a certain extant—don’t care if their workers get hurt. They care more for the production of the business. The personal emotions/stories of these field workers are not taken into consideration when it comes to working because it is all business. This past summer was the first time ever in my life that I worked thinning apples and I am never ever going to do that. Anyways, I felt like I was “just another worker” which means that no one cared for how I felt or what I felt. In contrast, here on campus I work at the WSU Daycare where people care about what I have to say and how I feel about things. I think that living by the rules of fact is not the way to raise any kids or to live by because then life won’t be as exciting as it should be.
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