Hard Times

Hard Times: For These Time

Hello everyone, this blog is based on The Victorian novel ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens . This thinking activity task assigned by Dr.Dilip Barad for further reading Click Here 

Hard times published in serial form (as Hard Times: For These Times) in the periodical Household Words from April to August 1854 and in book form later the same year. 

This novel surveys English society and satirizes the social and economic condition of the era. It is the only novel that doesn't have scenes set  in London, the story set in fictional industrial town coketown. Dickens sympathized with poor people.

#Introduction:

Title: Hard Times: For These Time

Published year: 1854

Genre: Victorian Novel, Satirical, Dystopia

POV: Third Person Omniscient 

Structure: Divided into 3 part = 1) Sowing 2)Reaping 3)Gardening 

Setting: Mid 19th century 

Place: Coketown(Fictional manufacturing town in south england)

#Theme: 

1)Dehumanization 

2)Education: The Head and Heart

3)Industrialism: Master & Workers

4)Marriage & Divorce

5)Fact Vs.Fancy 

6)Femininity

7)Industrialism and its Evil

8)Surveillance and Knowledge

*Dehumanization effects of industrialization on human relation

It is set in the fictitious industrial town of Coketown, and depicts working conditions of children under the philosophy of fact based utilitarianism. It is an analysis of the setting, character and theme supports the interpretation of hard times as an industrial novel.

Its associated philosophies diminish human relationship, imagination and dignity. View of an economic structure that treats human being as parts in a machine rather than multidimensional individual with needs. 

“It was a town of unnatural red and black , like the painted face of savage it was the town of machinery and tell chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever &ever. it had a black camal in it and a river purple with all smelling dyed.” 

Pollutions destructive effects on human lives factories as “Serpent of smoke” that trapping workers in their monstrons grip.These serpents are metaphors for the unrelenting, consuming nature of industrial machinery, which, like a serpent, is insidious and harmful. Dickens' focus on the smoke "for ever and ever" conveys the inescapable, relentless oppression that industrialization imposes on both the landscape and the people who live within it.

“Black Canal” and “River purple with ill smelling dye” its highlights the environmental destruction that accompanies industrialization.

The town becomes a symbol of the dehumanizing effects of unchecked industrialization where the environment is sacrificed for economic gain.

Dickens’ portrayal of Coketown as a "living character" offers a powerful critique of the industrial revolution and its dehumanizing effects. He uses grotesque, almost monstrous imagery to illustrate the unnatural and damaging transformation of the town. The "unnatural red and black" colors evoke images of violence and darkness, suggesting a hellish environment born out of human greed and industrial exploitation. By comparing Coketown to "the painted face of a savage," Dickens is emphasizing its brutal, destructive nature, likening the town to something both dangerous and primitive, despite its association with progress.

“Coketown was a triumph of fact it had no taint of fancy in it.”

“Triumph of fact” refers to how the town is a product of utilitarianism philosophy promoted by characters like Thomas Gradgriend who values measurable tangible results over emotional or esthetic considerations.

"no taint of fancy in it" is significant, as it highlights the stark absence of anything whimsical, imaginative, or uplifting in the town’s environment. In Dickens’ view, this absence is not a triumph but a tragedy. By focusing solely on "fact" and practicality, the town has lost its soul, becoming a sterile, oppressive place where both nature and human spirit are sacrificed for industrial efficiency.

Coketown's lack of "fancy" also serves as a metaphor for the dehumanization of its inhabitants. The workers in Coketown are reduced to mere instruments of production, much like the machines they operate. Their lives, like the town, are devoid of joy, beauty, or emotional satisfaction. This reflects Dickens’ critique of the industrial revolution and its utilitarian approach to human life. By stripping away "fancy," the town stifles the human capacity for wonder, creativity, and emotional expression, leaving behind a population that is mentally and spiritually starved.

• Workers Dehumanized into “Hand”

As mechanical parts identifiable only by their bodily functions. Workers' individual identities and disregarded. And extend to children like child no.20 who taught only facts to prepare him for the mechanical workplace. 

• Utilitarian Philosophy Critique

Utilitarian privileges materials and economics calculations over imagination and compassion. Mr. Gradgrind demands pupils only deal with observable facts. Here, dickens implied imagination, creativity , and wonder distinguish human from machine.

References:- 

Dr.dilip barad. “hard times.” hard times : Charles Dickens.

“Hard Times by Charles Dickens | Summary, Characters & Analysis - Lesson.” Study.com, https://study.com/academy/lesson/hard-times-by-charles-dickens-summary-analysis-quiz.html . Accessed 8 November 2024.