Hard Times by Charles Dickens

 

Hard Times

by Charles Dickens

My first foray into the world of Dickens long after my reading of Great Expectations, Hard Times explores the ideas of morality, and viewing the world in either black and white terms or in shades of gray. It asks whether we should focus on reason in all things or let our hearts be our guide in many things.

Set in the industrial mid-19th century, Hard Times mainly follows Tom and Louisa Gradgrind through their youth, tutored to believe in nothing but the facts, into adulthood where reality is confused by the heart conflicting with reason.

Tom grows into a man interested more in drink and gambling than in hard work. He is a character of self-interest in-so-far as it works out to his advantage, such is the case when he uses a working class man to act as a cover for himself to rob the bank he works for. The man is blamed and Tom is silent, until it is discovered that Tom was the robber. His own life is eventually saved from accountability because of his station and the ability of the wealthy to find the means to save themselves. Stephen Blackpool, the unwitting accomplice who is blamed, eventually dies while attempting to clear his name. The wealthy get away and the poor suffer. An age old tale that hasn't changed to this day.

Louisa is married to Mr. Bounderby, a blow hard who lives by the "just the facts" motto, though he turns out to be somewhat of a fabricator of the truth because it worked for his own self-interest. Louisa does not love Bounderby, but marries him to suit her father's wishes and to elevate her brother's situation. Eventually, with the arrival of James Harthouse who attempts to woo her, she acknowledges that she does not love Bounderby, never did, and questions her father's teachings of living by reason alone. If she had been allowed the pleasures of the heart, she would not have married Bounderby and her life would have been altogether different. She expresses this to her father, who expresses it to Bounderby, and the two decide to live apart, for Bounderby would not consider anything getting in the way of his own reasonable lifestyle. Heaven forbid he ever admit to any sort of wrong on his own part.

Bounderby thinks highly of himself and devalues anyone of a "lower order," including the workers who toil for his own wealth. Hard Times shows us the difference in morality between the wealthy and the poor. Bounderby, Tom Gradgrind and his son, and young Bitzer who looks up to Bounderby all engage in decidedly immoral endeavors, interested only in their own gains as reason dictates. On the other hand, the poor characters, Stephen Blackpool, Rachael (his childhood friend, object of his affection, and coworker), and Sissy Jupe who was lifted from orphanhood from a traveling circus by Mr. Gradgrind all operate at the opposite end of the spectrum. They help others, show compassion and aid even though they have little if anything to give, and are led by their hearts in matters that involve others.

Hard Times is a story that shows us Prosperity and morality do not often go hand in hand, and that reason alone will not do in a hard world. We need love, play, and imagination to be healthy and whole. 

The one thing I would change about Hard Times is the use of speech patterns in the narrative, which made the book a slug at times, especially in the characters of Stephen Blackpool with his dialectical narration, and the lispy Mr. Sleary, the circus owner. This book gets 3.5 to 4 stars.