. Hard Times In the novel Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, we can immediately see the problems that occurred in England around the times period of the mid 18 oo’s. Dickens shows us how the class system works and what the economy was then and what it would shape out to be. This novel is split into three books, the “Sowing”, “Reaping”, and “Garnering.” In the first book, we can see that it is aptly named because we begin to learn about who the characters are and what they are about.
The characters begin to “sow” or plant their identities, and we can now see the framework of the first book. In the second book, we can see that the characters are beginning to “reap” what sowed in the first book. They sowed seeds of unkindness, logic, fact, dishonesty, and discontent. For these, they reaped unhappiness, disillusionment and destruction, loneliness, and ostracism.
Each character reaped a harvest of his own making. In the third book, we see the characters picking up the pieces of what is left of their lives. Mr. Gradgrind, after realizing the failure of his system, tries to help his children, and finally starts to act as a concerned father. At the same time we can see Bounderby, who was found out to be a fraud is left alone without his reputation.
Each if the characters in the novel, sow, reap and garner what is left. During the time period that this novel was written the industrial revolution in England was occurring. The revolution created deplorable living conditions, and there was overcrowding in the cities because of a population shift from rural to urban areas. Also, during this time there was an increase in the number of immigrants, which resulted in the increase of diseases and hunger for many people in the laboring class. There was also unemployment. Due to this, arose the problem of child labor.
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Due to studies, the English Parliament tried to bring about reforms in working conditions to ease some of the poverty and other problems they were facing. They came up with the Health Act on 1802, the Reform Bill in 1832, and various other acts and bills. In 1834, they came up with the Poor Law, which provided for workhouses. The poor people, who were accustomed to living where they pleased, resented this law because it obliged them to live with there families in workhouses. The people who lived in these houses were dependent on the government and were subject to inhumane treatment from their cruel supervisors. We can see how Dickens ties this aspect of the revolution into his book in the chapter where Stephen Blackpool is introduced (Dickens, chapter).
Thomas Malthus and Adam Smith are two of the enlightened thinkers whose works and theories Dickens embraced in this novel. Thomas Robert Malthus wrote an essay on the effects of population and the food supply titled ‘An Essay on the Principle of Population.” Malthus believed that the evolution of mankind existed in cycles. Good times occurred when there were high wages and good living conditions, which led to early marriages and rapid population increase. Then come the bad times (Malthus 156).
In the novel this is shown when Bounderby marries Louisa.
This time seems really good for Bounderby; his business was doing well and his status as a prominent factory owner was still in tack. Disease, low wages, and epidemics lead to population decrease and a restored balance between population and resources. This cycle then repeats. He also felt that the Poor Laws, which attempted to support those whose incomes were too low to support themselves, were in the long run more harmful than helpful. This just leads to lower wages and families that can not support the children they already have bearing more. The ‘Father of Economics’ or Adam Smith, is the creator of ” An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, which examines the consequences of economic freedom.
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It could be due to lack of income or resources to buy goods and services or inability to access them. Thus poor people in the population are considered vulnerable as socioeconomic status is closely linked to a person’s health status. People who are poor or belong to low income group have difficulty in providing basic necessities of life e. g. food, clothing, and shelter for themselves and their ...
It also covered the role of self-interest; the division of labor, the theory being if everyone does what he or she does best, the society as a whole would become more productive; the function of markets; and the international implications of a laissez-faire economy (Smith, Book IV Chapter II).
Dickens also believes that the economic system of nineteenth century England was based on self- interest. We can see this in a conversation by Bitzer as he said, .” … the whole social class system is a question of self-interest” (Dickens 267).
Bitzer’s only incentive for wanting to turn in Tom Gradgrind, was to get a promotion in to his spot at the bank.
This was the way he was taught and this philosophy was thrown back into Gradgrind face. Throughout, the novel Hard Times, we can see how Dickens draws a resemblance to the works of Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus. We also learn his viewpoints on certain aspects of life. He makes a mockery of the Industrial revolution, by referring to it as the roaring furnace to Fairy Palaces and the factories to elephants from which belch forth the serpents of death-giving smoke (Dickens 60, 65).
We also learn, through the words of Blackpool, which he believes that the laws of England are unfair to the poor working man.
As seen when Blackpool tries to obtain a divorce from his wife. Dickens shows how the setting and time period, affects writing and philosophies. If the Industrial revolution had garnished different effects, would the theories of the enlightened thinkers be so widely followed? In this novel, Dickens expressed all of the problems he saw within England at the time, and used these scholars as his guide.
