Hard Times

Study Guide by Course Hero

of the narrator's familiarity with the characters and events. This

What's Inside narrative point of view also contrasts with the characters who,
for the most part, are detached from their feelings, thoughts,
and emotions and unable to communicate effectively.
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1
TENSE
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1 Hard Times is written in the past tense.

a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3 ABOUT THE TITLE

h Characters ................................................................................................... 5
k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 9
c Chapter Summaries .............................................................................. 16
The title Hard Times or the full title Hard Times for These
Times refers to the difficulties of life caused by industrialization
in England in the 19th century and by the constraints of rigid,
fact-based education that arose along with it in the attempt to
increase profits and control life and thought.

g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 40

l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 44
d In Context
m Themes ...................................................................................................... 45

b Motifs .......................................................................................................... 48
Industrial Revolution
e Suggested Reading ............................................................................. 49
The first wave of the Industrial Revolution in Britain took place
between 1760 and 1830 as technologies emerged to increase
production of goods and expanded trade increased demand.
j Book Basics These changes in the early decades of the 19th century
created a shift toward economies based on manufacturing and
AUTHOR urban living that redefined society first in England, as well as
Charles Dickens the United States and the rest of Europe, throughout the 19th
century and into the 20th. The cotton textile industry was one
YEAR PUBLISHED of the first to shift toward automation with the invention of
1854 machines such as the spinning jenny and the power loom in the
late 1700s. Powered by steam, these devices could produce
GENRE
far more fabric in far less time than a single spinner or weaver
Drama, Satire
could with a traditional wheel and loom. Therefore, cloth
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR production moved from homes or small workshops to
Hard Times is told in the third person by an omniscient narrator factories, prompting workers to migrate from rural areas to
who occasionally inserts a comment, sarcastic remark, or cities where factories were located, which greatly changed
opinion on the characters or the action, giving readers a sense English life at the time.
Hard Times Study Guide
While scholars define the Industrial Revolution as taking place
between 1760 and 1830, the decades that followed witnessed
an ongoing proliferation of factories in urban centers. Outside
London, especially in the north of England, small towns grew
as large numbers of people moved there to find work. Housing
was hastily, and often poorly, constructed to accommodate the
new residents. Additional factories were also built to produce
the machinery of manufacturing. Mines were expanded to
provide coal to power steam engines, which produced
tremendous amounts of smoke and coal dust. For example,
London became famous for its thick "fog" in the 19th century,
the result of industrial smoke mixing with natural moisture in
the air. At the time, no environmental attention was paid to the
conditions.
Hard Times addresses the social and political changes
associated with industrialization through the portrayal of
Coketown. (Its named in reference to coke, the residue left
from burning coal.) The conditions of this fictional industrial
city in England mirror those found in growing factory towns
such as Manchester, Sheffield, and Liverpool. The substandard
housing and the proliferation of smokestacks are presented in
detailed descriptions Hard Times.
Factory Conditions
Charles Dickens knew firsthand the working conditions in the
factories of industrial England from his time as a 12-year-old in
Warren's boot-blacking factory in London. His account of this
time describes the filthy floors, rotting staircases, constant
dampness, and swarms of rats. Child labor in factories was
common, as impoverished families needed all sources of
income in the changed society, and some children worked
because they had no families at all. Dickens's experience at
Warren's was unpleasant but less hazardous than the
experiences of young laborers who operated machines. Such
conditions eventually prompted Parliament to enact
regulations in 1833 to limit working hours and improve
conditions for children in factories. Nevertheless, for both
children and adults, hours remained long, pay low, food scarce,
and, despite some regulation, conditions dirty and often
unsafe. In Hard Times, Dickens combines his personal
experiences with political understanding to criticize the
conditions found in 19th-century factories throughout England
and Europe.
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In Context 2
Living Conditions
Life outside the factories was scarcely better than the
conditions within the factories. Accounts abound of
overcrowded and cramped living spaces, the result of low
wages and population shift from rural to urban areas. With lack
of sanitation a serious problem, outbreaks of disease were not
unusual, especially in manufacturing centers in northern
England—location of the fictional Coketown of Hard
Times—because they were farther away from the regulatory
eye of the government in London.
Philosopher Friedrich Engels, before writing The Communist
Manifesto in 1848 with fellow philosopher Karl Marx, published
an account of his observations of English factories in 1843. His
description of the city of Manchester includes the "irregular
cramming together of dwellings in ways which defy all rational
plan." One such cluster of dwellings is described surrounding
"a privy without a door, so dirty that the inhabitants can pass
into and out of the court only by passing through foul pools of
stagnant urine and excrement." The rest of his description of
Manchester contains similarly disturbing details of filth and
stench combined with unsafe and inadequate
accommodations. These conditions not only fed Engels's
radical political ideas, but they also led eventually, in the middle
of the century, to the formation of more moderate labor unions
that aimed to improve wages and conditions for the working
classes.
In Hard Times, Dickens provides less explicit descriptions of
the subpar living conditions factory workers inhabit, but he
does present characters such as poor factory worker Stephen
Blackpool who offer insight about the human consequences of
living in close proximity to such squalor and who make
impassioned pleas for improved conditions for himself and his
peers.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism at this time became a popular philosophical
school of thought among the educated classes. Developed by
political economist John Stuart Mill and social reformer Jeremy
Bentham, utilitarianism rested on the idea that self-interest
drives all human behavior, and one must evaluate actions by
their potential to create pleasure rather than pain to the
individual. Understanding the facts, rather than the emotional
Hard Times Study Guide
implications or imagined outcomes, of a given situation is
essential to such evaluation. On a larger moral scale, goodness
also can be evaluated according to the consequences of
actions and how much good or evil those consequences might
bring to how many people. In this way one can analyze and
quantify human behavior in ways that were very new compared
with philosophies of the past.
In Hard Times, the utilitarian model led Dickens to satirize and
exaggerate both Mr. Bounderby's and Mr. Gradgrind's strict
reliance on fact and reason to assess situations and make
decisions. Mr. Gradgrind, especially, must face the
consequences of such extreme pedagogy when he sees
emotional barrenness as its result—in Louisa's passivity and
inability to deal with emotion, in Tom's detached sense of
entitlement and rebellion against the lack of amusement, and in
Bitzer's uncompromising rigidity and soullessness in acting
only as he was trained to.
Divorce in 19th-Century
England
Before 1857 divorce was possible in England only by an act of
Parliament. As Mr. Bounderby tells Stephen Blackpool in Hard
Times, divorce involved petitioning lower courts as part of the
process of bringing the case before Parliament. Costs were
prohibitively high, so divorce was reserved for only the wealthy.
For the most part only men could seek a divorce and only on
the grounds of adultery. Wives could seek a divorce only if they
could prove adultery in addition to extreme cruelty, and if a
woman left her husband, she could be legally compelled to
return to him.
In 1857 Parliament passed the Matrimonial Causes Act, which
moved divorce hearings from Parliament to a special court.
This act may have marginally reduced the cost of divorce, but
little else changed. Adultery remained the only grounds for
divorce, but wives no longer had to prove life-threatening
cruelty as additional grounds. This meant many people living in
permanent conditions of unhappiness and estrangement had
no recourse.
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Author Biography 3
Satire
In an 1855 letter to his friend Charles Knight, publisher of
London's Penny Magazine, Dickens focused on the satiric
aspect of the recently published Hard Times, "My satire is
against those who see figures and averages, and nothing
else—the representatives of the wickedest and most enormous
vice of this time." As satire Hard Times uses exaggeration and
irony to illustrate and criticize serious social, political, and
economic problems during the years after industrialization had
taken a firm hold in society. Objects of Dickens's ridicule
include Coketown and the myths that govern life there. He also
pokes fun at Mr. Gradgrind's educational principles and their
implementation as well as the exaggerated characterization of
Josiah Bounderby—a man whose malice is cloaked by his
ridiculous persona. The juxtapositions of downtrodden factory
workers with joyful circus performers and oblivious upper
classes also become targets of Dickens's ridicule. Scholars
and critics also have recognized Hard Times as one of
Dickens's most scathing social commentaries, in which he
confronts the issues of working conditions associated with
industrialization, income inequality, frustrations of the working
classes, purposes and results of education, and environmental
damage.
a Author Biography
Impoverished Youth
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England,
on February 7, 1812, to Mary and John Dickens, a navy payroll
clerk. The family moved to London in 1822. Although John
Dickens had a well-paying job, he was a big spender, and the
family was often in financial difficulty. To contribute to the
family's income, Charles was taken out of school at age 12 and
sent to work in Warren's boot-blacking factory, where he
pasted labels on jars of blacking (shoe polish). Conditions in
the factory appalled the boy. It was full of rats; its wooden
floors and stairs were rotting; and the air smelled of the dirty
waters of the nearby Thames. Factory work paid too little to
help with the family's financial woes, and John Dickens was
soon imprisoned for debt in Marshalsea Prison in Southwark.
His family lost their home and, as was common at the time,
went to live with him at the prison. Charles, however, was sent
Hard Times Study Guide
to room with a family friend. Returning to school briefly,
Dickens left again at age 15 to take a job as a clerk in a law
office. After learning shorthand he found work as a law clerk
and then as a court and parliamentary reporter, later using his
knowledge of law and government in his fiction.
Dickens's experiences as a young boy trying to make his way
alone in London, his encounters with the harsh conditions of
factories and prisons, and his resentment of a system that kept
the poor in poverty came to inform many of his novels. Loss of
childhood innocence and exploitation of the vulnerable are two
themes inspired by Dickens's personal tribulations and
explored in his works, taking central roles in The Pickwick
Papers (1836), Oliver Twist (1837–39), Nicholas Nickleby
(1838), David Copperfield (1849–50), Hard Times (1854), and
Great Expectations (1860–61). Dickens's novels appeared first
in serial form in various London periodicals, usually with a
weekly or biweekly installment over the course of a year or
two. Completed novels were later published in single book
form. For example, Hard Times appeared in weekly
installments in magazines throughout 1854.
Literary Life
Dickens sold his first short story in 1833 to the Monthly
Magazine. The following year he began working for the
Morning Chronicle, writing stories under the name Boz. These
stories were published in the collection Sketches by Boz in
1836. In the same year, Dickens began editing for Bentley's
Miscellany. In this publication his first two novels, The Pickwick
Papers and Oliver Twist, appeared in serial form. He continued
working at an intense pace for several years. As his catalog of
novels grew, so did his popularity and his fortunes. By 1843,
when he published A Christmas Carol, the first and most
successful of his four "Christmas books," Dickens was already
a household name in London. Later in his career Dickens
founded and edited two successful weekly magazines,
Household Words (1850–59) and All the Year Round (1859–88).
These provided a platform for serializing several later novels,
including Bleak House (1852), Hard Times (1854), and A Tale of
Two Cities (1859).
In addition to writing, Dickens performed with an amateur
theatrical group and gave speeches in support of causes and
charities. With the financial help of Angela Burdett-Coutts, a
wealthy friend, Dickens set up a school for delinquent girls,
which he directed for more than 10 years. In 1858 Dickens
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Author Biography 4
began to give public readings of his novels, making use of his
acting experience. The readings were popular, and he
embarked on very popular speaking tours throughout England
and the United States (1867–68).
Marriage
In 1836 Dickens married Catherine Hogarth, with whom he had
10 children. In the early years of his marriage and career,
Dickens enjoyed fatherhood and domestic pursuits. His writing
earned him sufficient money to support his family and help
settle his parents' debts, but the marriage was ultimately
unhappy. The couple separated in 1858, a year after Dickens
fell in love with actress Ellen Ternan. Dickens seems to have
had a happy relationship with Ternan, but he treated Catherine
Dickens poorly. He even accused her of being mentally ill and
claimed she and their children were happier apart from one
another. One of his daughters later said Dickens ceased to
care about his children after the breakup with their mother.
In this way, Dickens's treatment of divorce in Hard Times
presents it as a natural solution to deeply unhappy marriages.
Stephen Blackpool seeks a divorce from his alcoholic and
abusive wife so he can marry a more agreeable woman. Louisa
Gradgrind leaves Mr. Bounderby after an emotional
breakdown. It is possible these scenes reflect Dickens's own
frustration at being trapped in his marriage, as an English
divorce before 1857 required Parliamentary approval and cost
a small fortune.
Lasting Legacy
Charles Dickens's novels remained highly popular throughout
his lifetime, but his popularity began to decline after his death.
Early 20th-century critics praised "serious" novels by
modernist authors such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf
and, by comparison, found Dickens's novels shallow and
carelessly constructed. The 1940s, however, saw a revival of
critical interest and appreciation for Dickens's ability to
combine compelling stories with significant social criticism.
The English writer and satirist George Orwell commented on
Dickens's work in 1940: "In Oliver Twist, Hard Times, Bleak
House, Little Dorrit, Dickens attacked English institutions with a
ferocity that has never since been approached. Yet he
managed to do it without making himself hated, and, more than
Hard Times Study Guide Characters 5

this, the very people he attacked have swallowed him so
completely that he has become a national institution himself."
Charles Dickens died from a stroke on June 9, 1870. By 1970,
the centenary of his death, Dickens's reputation in English
literature was largely on a par with William Shakespeare's.
and reason. When his favorite child, Louisa, reveals the
miseries of her own life and begs for his help, he feels
powerless to understand emotion and soon after abandons
pure reason for a more balanced approach to life.

Tom Gradgrind
h Characters Tom Gradgrind grows up feeling resentful of his father's
philosophies and hating his own work. Referred to as a whelp,
Tom is often irresponsible, entitled, selfish, disreputable, and

Louisa Gradgrind dishonest. As he rebels against the constraints of his

upbringing, Tom drinks heavily and incurs massive gambling
debts. When Louisa is no longer able to help him, he steals
As a child, Louisa Gradgrind absorbs her father's teachings
from the bank and attempts to frame Stephen Blackpool for
about the value of factual analysis and pure reason, rejecting
the crime. Tom's family helps him escape from England when
imagination and sentiment completely. At 20 she marries
the truth is known, but he comes to appreciate them only as he
Josiah Bounderby, a man 30 years older, because she believes
is dying alone abroad.
it matters little whom she marries and has no other prospects
at the time. When she meets and develops feelings for the
young teacher James Harthouse, she spins into a crisis of
conscience and must re-evaluate her understanding of herself
Sissy Jupe
and her world.
Sissy Jupe is the daughter of a horse-riding circus clown who
hopes his daughter will get an education and have a more

Mr. Bounderby stable life than he and the circus can provide. Sissy is a poor
student of Mr. Gradgrind's facts and reason-based curriculum,
but she possesses more nuanced wisdom in seeing at an early
Josiah Bounderby proudly, loudly, and frequently proclaims to
age that facts are not the only basis for knowledge. Sissy sees
have been born in a ditch, abandoned there by his mother, and
issues from a larger perspective and has the ability to
rescued by an abusive grandmother who raised him. He also
understand them from different angles. This kind of
claims to have ascended to his position of wealth and respect
understanding, combined with her kind heart, helps the
in Coketown by means of his own cunning and enterprise,
Gradgrinds in difficult times when facts do not.
overcoming abuse and hardship every step of the way. He
resents his workers, believing they feel entitled to what he calls
luxuries but in fact are basic necessities of life. After his
marriage collapses, the truth about his family—he was raised
Stephen Blackpool
by a loving, middle-class widowed mother—emerges, and his
Stephen Blackpool works in one of Mr. Bounderby's factories.
status diminishes.
He is married to an alcoholic who leaves home for long
stretches of time, returning when she is too sick to function on

Mr. Gradgrind
Thomas Gradgrind's intentions are good as he raises his
students and his children to embrace factual analysis and logic
to ensure their long-term success and prosperity. However, he
grows increasingly fond of his kindhearted and imaginative
ward, Sissy Jupe, despite her inadequacies as a student of fact
her own. Stephen would like to divorce her so he can marry
Rachael, the woman he loves, but divorce is not possible for
people with no money and influence. Instead he does his duty
and his work until his honesty and desire to avoid trouble anger
both the union organizer and his employer. He leaves town but
is forced to return to defend himself against false allegations
of bank robbery. On his return trip he falls into a disused coal
pit and dies of his injuries shortly after he is rescued.

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Hard Times Study Guide Characters 6

Mrs. Sparsit
Mrs. Sparsit was born and married within a higher class than
her occupation as Mr. Bounderby's housekeeper implies. She
takes this job after her husband dies but resents having to
leave the position when Mr. Bounderby marries, even though
he gives her a comfortable position at the bank. She plots
against Louisa and later accidentally exposes Mr. Bounderby's
fraudulent life story when she attempts to investigate the bank
robbery.

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Hard Times Study Guide Characters 7

Character Map

Mr. Bounderby
Bullying, rich banker;
factory owner; boasts Employer
Friends of humble origins Housekeeper

Mr. Gradgrind
Dedicated schoolmaster;
Mrs. Sparsit
Well-born lady turned
town leader; emphasizes
housekeeper; becomes
facts and reason Spouses bitter when threatened

Father

Enemy
Father

Louisa Gradgrind
Alienated, passive, young
Siblings woman; constrained by
limited education
Tom Gradgrind Stephen Blackpool
Sullen, dissolute, rebellious Unfortunate, industrious,
young man; resents honest worker; loses
upbringing job and life

Friends

Close
friends

Sissy Jupe Rachael

Guardian Employer
Warm-hearted, kind Kind, loving, hard-working
young woman; chooses Friends factory laborer; cannot
education over circus life marry man she loves

Main Character

Other Major Character

Minor Character

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Hard Times Study Guide
Full Character List
Character Description
Lousia Gradgrind is an obedient
and generally passive young
woman whose belief in, or refusal
Louisa Gradgrind to question, her father's philosophy
of pure reason leads her into a
loveless marriage and an eventual
mental breakdown.
Josiah Bounderby, a wealthy
factory owner and bank owner in
Mr. Bounderby Coketown, claims to have raised
himself from nothing to his current
position of power and influence.
Mr. Thomas Gradgrind is a
schoolmaster of some wealth who
believes the understanding of all
Mr. Gradgrind
facts and the application of pure
reason will result in a happy and
prosperous life.
The oldest Gradgrind child, Tom
Gradgrind, resents his limited
education and job at the bank. He
Tom Gradgrind
spends most of his adult life
expecting Louisa to bail him out of
the trouble he causes himself.
Abandoned for a good reason by
her father, a circus performer,
Sissy Jupe is taken into the
Sissy Jupe Gradgrind family to care for Mrs.
Gradgrind and attend school. The
Gradgrinds believe they have saved
Sissy, but she saves them as well.
A poor factory worker trapped in a
miserable marriage, Stephen
Stephen
Blackpool runs afoul of Mr.
Blackpool
Bounderby, is forced to leave town,
and is falsely accused of robbery.
Described as having a classical
face and heavy, dark eyebrows,
Mrs. Sparsit is Mr. Bounderby's
Mrs. Sparsit highly born housekeeper and
companion until he marries Louisa
Gradgrind, whom Mrs. Sparsit
resents for displacing her.
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Characters 8
An unpleasant schoolmate of Sissy
Jupe, Louisa, and Tom, Bitzer
learns facts well and grows up to
Bitzer
have ambitions at the bank,
exposing Tom in the hope of
obtaining his position.
Mrs. Blackpool is Stephen
Blackpool's alcoholic and abusive
Mrs. Blackpool wife, who leaves home for long
periods of time and returns only
when she is too ill to stay away.
An accomplished master of
Mr. E.W.B. horseback riding, Mr. E.W.B.
Childers Childers is a principal member of
Mr. Sleary's circus.
Emma Gordon is the pregnant
circus performer who comforts
Emma Gordon
Sissy Jupe when Sissy learns her
father has left her.
A timid supporter of her husband's
educational principles, Mrs.
Mrs. Gradgrind Gradgrind is Thomas Gradgrind's
sickly wife and mother of Louisa,
Tom, and their siblings.
Adam Smith Gradgrind is a younger
brother of Louisa and Tom, named
Adam Smith for the economist who endorsed
Gradgrind free-​enterprise capitalism, in which
markets are left essentially to
manage themselves.
Jane Gradgrind is the youngest
Gradgrind child who, under Sissy's
Jane Gradgrind influence, grows up softer and
more emotionally mature than
Louisa.
Malthus is the fourth Gradgrind
child, named for Thomas Malthus,
Malthus Gradgrind the philosopher who cautioned
against overpopulation and
believed poverty to be inescapable.
Treated as a single unit by Mr.
Bounderby and others, the Hands
Hands are the faceless masses of workers
who labor in the factories of
Coketown.
Hard Times Study Guide
James Harthouse is a wealthy
young man who comes to
Coketown to teach in Mr.
James Harthouse
Gradgrind's school and attempts to
seduce Louisa to relieve his
boredom with life.
Mr. Jupe, a horse-​riding circus
clown, abandons his daughter,
Sissy, so she might receive an
Mr. Jupe
education and live a better life, as
his health and ability to perform
begin to fail.
Master Kidderminster performs as
Master Cupid, among other roles, in the
Kidderminster circus acts and has a crush on
young Sissy Jupe.
Mr. M'Choakumchild is the teacher
Mr. who runs Mr. Gradgrind's school
M'Choakumchild with strict adherence to factual
information and reasoned thinking.
Merrylegs is Mr. Jupe's dog who, in
his own old age, returns to the
Merrylegs
circus looking for Sissy after his
master dies.
A mysterious woman who comes to
Coketown once a year and
watches Mr. Bounderby's home
Mrs. Pegler from afar, Mrs. Pegler is actually
Mr. Bounderby's hard-​working,
middle-​class mother, whom he has
treated poorly.
A longtime friend of Stephen
Blackpool and his wife, Rachael is
Rachael
the kind, devoted, generous woman
Stephen loves but cannot marry.
Lady Scadgers, who overeats, has
remained bedridden for 14 years,
and who arranged the Sparsits'
Lady Scadgers
marriage, is Mrs. Sparsit's only
relative; she and Mrs. Sparsit do
not get along well.
Slackbridge is a union organizer
who ostracizes Stephen Blackpool
Slackbridge from the Coketown workforce
when Stephen refuses to join the
union.
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Plot Summary 9
Kind-​hearted, asthmatic, lisping
owner of the circus, Mr. Sleary
offers Sissy Jupe an
Mr. Sleary
apprenticeship when her father
leaves; he later helps her save Tom
Gradgrind's life for a time.
Mr. Sleary's fair-​haired daughter
and rider in the circus, Josephine
Josephine Sleary
Sleary has ridden horses since she
was tied to one at two years of age.
Mr. Sparsit is Mrs. Sparsit's dead
husband, most notable because the
brief marriage left Mrs. Sparsit
Mr. Sparsit without money but with social
connections; 15 years her junior, he
lost his money by gambling and
drinking.
k Plot Summary
Book 1: Sowing
Thomas Gradgrind, one of the wealthy leaders of Coketown, a
fictional industrial city in northern England, runs a school where
curriculum is based entirely on factual knowledge. His oldest
children, Tom and Louisa, attend the school alongside children
of modest means, among whom are Sissy Jupe, a circus-
performer's daughter, who is not good with facts, and a boy
known as Bitzer, who is. The students spend their days being
drilled about facts and scolded if they express any evidence of
imagination.
One day Mr. Gradgrind catches Tom and Louisa peeping into
the circus tent, owned by Mr. Sleary, on their way home from
school. Their parents and their father's friend Mr. Josiah
Bounderby, a banker and factory owner, reprimand them for
wasting time on useless "fancy." Mr. Gradgrind and Mr.
Bounderby later find Sissy Jupe running through the streets,
trying to escape from Bitzer's taunts. When they escort her
back to the circus, they discover Sissy's father has abandoned
her in hope she will get an education and live a better life
without him and away from the circus. Mr. Sleary offers to let
Sissy stay with the circus, but Mr. Gradgrind agrees to take
charge of Sissy's schooling and allow her to live in his home
and assist his wife. Sissy goes with Mr. Gradgrind because she
Hard Times Study Guide
thinks her father wants her to go to school.
Sissy tries hard to learn at school but finds the emphasis on
facts difficult. Her answers to questions about facts and
figures are usually based on her own questions about the
people who are affected by those facts and figures. She
shares her insecurities with Louisa, who sympathizes and asks
Sissy about her father and the circus. The two develop a
friendly relationship, although Mr. Gradgrind does not fully
approve of it.
A factory worker, Stephen Blackpool, visits Mr. Bounderby to
obtain advice on how to divorce his wife, an alcoholic who is
usually absent but who wreaks havoc on the rare occasions
when she returns home. Mr. Bounderby and his housekeeper,
Mrs. Sparsit, are appalled by the suggestion of divorce and tell
Stephen he took his wife for better or worse, adding he cannot
afford a divorce anyway. Stephen is frustrated by this news
because he is in love with another worker, Rachael, and now
knows he will never be able to marry her. When he leaves Mr.
Bounderby's house, he meets a mysterious woman who asks
questions about Mr. Bounderby. When Stephen returns home,
he finds Rachael taking care of his incapacitated wife, making
his love for Rachael stronger and their impossible situation
more frustrating.
Years pass, and when Mr. Gradgrind advises Sissy to leave
school because she is a poor student, she agrees and
apologizes. However, Mr. Gradgrind praises her for her
goodness and wants her to remain in service to his family. Tom
Gradgrind takes an apprenticeship with Mr. Bounderby at the
bank and embraces his freedom. When Mr. Bounderby asks
Louisa to marry him, Tom pressures her to accept the proposal
to help smooth his indiscretions. Mr. Gradgrind advises Louisa
to approach the proposal rationally. Louisa accepts, but her
engagement and marriage cool her relationship with Sissy.
Book 2: Reaping
After Mr. Bounderby marries Louisa Gradgrind, he moves his
housekeeper, Mrs. Sparsit, to a position at the bank where she
lives, continues to receive a salary, and appears content. A new
teacher at the Gradgrind school—the spoiled, privileged, and
usually bored James Harthouse—develops a friendship with
Mr. Bounderby, Tom, and Louisa, to whom he is attracted. He
becomes close to Louisa by expressing interest in Tom's
situation after Tom informs him she never loved Mr. Bounderby
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Plot Summary 10
and married him out a sense of duty to her father and himself.
He spends time at the Bounderbys' home in Coketown and at
their newly purchased country estate.
In the meantime, the men at Mr. Bounderby's factory begin
organizing a union, which Stephen Blackpool refuses to join
because he has promised Rachael to stay out of trouble.
Although the union men allow Stephen to continue working,
they ostracize him. Looking for information about the union, Mr.
Bounderby summons Stephen, but Stephen tells him little
about the meeting. He does, however, tell Mr. Bounderby he
doesn't think the union can solve the deep-rooted problems of
poverty and the harsh conditions in the factories, nor does he
think factory owners care about their workers. Mr. Bounderby
is furious and fires Stephen on the spot.
Stephen encounters Rachael and the mysterious old woman,
Mrs. Pegler, after his meeting with Mr. Bounderby and invites
them to his home for tea. Louisa and Tom visit Stephen at
home to express their sympathies. Louisa offers him some
money, but he accepts only two pounds as a loan for travel
expenses. With the pretense of being helpful, Tom, who has
excessive and pressing gambling debts, tells Stephen to wait
outside the bank for a few nights during the week to see if Tom
has any leads on work for him. When the week ends with no
leads, Stephen Blackpool leaves Coketown to find work
elsewhere.
Shortly after Stephen leaves, the bank is robbed. Mr.
Bounderby immediately suspects Stephen because of their
quarrels and because Stephen was spotted loitering around
the bank. Louisa vaguely suspects Tom might be behind the
robbery, but Tom and James Harthouse convince her Stephen
is probably guilty. She and James Harthouse become closer as
both are concerned for Tom, and James Harthouse insinuates
himself more into Louisa's life. To calm her nerves, Mrs. Sparsit
comes to stay at the Bounderbys' country house after the
robbery and observes Louisa and James Harthouse together.
She begins to hope for Louisa's downfall and in private
expresses contempt for Louisa and for Mr. Bounderby.
Mrs. Sparsit gets her wish when Mr. Bounderby is called away
one weekend on business. She hurries to the country house to
spy on Louisa who should be there alone. She spots Louisa
and James Harthouse talking in the garden. Seeing Louisa
leave the house shortly after Harthouse departs, Mrs. Sparsit
follows Louisa on a train back to Coketown. Losing sight of
Louisa after they leave the train station, she remains unaware
Hard Times Study Guide Plot Summary 11

Louisa is not meeting Harthouse but is going to her father's walking down a street in Coketown.
house to confess the near-affair and beg her father to help her
because her education never taught her how to experience Sissy and Rachael search for Stephen and find he has fallen

emotions properly. In the midst of a breakdown, Louisa falls to into a coal pit while walking back to Coketown to defend

Mr. Gradgrind's feet. Her father is at a loss as to what to do. himself. A large rescue effort mounts, and Stephen is pulled
from the pit. Badly hurt, he is able to tell the world he is
innocent and bid Rachael a sad goodbye before he succumbs

Book 3: Garnering
Louisa recovers from her breakdown in her childhood
bedroom. She and Sissy resume their friendly, even sisterly,
relationship. Mr. Gradgrind apologizes for his role in Louisa's
education and begins to question his philosophy that values
facts over all else. Sissy goes to James Harthouse and quietly
but firmly convinces him he must leave town to mitigate the
damage he has caused. He is embarrassed about taking
orders from Sissy but complies nonetheless. Mrs. Sparsit goes
to London to inform Mr. Bounderby about his wife's activities.
Mr. Bounderby rushes back to Coketown and confronts Mr.
Gradgrind. He learns Louisa did not actually have an affair, but
he still demands she get over her emotional problems and
come home right away. Louisa does not return, and the
marriage effectively ends.
Stephen's presumed guilt in the bank robbery becomes a
common assumption throughout the city. Rachael writes to
urge him to return to Coketown and defend himself, but he
neither replies nor returns. Messengers sent to his new
address fail to find him, and Rachael and Sissy worry
something has happened to him. They do not rule out foul play
and agree to search for him if he does not respond within one
more day.
to his injuries and dies. Tom realizes his role in the robbery is
about to be exposed, so he escapes to Mr. Sleary's circus on
Sissy's advice.
The Gradgrinds and Sissy catch up with Tom and the circus.
Sissy and the performers enjoy a reunion, and Mr. Sleary
agrees to help the family get Tom to a ship that will take him
abroad. Bitzer has followed the family, though, and plans to
take Tom back to Mr. Bounderby in exchange for a promotion.
Mr. Sleary and the performers subdue Bitzer and help Tom
escape. Then Mr. Sleary tells Mr. Gradgrind he believes Sissy's
father has died because his old dog returned to the circus
looking for Sissy before the dog also died. Mr. Sleary and Mr.
Gradgrind agree to spare Sissy this news.
Mr. Gradgrind's change of philosophy, from facts to emotion,
costs him his seat in Parliament, but he does not seem to mind.
Tom forgives Louisa and tries to return to see her but gets sick
and dies during the journey. Louisa does not remarry, but she
is beloved by Sissy's children and devotes her life to promoting
happiness and imagination among the people of Coketown.

Meanwhile Mrs. Sparsit arrives triumphantly at Mr. Bounderby's

house having nabbed Stephen's suspected accomplice, Mrs.
Pegler. However, rather than showing gratitude or
appreciation, Mr. Bounderby is furious. Mrs. Pegler's presence
exposes his lifelong stories about being abandoned by his
mother as an infant and making himself successful after years
of abuse and neglect as a fraud. Mrs. Pegler is in fact Mr.
Bounderby's mother, and she tells Mr. Gradgrind and others in
Mr. Bounderby's house about how hard she worked to ensure
her son got all the advantages possible. She is offended they
would accuse her of being a bad mother when her son is right
there to refute the claim—a claim he himself initiated with years
of boasting about being entirely self-made. The episode ruins
Mr. Bounderby and Mrs. Sparsit's relationship. They quarrel,
and he fires her from her post. Five years later he dies while

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Hard Times Study Guide Plot Summary 12

Plot Diagram

Climax

11

10
12
9
Falling Action

Rising Action 8
13
7

6 14
5
15
4
Resolution
3

2
1

Introduction

9. Mrs. Gradgrind dies.

Introduction
10. Mrs. Sparsit plots and spies on Louisa.

1. Mr. Gradgrind outlines his pedagogy: nothing but facts.

Climax

Rising Action 11. Louisa has a crisis when Harthouse professes his love.

2. The Gradgrinds take in Sissy Jupe after her father leaves.

3. Stephen Blackpool learns he can't divorce his wife.

Falling Action
4. Tom Gradgrind goes to work at the bank.
12. Mr. Bounderby and Louisa's marriage ends.
5. Louisa Gradgrind marries Mr. Bounderby.
13. Stephen is rescued from a coal pit and dies soon after.
6. James Harthouse arrives and decides to seduce Louisa.
14. Sissy helps Tom escape after he is revealed as the robber.
7. Mr. Bounderby fires Stephen for refusing to be an informant.

8. Mr. Bounderby accuses Stephen of robbing the bank.

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Hard Times Study Guide Plot Summary 13

Resolution

15. Louisa and Sissy settle into relatively contented lives.

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Hard Times Study Guide Plot Summary 14

Timeline of Events

Mid-19th century

Mr. Gradgrind instructs his schoolmasters to teach only

facts, nothing imaginative.

Few days later

Mr. Gradgrind takes charge of Sissy Jupe's schooling

after her father abandons her.

Several months later

Sissy Jupe laments her difficulties at school and tells

Louisa about life with the circus.

Several months later

Stephen Blackpool asks Mr. Bounderby how he can

divorce his alcoholic wife and learns he can't.

Several years later

Louisa agrees to marry Mr. Bounderby so she can help

her brother Tom, who works in the bank.

Following summer

Mrs. Sparsit, no longer Mr. Bounderby's housekeeper

after he marries, settles into life at the bank.

Few weeks later

James Harthouse takes a teaching job at Mr. Gradgrind's

school and decides to seduce Louisa.

Few weeks later

Mr. Bounderby fires Stephen Blackpool for refusing to

inform on union organizers.

Few days later

The bank is robbed, and Mr. Bounderby suspects

Stephen Blackpool, who has left town.

Few days later

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Hard Times Study Guide Plot Summary 15

Louisa visits her dying mother who tells her Mr.

Gradgrind's philosophy is missing something.

Next few weeks

Jealous of Louisa, Mrs. Sparsit plots to catch her

behaving questionably with James Harthouse.

Weeks later

James Harthouse, declaring his love for Louisa,

precipitates Louisa's emotional breakdown.

Same night

Having fled from James Harthouse's attempted

seduction, Louisa goes to her father for help.

Next morning

With Louisa in crisis, Sissy intervenes and convinces

James Harthouse to leave town.

That afternoon

Mr. Bounderby declares if Louisa does not return home

immediately, the marriage is over.

Few days or weeks later

Rachael writes Stephen to ask him to return and defend

himself against robbery charges.

Few days later

When Stephen does not return, Rachael and Sissy look

for him and find him fallen into a coal pit.

That night

Rescued but dying, Stephen declares his innocence and

says goodbye to Rachael before he dies.

That night and next day

Tom Gradgrind, the real robber, hides with the circus and
escapes abroad before Bitzer catches him.

Five years later

Louisa, now widowed, never remarries, does good works,

and is loved by Sissy's children.

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Hard Times Study Guide
c Chapter Summaries
Book 1, Chapter 1
Summary
A man makes a speech in a classroom. He demands the
teaching and learning of "nothing but Facts," as facts are the
only useful way to create rational minds. The man is not yet
named in this scene, but his physical appearance underscores
his demand for facts, with a "square forefinger" pointing,
"square wall of a forehead," and "square coat, square legs, and
square shoulders." His head is bald and knobby, ringed with
bristles of hair, and his commanding voice projects from a thin
"hard set" mouth. The schoolmaster and the other adults, along
with the students, back slightly away from his authoritative
presentation in the large, bare schoolroom.
Analysis
None of the adults in the room are named in the opening
chapter, with Thomas Gradgrind, the speaker, identified in the
first line of Chapter 2. The anonymity of the speaker when he
is introduced allows his demand for facts to stand on its own.
His appearance also stands on its own, and the repeated use
of the word square to describe his stature and face
emphasizes his rigidity, his conventionality. In modern terms he
is not just thinking inside the box, he is the box in a very literal
sense as well as in the way he circumscribes and constrains
the thinking of all those around him to seek and use only facts.
As readers will discover, this limited view of education will turn
out not to be the only education needed for a person's life, as
living demands the ability to deal with emotional situations as
well.
Book 1, Chapter 2
Summary
Mr. Gradgrind thinks of himself as a purely rational man
Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc.
Chapter Summaries 16
oriented to the value of facts. When interacting with Sissy
Jupe, first identified as "Girl number twenty," he scolds her for
calling herself Sissy—and scolds her father for using a
nickname instead of her given name, Cecilia. When Mr.
Gradgrind learns her father works for the circus, he tells her to
describe him as a horsebreaker, adding, "You mustn't tell us
about the ring, here." He then tells her to call her father a
veterinary surgeon because he treats the horses when they
are sick. He further scolds her when she is unable to "define a
horse" when asked to do so. Bitzer, however, a fact-oriented
classmate does provide a definition of a horse: "Quadruped.
Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders, four
eye-teeth, and twelve incisive. Sheds coat in the spring; in
marshy countries sheds hoofs too. Hoofs hard, but requiring to
be shod with iron. Age known by marks in mouth."
After this session, an unnamed "government officer" explains
to the students why a room should not be decorated with
pictures of horses; horses do not walk "up and down the sides
of rooms in reality." He goes on to explain flowers should not
appear on carpets because they do not grow on floors. Sissy
Jupe, who cannot see the reasons for such attitudes, tries to
argue she likes flowers, but the adults scold her for being
prone to "fancy" for wanting flowered carpet or birds on her
dishes. The gentleman then turns over the lesson to Mr.
M'Choakumchild, the schoolmaster highly educated in all forms
of facts that he begins conveying to the students.
Analysis
For a man so concerned with facts, Mr. Gradgrind plays
somewhat fast and loose with the facts of Sissy's life story.
Wanting to downplay the fanciful nature of Mr. Jupe's work as
a circus performer, he is willing to characterize him as a
veterinary surgeon rather than a performer in a horse-riding
show. The reference to Sissy as "girl number twenty" and his
desire to use the formal version of her name instead of the
name she prefers also shows how impersonal and detached
from humanity the educational process in the school is, and
how injurious to the children.
For all the emphasis on factual matters in the school's
curriculum, Bitzer's definition of a horse is formalized to the
point of being meaningless. He rattles off a number of facts
about horses, showing an impressive vocabulary, but the
definition neither offers practical knowledge about horses nor
describes what they actually look like. He does not explain how
Hard Times Study Guide
horses are trained or what makes them useful—information
almost certainly at Sissy's disposal from her direct contact and
experience with horses. Bitzer offers facts, but they are devoid
of the context that would make them beneficial to someone
who wants to know about horses as living creatures that are
important to people in their daily lives.
The extreme nature of this educational approach culminates in
the government officer's speech about eliminating
representations of horses, flowers, or anything else that might
be used as ornament. His explanation, that horses don't walk
on walls and birds don't sit on dishes in fact, presumes an
almost comic level of ignorance on the part of people who
want decorative touches. The purpose of his speech is to
eliminate any sign of fancy or unreality from one's
surroundings, but it also presumes people are somehow unable
to distinguish between representations and reality, and that it
is better to live without beauty or taste or decoration since
these all cost something.
Book 1, Chapter 3
Summary
As Mr. Gradgrind walks home from the school, he reflects on
his role as a parent, feeling confident he is bringing up his
children to be creatures of pure reason. As he passes the tent
of the visiting circus, he sees the bill advertising Mr. Jupe and
his performing dog, Merrylegs, among other acts. Dismissing
the noise and festivity of the performance, he is then shocked
and appalled to find two of his own children, Tom and Louisa,
peeping into the tent to see the horse-riding act in progress.
Mr. Gradgrind scolds them harshly, and Louisa confesses the
peeking was her idea. Mr. Gradgrind refuses to hear any
further explanations and escorts the children home.
Analysis
Mr. Gradgrind's strict adherence to fact and his desire to
protect his children from exposure to any entertainment or
other activity based on imagination appears overly harsh and
indeed exaggerated. His children are not allowed to be
children. At the same time, his objection to the circus at least
makes some sense in comparison with the previous chapter's
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Chapter Summaries 17
embargo on pictures of horses and decorative flowers in the
wrong places. It is possible that exposure to the circus might
prove too distracting to the children, but this interpretation of
Mr. Gradgrind's objections may be generous. He objects to
entertainment, period, for it costs and has no practical
application.
In addition, when Louisa says she is tired of everything, her
father dismisses the comment as childish, particularly because
she cannot explain what exactly she is tired of. The implication,
of course, is she is tired of the rigid, one-dimensional education
she has been receiving and the amusement-free life she has
been living, but these subjects are not to be discussed. Rather
she is shamed into silence, and readers may infer such
repressed emotion will eventually cause problems more
serious than a thwarted peek into a circus tent.
Book 1, Chapter 4
Summary
Mr. Bounderby is a local "banker, merchant, manufacturer, and
what not." A large, rotund man with a loud voice, who can
"never sufficiently vaunt himself a self-made man," Mr.
Bounderby tells the Gradgrinds, not for the first time, how he
was born in a ditch and suffered from inflammation of the
lungs. Because his mother abandoned him, his grandmother
took him in but kept him in an egg box and abused him. He
went on to be a "vagabond" and held a series of odd jobs.
Sickly, "ragged and dirty" throughout his youth, he taught
himself to read from shop signs and claims to have overcome
these adversities though sheer determination.
Mr. Bounderby is shocked to learn Tom and Louisa were
peeping at the circus, as is their mother. Both adults scold the
children, even as the children protest they only wanted a break
from their lives of constant study. When the matter is
settled—the children will engage in no further foolishness—Mr.
Bounderby kisses Louisa on the cheek and leaves for his own
home. She dislikes this intensely and spends five minutes
rubbing the spot on her cheek with a handkerchief.
When trying to figure out what attracted Tom and Louisa to the
circus, Mr. Bounderby recalls that the child of a circus
performer attends Mr. Gradgrind's school. Appalled by the
dangers of exposure to such influences, and at his suggestion,
Hard Times Study Guide
both he and Mr. Gradgrind get ready to "turn this girl to the
right about."
Analysis
Mr. Bounderby is something of a paradox. His self-deprecating
remarks, such as his description of himself as a youthful ne'er-
do-well, are actually designed as boasts about his current
status, which is one of wealth and influence in Coketown. He
tells these stories and repeats them throughout the novel as
an illustration of his own bravery, grit, and self-reliance. The
narrator's tone when describing him veers into the sarcastic,
as Mr. Bounderby is painted as larger than life, both literally
and figuratively. He is called a "bully of humility," in that his
bragging pushes humility to the side and indicates how he uses
this falsely to bully other people into admiring him. In his
exaggerated, bloated persona, Mr. Bounderby illustrates the
worst traits ascribed to factory owners. He is self-absorbed to
the point of lacking any ability to empathize with others, and his
portrayal of himself as a self-made man illustrates his belief
that if he can rise from such terrible beginnings, everyone has
the potential to attain wealth and better their situations. The
fact that workers do not better their own lives tells Mr.
Bounderby that they lack the determination and work ethic to
do so, which enables him to dismiss his workers as lazy and
undeserving of any sort of improvements he might provide for
their working or living conditions.
Louisa's response to Mr. Bounderby's kiss takes on additional
significance when viewed through the lens of her eventual
marriage to him. This moment reveals Mr. Bounderby's special
affection for Louisa that appears only fatherly at this point.
Indeed, later in their marriage he continues to treat her more
like his child than his wife. Her reaction also reveals how she
has always found him repellent, to the point that she would
rather rub a hole in her face than retain on her person any
evidence of contact with him.
As for the Gradgrind family, Mrs. Gradgrind is revealed as a
timid echo of her husband. Jane, the youngest, has shown
herself literally bored to tears. Most revealing, however, are
Tom and Louisa. Tom is sulking, feeling vengeful; Louisa seems
devoid of feeling, passive. As chapters end with cliffhangers,
these emotional responses become more significant as the
story progresses.
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Chapter Summaries 18
Book 1, Chapter 5
Summary
Coketown is built of red brick covered and streaked with black
ash from the factory smokestacks. The city's canal runs black,
and the river runs purple from textile dyes. The other city
buildings are interchangeable: "The jail might have been the
infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail, the town hall
might have been either, or both ..." There are 18 churches, none
well attended by the workers. Various societies and authorities
criticize the workers for vices ranging from drunkenness to
opium use, and everything else. The wealthy assume "these
same people [are] a bad lot altogether" and that they live upon
the best ... and yet were eternally dissatisfied and
unmanageable."
Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby set out through the city and
meet Sissy Jupe running through the street. They scold her for
impropriety, and she says she is running from Bitzer who is
chasing her. He mocks her for being "a horse-rider." The men
send Bitzer home and escort Sissy—who is taking medicine to
her father—back to the circus.
Analysis
The grim environment of Coketown and the anonymous nature
of its buildings reflect the oppression experienced by
Coketown's working residents. The description of the extreme
pollution highlights the dangers of this environment. The
wealthier classes and middle classes look down on the poor
and presume the worst of the factory workers, known as the
Hands. They also make inaccurate assumptions about the
living conditions these Hands experience. The prevailing
opinion is that workers have access to the best food and
resources; however, the opposite is true, for the workers have
access to very little. Therefore, the upper classes do not
understand why the workers feel dissatisfied. Their
misunderstanding is based on an initially faulty premise, or
prejudiced assumption.
Yet for themselves, the upper classes, and those who aspire to
join them, are concerned with appearances. Mr. Gradgrind and
Mr. Bounderby admonish Sissy Jupe for running in the street,
for behaving as children behave, because such behavior is
Hard Times Study Guide
inappropriate and looks bad. She is running from a young boy
whose own economic status is not high, but he can elevate it
by putting her down as a mere horse-rider. Bitzer has no
regard for the skill and training horsemanship requires
because the profession carries little status in this society.
Readers may recall Bitzer knows the exact factual definition of
a horse; here once again his limited perspective shows itself
very negatively.
Book 1, Chapter 6
Summary
The circus is lodging at a public house called the Pegasus's
Arms. Mr. Bounderby and Mr. Gradgrind meet with two
performers, Mr. E.W.B. Childers and Master Kidderminster,
while Sissy searches for her father. The performers, especially
Kidderminster, are annoyed by Mr. Bounderby's bluster. Mr.
Childers explains that Mr. Jupe's recent performances have
gone badly. In fact, he and his dog, Merrylegs, have left the
circus and Sissy behind. Mr. Childers defends Mr. Jupe, saying
he loves Sissy and wants her to be educated so she can have a
better life and, therefore, has left her for her own good.
Mr. Gradgrind consults the circus owner, Mr. Sleary, about
what is best for Sissy, and is very concerned to learn her father
has gone. Mr. Sleary offers to apprentice her to one of the
riders, assuring her they will care for her as one of their own.
Mr. Gradgrind offers to take Sissy into his home to care for his
wife and to be educated, on the condition she never speak of
the circus again. Sissy believes her father wants her to go to
school, so she decides to go with Mr. Gradgrind and bids a
tearful farewell to the whole attentive and caring circus.
Analysis
The name of the public house reflects two important features
of the circus company. Pegasus, a winged horse in Greek
mythology, is a creature born of imagination and fancy;
nonexistent in reality, it is the kind of creature of which Mr.
Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby are disposed to disapprove.
However, the public house could have been named for any
mythical creature and attained the same effect. Yet for a
circus troupe that makes its name and living from its skill and
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Chapter Summaries 19
prowess with horse riding, the sign of Pegasus elevates the
troupe's work to legendary status, glorifying the horses the
men and women ride and perform with. The names of the two
performers, Kidderminster and Childers, contain references to
childhood, associating them with innocence, goodness, and a
childlike imagination.
While Mr. Bounderby and Mr. Gradgrind look down on the
performers, the performers look down on Mr. Bounderby, who
as usual is full of himself. Master Kidderminster is openly
dismissive of Mr. Bounderby's bluster. Mr. Childers is subtler
but also more vicious in his dismissal of Mr. Bounderby; he is
not astonished to hear Mr. Bounderby's mother left him,
implying he is so obnoxious even his own mother couldn't bear
to be around him.
Mr. Sleary and the others reveal the second feature of the
company—the paradox of familial love—when they defend Mr.
Jupe's decision to leave his daughter. Mr. Bounderby judges
Mr. Jupe's decision harshly, but he has no children. Mr.
Gradgrind, on the other hand, does have children and offers no
direct comment or judgment on Mr. Jupe's course of action. He
likely disapproves, but he also may understand the parental
drive to sacrifice for a child's interests and admire Mr. Jupe's
high regard for education, which might be equal to his own. He
is moved enough by Mr. Jupe's desire that he offers her a
place in his own home and school, even though he originally
had intended to encourage her to leave.
Book 1, Chapter 7
Summary
Mr. Bounderby's housekeeper, Mrs. Sparsit, originates from an
upper-class family and married an upper-class man 15 years
younger than she. He is "a Powler," an old, aristocratic family,
with any number of disreputable members. After a separation
immediately following the honeymoon and her husband's early
death only a few years later, she came to work for Mr.
Bounderby because she was feuding with her relative, Lady
Scadgers, and because her husband left her with no money.
Mr. Bounderby likes to brag about Mrs. Sparsit's lofty origins
and insists she be treated as a "highly connected lady." He
scolds Sissy Jupe harshly for forgetting to curtsey to Mrs.
Sparsit when the child arrives at his home for temporary
Hard Times Study Guide Chapter Summaries 20

accommodations. Mr. Gradgrind says it was an oversight, but because, as much as he may love his children, he does not
Mr. Bounderby says he does not allow oversights toward Mrs. express that love by engaging in similar childhood activities,
Sparsit. such as reading fairy tales, imagining, and playing with them.

Mr. Gradgrind interviews Sissy about her reading habits and is

disappointed to learn of her reading fairy tales with her father.
Mr. Bounderby restates his disapproval of Sissy and his belief
Book 1, Chapter 8
nothing good will come of her presence in the Gradgrind home.

Summary
Analysis
A defining event of Louisa's life occurs when she is very young

Often Mr. Bounderby's meaning is the opposite of what he and begins a conversation with her brother by saying, "Tom, I

says. Mr. Bounderby's reverence for Mrs. Sparsit's status as a wonder—." Mr. Gradgrind overhears her and says, "Louisa,

lady of high status is not the high praise it appears to be. In never wonder." The uselessness of wondering is a point of

truth Mr. Bounderby enjoys reminding people of Mrs. Sparsit's agreement for all logical thinkers. Mr. Gradgrind worries that

lofty origins because her current status as his housekeeper Coketown workers are too prone to wondering as well. He

shows how far she has come down in the world and at the worries they read too many novels from the public library and

same time builds his own status to have a high-born lady as his not enough books about mathematics.

employee. He outranks her in his own home, establishing his

Tom and Louisa have a long talk in which Tom tells Louisa how
superiority over her. Her decline thus balances his rise from
much he hates his life and hates everyone but her. He hates his
humble origins. It is unclear at this point whether Mrs. Sparsit is
studies and hates having so little pleasure. He plans to make
aware of the real intent behind this reverence, but the narrator
up for lost time when he is apprenticed to Mr. Bounderby and
makes it clear to readers when he compares Mr. Bounderby to
counts on Bounderby's affection for Louisa to smooth his way.
a Roman conqueror and Mrs. Sparsit to his spoils of war. When
Louisa, too, bemoans her situation, unhappy she does not
Mr. Bounderby scolds Sissy Jupe for failing to curtsey to Mrs.
know what other young women do—how to amuse and
Sparsit, he says he does not care if she shows him respect, but
entertain others, indeed how to interact socially. Mrs.
he insists on her showing it to Mrs. Sparsit. In fact, he does
Gradgrind overhears Louisa speculating about their future as
care about Sissy showing him respect because respect for
adults and scolds her for "wondering" again.
Mrs. Sparsit and respect for Mr. Bounderby are one in the
same in his mind. Mr. Bounderby's exaggerated deference to
Mrs. Sparsit as he scolds Sissy reveals his tendency to use
Analysis
false humility to berate and bully those beneath him as well as
those who outrank him.
The pedagogical disapproval of wondering fits with Mr.
Gradgrind's disapproval of fancy and imagination in all its
Mr. Gradgrind's disappointment in Sissy Jupe's reading
forms. Wondering leads to imagining. Wondering is not fact
experience shows his rejection of all that is fanciful and
based. It is actually an absence of fact because it's based on
imaginative. He does not focus on the positive element in her
suppositions, not facts, and one cannot wonder about an
revelations of reading with her father, namely she is a
actual fact. At the same time, some situations, by design, are
proficient reader. Instead he focuses on the content of this
not based in fact. Speculating about one's future is one of
reading, which he regards as useless because fairy tales are
those situations, and it is important for children to speculate
removed from fact. These experiences of reading with her
about their futures to set goals and aspirations for themselves.
father represent the close family bond Sissy shares with Mr.
Facts can play a role in such speculations, of course. It is
Jupe, and Mr. Gradgrind's rejection of this bond as overly
realistic for children to wonder if they will grow up to be
sentimental is implied in his disapproval as well as his
bankers, or doctors, or teachers. Conversely, it is not realistic
previously stated condition that Sissy never speak of her time
for children to wonder if they will grow up to be firetrucks, and
with the circus. Mr. Gradgrind is unable to understand the
they need to make that distinction. Mr. Gradgrind does not
importance of such a bond between Sissy and her father

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Hard Times Study Guide
make it. He actively discourages any such thinking, and in later
chapters both Tom and Louisa emerge as somewhat aimless
adults without clear goals or desires for their own betterment.
This chapter in fact foreshadows their futures. Tom can think
only of enjoying himself as he makes up for lost time. He will
engage in such extreme rebellion that he will pile up debts and
commit a crime to cover them. Louisa, ever passive and
alienated, will adopt the attitude that nothing she does matters.
When Louisa contemplates the fire and Tom asks if she sees
the circus in it, Dickens is using the circus image to symbolize
imagination and art In this chapter a sense of wonder
coincides with Louisa's wondering, and with her mother's
admonition against it. It is evident that Mr. Gradgrind's
philosophy actually defeats its own purpose, to allow his
children to grow into productive members of society. The
distinction is important for the entire novel.
Book 1, Chapter 9
Summary
Sissy complains to Louisa about how poorly she is doing in
school and about her mistakes when Mr. M'Choakumchild asks
her questions. When he asks Sissy how a number can indicate
whether a country is prosperous, Sissy says she can't say if
she doesn't know who has the money and if any of it is hers.
When he asks her to comment on a rate of 25 people out of a
million dying of starvation, she says it must be very hard on the
people who starve "whether the others are a million or a million
million." When asked to calculate a percentage of people killed
in sea voyages, Sissy says the percentage is nothing to the
friends and family of the people who are killed.
Louisa agrees these answers are factually incorrect, but she is
sympathetic. She asks Sissy about her father and the circus,
assuring Sissy that she won't tell anyone. Sissy is still afraid to
answer but reveals her father was a clown, frustrated when his
performances started going wrong. Shortly before he left, he
lost his temper and severely beat the dog, Merrylegs. Then she
tells of how her father sent her out to buy a bottle of nine oils
to soothe his aching joints and how he was gone when she
returned. She has kept the bottle of oils because she is
convinced he will return. After this conversation Louisa notices
when Sissy asks Mr. Gradgrind if he has received any letters
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Chapter Summaries 21
about her father, and Louisa secretly shares in Sissy's
disappointment when none arrive.
Analysis
Mr. M'Choakumchild's name follows a pattern, common in
Dickens's work, of using names that describe characters'
personalities in some way. The words in this name are choke
and child, an ominous implication in the name for a
schoolmaster. He does not, of course, actually choke children,
but the name does reflect the restrictive nature of his
approach to teaching. Although he literally does not choke the
air out of children, he does indeed choke creative thinking out
of them, as readers can see in his interactions with Sissy Jupe.
Sissy believes she is stupid because she never gives Mr.
M'Choakumchild the answers he wants. In fact, however, her
answers reveal a far greater understanding of the world, an
understanding lacking in Mr. M'Choakumchild and others who
think as he does. Sissy is able to comprehend instinctively that
the facts and figures Mr. M'Choakumchild demands she know
have meaning and implications at the human level. She knows
human tragedy cannot be measured by the numbers of people
who survive in comparison with those who do not. The wealth
of a nation means little to Sissy if only a handful of people
control that wealth. She understands the big picture. Louisa, on
the other hand, has absorbed Mr. M'Choakumchild's teachings
completely, so she is unable to see the validity of Sissy's
assessments.
In the long run, as the chapters in Book 3 will reveal, Sissy's
education appears incomplete now but will enable her to deal
with crises in an infinitely more practical yet human way than
Louisa or her father.
Book 1, Chapter 10
Summary
Stephen Blackpool, a worker in Mr. Bounderby's factory, is 40
years old, but his years of labor have given him an appearance
that has earned him the nickname Old Stephen, from his
stooping posture and grey, thinning hair. He has no special
knowledge, but he is "a good power-loom weaver," known for
his honor and integrity.
Hard Times Study Guide
Stephen meets his friend Rachael after a day's work, and they
chat about aging and his belief that life in the factory is "a
muddle." When he gets home, he sees his wife has returned
after a long absence. She is violently drunk, barely able to sit
up in her chair. She mocks him for being surprised by her
presence. She passes out on the bed, saying, "'Tis mine and
I've a right to 't!'" Stephen spends the night in a chair, moving
only once to cover her with a blanket and cover his own face
with his hands.
Analysis
Stephen Blackpool's experience illustrates the full scale of the
hardships faced by the factory "Hands" in Coketown. This is
not a man who has the best of everything and complains about
it. This is a man who has had the worst of most things but
complains little. At 40 he looks enough like an old man to have
a nickname that reflects this appearance. His posture is
stooped from years of bowing his body over his power loom. It
is entirely possible he began this work when he was a child. In
this context, the loom becomes a symbol of Stephen's
commitment to his work, a kind of imprisonment partly self-
imposed and partly created by his lack of skill at any other
trade.
Although Stephen cannot bear to look at his wife, her condition
arouses deep emotions in him, including revulsion, anger, and
pity. The hardships of life in the factories have driven her to
immerse herself in drinking. She has become a shadow of her
former self, hateful and terrifying to a man who presumably
loved her once. His honor prevents him from doing anything
about her hostile presence other than cowering from her.
Rachael sits in sharp contrast to Stephen's wife, which may
explain his affection for her. Rachael has spent her life working
in the factories as well, but somehow her experiences have not
touched her basic goodness. She is able to show compassion
even Stephen cannot feel, caring for a woman who is repellent
to her own husband and who blocks Rachael's own hopes of
marrying. Rachael does not treat Stephen's wife with the
bitterness that might be expected in such circumstances.
Book 1, Chapter 11
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Chapter Summaries 22
Summary
Stephen Blackpool goes to see Mr. Bounderby for advice
about his marriage. Mr. Bounderby greets Stephen warmly,
saying Stephen has never been a troublesome worker, never
indicated a desire to "be fed on turtle soup and venison, with a
gold spoon," unlike many of his colleagues in the factory. But
Mr. Bounderby quickly sours on Stephen as Stephen makes
the purpose of his visit known. Stephen knows of wealthy men
who have been able to end their marriages when they become
a misery. Stephen explains his situation. His wife is a constant
drunk who leaves him for long stretches, disgraces herself, and
then returns. For the last five years he has given her money to
keep her away, but now she is back. He wants to know how to
rid himself of her for good.
Appalled by the suggestion that Stephen might end his
marriage, Mr. Bounderby informs him, "You took her for better
or for worse." After Stephen presses the matter, Mr.
Bounderby tells him he would have to spend at least 1,500
pounds to take his case to court and dissolve the marriage.
Such funds are infinitely out of Stephen's reach, and Stephen
calls the situation "a muddle," a response that angers Mr.
Bounderby. He scolds Stephen for questioning the country's
laws and institutions and tells him he does seem the type of
worker who wants "turtle soup, and venison, and gold spoon."
After he repeats that Stephen took his wife for better or worse,
he adds, "She might have turned out better." Stephen only
shakes his head, sighs, and bids Mr. Bounderby a good day.
Analysis
Mr. Bounderby's conversation with Stephen illustrates how two
sets of laws exist in England: one for the rich, and one for the
poor. It underscores, too, the deep divide between the classes
and the hopelessness of those without money. Stephen
recognizes this disparity right away. He knows wealthy men
whose marriages are far less miserable than his own can go to
court and dissolve those marriages. At the time Dickens was
writing, divorce would have been permissible if a man could
prove his wife had been unfaithful to him. Neither the narrator
nor Stephen mentions direct evidence of his wife's infidelity,
but it is a reasonable inference given her long absences from
Stephen's home. So it's clear that the primary obstacle to
Stephen's divorce is money. When Mr. Bounderby reveals the
cost of these proceedings, the prohibitive cost underscores
Hard Times Study Guide
how divorce is a luxury afforded only to the very rich. The sum
of 1,500 pounds, around 1,800 U.S. dollars in 2017, might be a
prohibitive amount of money for some people even in modern
terms; in 1854, 1,500 pounds would have been equivalent to
about 150,000 pounds or 184,000 US dollars in 2017, an
enormous fortune then.
Furthermore, Mr. Bounderby haughtily hands down severe
moral judgment against Stephen for wanting to divorce his
wife. By repeating that Stephen married her "for better or
worse," he implies Stephen has a moral and religious obligation
to stay with his wife. When Mr. Bounderby says Stephen's wife
might have turned out better, he even insinuates Stephen is
responsible for her downfall. Perhaps he is, but that this
responsibility doesn't apply to wealthy men, who can afford to
pay for a divorce, robs the idea of its power. Indeed Mr.
Bounderby will have no compunction about leaving his own
wife because she has an emotional breakdown. Stephen's wife,
by contrast, is abusive and addicted to alcohol, but Mr.
Bounderby compels him to stay with her, affirming that laws
exist to punish but not to help him.
In this chapter Mr. Bounderby first invokes an image he uses
on a number of occasions to illustrate the inflated sense of
entitlement he attributes to his workers. When Mr. Bounderby
believes workers—or others—are asking for more than they
deserve, he says they want to be fed turtle soup and venison
on a gold spoon. Turtle soup and venison are expensive
specialty foods, and Mr. Bounderby portrays the gold spoon as
the height of luxurious utensils. But Stephen is not asking for
luxury; as a worker in a typical factory he is subjected to long
hours and low pay. He lives in a cramped space under the
constant cloud of polluted air pouring from the factory
smokestacks. Stephen expresses no complaint about his
surroundings, only about the terrible state of his marriage.
However, Mr. Bounderby believes an expression of
dissatisfaction with any aspect of working life reveals a hidden
desire for a worker to have such luxuries without earning them
properly. The phrase is a mark of Mr. Bounderby's contempt
for those who have less than he does and who might aspire to
something marginally better than what they have.
Book 1, Chapter 12
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Chapter Summaries 23
Summary
Outside Mr. Bounderby's office Stephen one day meets an old
woman who asks him questions about Bounderby. She wants
to know about his general appearance, his health, his
prosperity. She tells Stephen she comes to see Mr. Bounderby
once a year, but she observes him from afar. Stephen gives
polite but general answers to her questions about his own life
and work. Before leaving, she insists on kissing Stephen's
hand, one that has worked in Bounderby's factory for 12 years.
Stephen as usual dreads leaving work and returning to his wife.
He thinks about how he cannot escape his miserable marriage
and about Rachael, who is still unmarried because of him.
Analysis
The old woman outside Mr. Bounderby's house is a mystery,
but her concern about his well-being implies she has a long-
standing relationship with him. Mr. Bounderby has often
mentioned his mother abandoned him as a child, and the
questions this woman asks speak to a maternal feeling. It is
highly probably, as presented here, that she is his mother or
another female relative.
Stephen's assessment that he is married to a dead woman
implies he did care for his wife when he married her. The
woman she used to be is no longer visible in the woman she
has become. Instead the years of drinking and dissolution have
turned her into an abusive, hateful creature Stephen can no
longer understand or relate to.
It is never clear why Stephen did not marry Rachael instead of
his wife, for they have known each other for many years. The
choice again implies he once loved his wife, but as she has
changed, he has grown closer to Rachael in his affections.
Because Rachael has not married, she may have loved
Stephen for much longer than he has loved her. He feels guilty
because Rachael cannot marry him, and she has likely aged
beyond the opportunity to marry anyone else.
Book 1, Chapter 13
Hard Times Study Guide Chapter Summaries 24

also derives from her love for Stephen. She wants only to help
Summary him rest easier in the situation they cannot escape, so she
helps keep the wife calm and quiet and provides comfort for
When Stephen returns home, Rachael is there, sitting next to
the man she loves.
the bed and taking care of his wife. The house is in order again,
and the wife is asleep. Rachael says the landlady sent for her
earlier in the day because Stephen's wife needs "looking to."
Rachael found Stephen's wife wounded and bruised, and
Book 1, Chapter 14
Stephen observes the wounds on his wife's neck. Rachael says
Stephen's heart is "far too merciful to let her die, or even so
much as suffer, for want of aid." Rachael offers to stay until Summary
three in the morning, when it will be sure his wife will sleep
through the night. She tells Stephen the doctor assured her his Several years pass, and Mr. Gradgrind tells Sissy it is best for
wife will "come to her mind tomorrow." Stephen enjoys her to leave school. He has been disappointed by her progress,
Rachael's presence and offers to walk her home when the even though he knows she has tried hard to learn. When she
bells chime three. He expresses gratitude for her help and apologizes for her inadequacies, he tells her she is "an
kindness, for making him feel calm and at ease, and he hopes affectionate, earnest, good young woman and—and we must
someday—even in the next life—they will be able to walk make that do." He acknowledges her service to his family and
together. hopes she can continue to be happy in that role. He is deeply
fond of Sissy, but he does not quite know how to understand
her since she does not fit into any easy category for him.
Analysis
Later Mr. Gradgrind, now a member of Parliament, tells Louisa
he needs to speak to her in the morning about an important
Rachael's goodness and compassion are on full display in her
matter. Tom tells Louisa their father is spending the evening
decision to take care of Stephen's wife. It becomes apparent
with Mr. Bounderby and hints he knows what their father wants
why he loves her. Her actions are selfless and kind. Pure self-
to talk about. Tom tells Louisa he has missed her since moving
interest would have her leave this woman to her sickness and
to Mr. Bounderby's house as an apprentice, but he believes
despair with the possibility she might die. The landlady's alarm,
they may be together more in the future. He leaves her to
the wounds on the wife's neck, and the comments about the
contemplate what the future might entail.
wife not being in her right mind hint at self-harm. Whether she
has harmed herself in a deliberate attempt to end her life or
whether she has hurt herself as a by-product of alcohol-
induced delirium is less clear. Whether the self-inflicted
Analysis
wounds are a deliberate suicide attempt or not, Rachael
Subtle changes are visible in Mr. Gradgrind's personality as a
consults a doctor about Mrs. Blackpool's condition and tends
result of his relationship with Sissy. Even though he expresses
to her. Rachael knows Stephen does not want real harm to
disappointment in her performance as a student, he recognizes
come to his wife even though he finds no comfort in knowing
her other valuable qualities. His assessment of them is
his wife might have a clear mind the next day. He also has little
lukewarm at this point, but his recognition of her good traits
reason to believe this improvement will occur because he has
and service to his family represent significant progress from
been through similar experiences with her.
his attitude toward her when he first took her in, at which time
Even though Stephen does not wish his wife ill, he still wants he feared her sentimental and imaginative nature would prove
her out of his life. Rachael trusts Stephen will not harm his wife a bad influence on his children. His thought of not knowing how
or allow her to harm herself because Rachael knows he is an to complete a government evaluation of Sissy, if he had to do
honorable man, but his honor does not extend to sympathy for so, indicates he suspects her other traits, beyond her ability to
his wife's problems. Rachael, however, does have sympathy for reason and remember facts, have some value. He simply does
Stephen's wife and wants to help her because of their not know how to assess them.
friendship from years before. Rachael's care for Stephen's wife
Tom's conversation with Louisa hints at the truth, later

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Hard Times Study Guide
revealed in Book 1, Chapter 15, that Mr. Bounderby wants to
marry her. Louisa might suspect Tom's meaning as he leaves
her deep in thought about her future. His hints and the promise
they will be together again also show how Tom is attempting to
manipulate her into a marriage that will benefit him greatly by
appealing to the only emotion Louisa has: family love for her
brother.
Book 1, Chapter 15
Summary
When Mr. Gradgrind and Louisa speak together after
breakfast, he tells her Mr. Bounderby wants to marry her. He
explains that the age difference between them is not such a
problem for people as practical as they are and explains the
case in favor of the marriage. He is taken aback when Louisa
asks if she is expected to love Mr. Bounderby, thinking she is
above such sentimentality. He tells Louisa to make a decision
based on the logic and facts of the situation and an
assessment of the possible outcomes of accepting or rejecting
the offer. Louisa considers the course of her life and decides
to accept his proposal.
Analysis
People marry for reasons other than love, but even in the 19th
century love was a common motivator for marriage. Louisa's
education has driven any impulse for love or sentimentality
from her rather passive mind. She has no other suitors and has
no idea how she might find one if she wanted to, as she
realizes her education has not provided her with social graces,
or the means to attract and entertain young men. When she
says "What does it matter" in response to the proposal, she
means marrying Mr. Bounderby appears neither more nor less
appealing than any other options she might have. She does
know that by marrying him she may be able to do some good
for her brother by helping protect him from the consequences
of his vices, and she knows she will satisfy her father. Languid
and detached, she has no strong preferences or emotions of
her own, so the decision makes logical sense for her.
However, as Dickens usually adds foreshadowing to his
chapters, Louisa's comment as she looks at the smokestacks
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Chapter Summaries 25
gains deeper significance. When she says, "There seems to be
nothing there but languid and monotonous smoke. Yet when
the night comes, Fire bursts out," she describes herself as she
is now and her eventual emotional crisis. Her father takes her
observation literally, as he does everything, for its possible
double meaning as it will relate to her emotions, is beyond his
imagination.
Book 1, Chapter 16
Summary
Mr. Bounderby is nervous about breaking the news of his
engagement to Mrs. Sparsit because his marriage means he
will no longer require her services as a housekeeper. Expecting
tears, anger, or some other emotional outburst, he prepares
accordingly by purchasing smelling salts. However, she
surprises and irritates him by responding to the news with
something more akin to condescension and pity. He offers her
a position at the bank that will preserve her salary and provide
her with suitable accommodations and domestic help. Mrs.
Sparsit accepts the new arrangement.
The courtship between Mr. Bounderby and Louisa Gradgrind
lasts for eight weeks, and then the wedding takes place. At the
wedding breakfast Mr. Bounderby gives a speech
congratulating himself on finding such a good wife and
congratulating Louisa on finding such a good husband. The
couple honeymoon in Lyon, France, where Mr. Bounderby can
see how factories run there. Tom thanks Louisa for being a
good sister and in a sense a good sport by marrying Mr.
Bounderby.
Analysis
Mr. Bounderby's preparations for his marriage to Louisa reflect
the massive scope of his ego. He is convinced Mrs. Sparsit will
be devastated by the loss of his daily company and therefore
bound to lash out in some highly emotional manner. He is
disappointed, even insulted, when she does not make a scene.
That she seems to pity his choice, regarding it from her
position of superiority, compounds the insult. Mrs. Sparsit sees
the difference in Mr. Bounderby's and Louisa's ages, which
leads her to believe the union is a mistake, as she draws upon
Hard Times Study Guide
her own marital experience. She also knows Louisa will not be
as competent a caretaker as she is because she knows Louisa
understands facts and figures better than the experience of
running a household.
Mr. Bounderby's ego finds an outlet again in his wedding
breakfast speech. His lack of sentimentality is on display, as he
makes no mention of the love or affection that typically drives
people to marry. Instead the speech is largely self-
congratulatory. He considers himself very wise and fortunate
to boast of a wife with Louisa's youth, beauty, and status in the
town. He considers Louisa lucky to boast of a husband with his
status and wealth. Either way the credit goes to him.
Book 2, Chapter 1
Summary
Coketown lies "shrouded in a haze of its own." The pollution
from factory smokestacks has created a murk of smog around
the city that never dissipates and makes the city appear as a
"dense formless jumble." The outlines of individual buildings
can't be seen from a distance. On a hot day such as the one
that opens this chapter, the city air is pungent with the smell of
oil even as some boys attempt to amuse themselves by rowing
a boat through the tar-like water of the river.
Past threats to Coketown's way of life include requirements to
send working children to school and to submit to factory
inspections. The owners resist any overtures toward even the
slightest change in conditions. For example, they object "when
such inspectors considered it doubtful whether they were
quite justified in chopping people up with their machinery" and
when the inspectors wonder whether "they need not always
make quite so much smoke." However, the objections also
range to anything they see as even small infringements on their
authority to run their businesses as they wish. Coketown
residents respond to these proposed changes by threatening
to "pitch [their] property into the Atlantic." This threat has
alarmed government officials, but Coketowners have yet to
follow through.
By the summer following Mr. Bounderby's wedding, Mrs.
Sparsit has settled into her new place at the bank. Her habit of
sitting in the bank offices and looking out of the window after
hours makes her think of herself as the "Bank Fairy," whereas
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Chapter Summaries 26
others think of her as the "Bank Dragon" guarding the riches
within. Bitzer, now the light porter at the bank, chats with her
about the bank workers, telling her how Tom Gradgrind is "a
dissipated, extravagant idler." She chastises Bitzer for using
names in his stories. They also discuss the misfortunes of the
poor, wondering why the Hands don't make more of
themselves. Bitzer comes from humble beginnings and has
managed to save money, so he believes other workers can and
should do the same because "what one person can do, another
can do."
Their conversation ends when a stranger arrives with an
introductory letter from Mr. Gradgrind, now a member of
Parliament in London. The stranger has confused the bank
with Mr. Bounderby's residence. They chat briefly about Mr.
Bounderby and Louisa, and the man leaves his letter for Mr.
Bounderby. Mrs. Sparsit and Bitzer comment on the stranger's
wardrobe and speculate about whether the man gambles.
Analysis
The description of Coketown that opens Book 2, Chapter 1
underscores the oppressive nature of the pollution that engulfs
the town. The air smells of oil and is sufficiently thick with soot
to obscure the town itself from afar. The buildings are hidden
by pollution, just as the individual humanity of the workers is
obscured by the expectations of the factory owners who
compel them to work long hours. Poor young boys,
acknowledged in the narrative as "a rare sight," attempt to find
some respite from heat by rowing a boat on a river so polluted
it no longer resembles water. The implication is that these boys
have few breaks from labor and even in their leisure time are
unable to escape from the factories entirely, since the pollution
the factories emit intrudes on their leisure space.
The narration takes on a deeply critical and sarcastic tone
when describing the Coketowners' reactions to changes in
conditions in their factories. The descriptions of these changes
allude to stricter laws regulating child labor and safety
conditions in the factories. The understated sarcasm of the
inspectors questioning whether factory owners are justified in
chopping people up in the machines provides a bitterly
accurate image of the consequences of poor factory safety
and skews the Coketowners' values of profits above human
lives. The Coketowners' exaggerated threats in response to
the government regulations illustrate the extreme nature of
their resistance to the reasonable requests to provide safer
Hard Times Study Guide
conditions and to reduce the poisons they pump into the air,
but Coketowners do not like being told what to do and will
resist if only on principle.
Mrs. Sparsit's conversation with Bitzer exposes some of the
attitude toward the working classes that drive resistance to
improving conditions in the factory and the town. Both
characters share a belief that the poor have created their own
misery because they don't work hard enough and spend their
earnings frivolously. In theory perhaps all people should be
able to do what one person can do, but Bitzer's education,
along with his ambition, has taken away any sense of empathy
he may have had for his fellow man. He cannot conceive of
other people having different needs or desires from his own,
nor does he consider that his own lifestyle is not an optimal
experience. His greed and ambition have led him to an office
job that pays him more than factories pay workers.
Furthermore, his education at Mr. Gradgrind's school has taken
from him any desire to spend money on entertainment, to find
love, or to have a family. These are the activities most people
would agree make life worthwhile. Perhaps Bitzer has been
able to put money aside for himself, but it is unclear what
purpose those savings will serve. In the meantime he lives in
the bank and spends his time talking to Mrs. Sparsit, a situation
most people would not find appealing or desirable as a way of
life.
The stranger is presented as too handsome, too well dressed,
and too casual. Although Mrs. Sparsit appears taken with his
superficially good manners and easy gentility, his appearance
causes Bitzer to think him a gambler, gambling being an
activity Bitzer disapproves of because of its unfavorable odds.
These perceptions imply something questionable, if not
necessarily dishonest, about the man. Readers may note the
stranger's interest in Louisa Gradgrind Bounderby and his
surprise to discover she is attractive and far younger than her
husband. The elements seem to be gathering for the perfect
storm that Mrs. Sparsit perceives coming.
Book 2, Chapter 2
Summary
The stranger is James Harthouse. A wealthy young man, he
has come to Coketown to teach at the Gradgrind school after
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Chapter Summaries 27
a series of jobs and travels, including a stint in the military, a
diplomatic post, and time on a yacht. Despite his opportunities
and privilege, he remains perpetually bored.
Mr. Bounderby receives the introductory letter and goes to
Harthouse's hotel room to meet him. Bounderby introduces
himself in typically gruff fashion, telling the newcomer about
Coketown. The smoke is "meat and drink to us ... the healthiest
thing in the world." He calls factory labor "the pleasantest work
there is, and it's the lightest work there is," and reiterates the
workers' ambition to be fed turtle soup and venison from a gold
spoon. The two men shake hands, and Bounderby takes
Harthouse to meet Louisa. Harthouse finds Louisa difficult to
read and notices some tension in the marriage as she is visibly
embarrassed by her husband's "braggart humility."
After these introductions Bounderby takes Harthouse around
Coketown, and they return for dinner. Harthouse remains
intrigued by Louisa, especially as he sees her smile when Tom
arrives. He realizes Tom is the one person Louisa cares for.
Although he thinks he recognizes Tom, Louisa says it is unlikely
they have met before. Harthouse doesn't especially like Tom
but becomes friendly with him to ingratiate himself with Louisa.
At the end of the evening, Tom walks James Harthouse back
to his hotel.
Analysis
Mr. Bounderby's comments to James Harthouse about
Coketown demonstrate his distorted ideas about the
conditions of the town and its factories. No sane man could
look at black soot spewing from a factory chimney and believe
it healthy to breathe, but the smoke is indeed metaphoric meat
and drink in the sense that the goods produced under it enable
Mr. Bounderby to buy his meat and drink and live well. While
Bounderby probably does recognize that the polluted air is not
good for people—himself included—the profits he makes from
his factories overbalance any concerns he may have. He is less
exposed to the pollution than workers who have no country
home to escape to, and he does not care what happens to his
workers as long as they don't cost him more money.
Mr. Bounderby has never worked in a factory himself, but in
comparison to the hardships he claims to have faced growing
up, perhaps this work seems easy and light to him. It is also
possible he refuses to acknowledge the difficulties and
dangers of factory work because such knowledge might
Hard Times Study Guide
compel him to spend some of his profits on safety
improvements or better pay for his workers. It is much easier
for Mr. Bounderby to continue seeing his workers as lazy and
entitled people who want luxuries, rather than as overworked
and exhausted people who want basic necessities.
Entitlement finds new meaning in James Harthouse, a political
disciple of Mr. Gradgrind and a man whose boredom has
propelled him from one job and location to the next. His own
wealth and privilege have robbed him of the ability to enjoy
activities on their own merits, and he is constantly on the
lookout for something new and different. His leisure activities
may be suspect as well, for the implication in his finding Tom
familiar is most likely connected to gambling. Although he
behaves graciously on the surface, he is bored by the people
around him. But as bored as he is, he is equally observant and
sees by Louisa's smile and gestures that her brother, not her
husband, is the person she loves.
Book 2, Chapter 3
Summary
In James Harthouse's hotel room, he and Tom drink and smoke
cigars. As Tom gets drunk, he reveals his own dislike for Mr.
Bounderby. He also reveals Louisa has never cared for
Bounderby but married him out of a sense of duty to their
father—whom he calls their "governor"—and because Tom
encouraged her to help him keep his job at the bank and
smooth his way. Tom describes their education, how their
father had them "crammed with all sorts of dry bones and
sawdust."
While Tom has exercised some freedom since leaving home,
Louisa has followed the principles of her education. Tom thinks
she is fine and will be fine, even in her marriage, because "a girl
can get on anywhere," and Louisa has strong internal
resources and no preferences of her own. Tom briefly passes
out on the sofa before Harthouse rouses him and sends him
home. Tom has no idea how dangerous the family secrets he
has revealed will be in the time to come.
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Chapter Summaries 28
Analysis
Tom's loose talk with a near-total stranger illustrates the
hazards of drinking too much and provides a window into the
disreputable life Tom has led. When his gambling debts are
exposed in a later chapter, his carelessness and drinking in this
scene show how Tom might have run up so substantial a tab.
Tom's comments about his schooling and the impersonal
reference to his father as the "governor" reveal the contempt
he feels for his family. The fact-based education and lack of
childhood amusement may have been unfair to Tom, but his
talk about his father also seems childish and misguided.
Referring to Tom as a "whelp" further establishes him as both
infantile and dissipated. A whelp is a puppy or baby animal not
yet weaned. When the word describes a person, it means a
"dissolute, irresponsible young man." Tom's attitude toward his
family has not changed substantially since he was a boy talking
to Louisa about the "fun" he plans to have as revenge for their
upbringing. Tom may never grow out of this phase, as he
seems to enact revenge to the maximum. He remains stuck in
adolescence and either refuses to or cannot come to terms
with his deprivations. As severe, or exaggerated, as these
deprivations may have been for him, his current behavior is
equally so, on the opposite end of the spectrum. It is totally
within the character that Dickens created for him to be such a
negative presence.
Unfortunately, Tom does not know whom he is talking to and
what that person is capable of. James Harthouse is already
intrigued by Louisa's beauty and strangely icy demeanor that
cracks only when her brother is around. He doesn't understand
why she would care so much about Tom, but now Tom has
given him information he can use to get into Louisa's good
graces, an activity he can use to amuse himself. As Tom's
motivator is revenge, James Harthouse's is selfish amusement.
Neither man seems able to get enough.
Book 2, Chapter 4
Summary
Under the fiery leadership of unionizer Slackbridge, the
workers at Mr. Bounderby's factory have agreed to unionize.
Slackbridge makes a strong case for the benefits of the United
Hard Times Study Guide
Aggregate Tribunal before attacking the one "Hand" in their
midst who has not joined. Stephen Blackpool, Slackbridge
says, is a loathsome traitor on a par with Judas Iscariot.
Stephen makes a speech to his co-workers, telling them he
means them no ill but doesn't want to join the union for
personal reasons. The workers shun Stephen after this
incident, but they allow him to keep his job. A few days after
the meeting Bitzer summons Stephen to Mr. Bounderby's
office.
Analysis
Historically, factory workers began forming labor unions in the
middle of the 19th century as a response to difficult and
dangerous working conditions and low wages. Slackbridge's
characterization, however, implies the workers may be trading
Mr. Bounderby's bullying for bullying of a different kind.
Because labor unions succeed or fail on the basis of the unity
of their membership and everyone's willingness to join,
Slackbridge attacks Stephen Blackpool as a traitor, although
his comparison is, like much of everything else in the novel and
in Dickens's work, deliberately exaggerated. In the Christian
New Testament, Judas Iscariot is the disciple who betrays
Jesus Christ by turning him over to the Romans, who put him to
death. The comparison implies Stephen might betray union
members to Mr. Bounderby, and even though Stephen assures
the union members he will not betray them—he just wants to
be left alone to work—they ostracize him nonetheless.
Stephen's strength of character is further developed in this
chapter in his refusal to be persuaded to do something he
believes is useless, at best. Always a loner, he is ostracized,
and this will make his isolation worse, as his contact with
Rachael is now in question, and their association may cause
trouble for her.
Book 2, Chapter 5
Summary
When Stephen arrives at Mr. Bounderby's house, Louisa, Tom,
and James Harthouse are present. Mr. Bounderby asks
Stephen questions about the union meeting and why he hasn't
joined. Stephen tells Mr. Bounderby he has made a promise to
Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc.
Chapter Summaries 29
someone not to join the union, but he will not elaborate.
Stephen does not believe Slackbridge has the answers to the
workers' problems, but he does tell Mr. Bounderby the workers'
complaints: they work long hours for little pay; they have no
incentives, nothing to work toward; and when decisions are
made, the owners are always right and the workers wrong.
Nothing changes, and the system only grows larger.
Stephen doesn't know the solution for this situation, but he
tells Mr. Bounderby "a strong hand will never do't," nor will
treating workers like machines without souls, hopes, or
feelings. Mr. Bounderby grows progressively angrier and fires
Stephen on the spot, saying he is such a troublemaker even
the union won't have him. Stephen says his work prospects
elsewhere are nil, having been fired, but Mr. Bounderby shows
him no mercy and sends him away.
Analysis
When Stephen Blackpool calls life a "muddle," one of his
favorite words, he has good reason. The man, in his honesty
and sense of principle, can't win. He chooses not to join the
union, so his friends and co-workers shun him for disloyalty. In
Mr. Bounderby's office he refuses to give up details of the
union meeting and, when asked, speaks honestly of the
workers' plights, so Mr. Bounderby fires him. He is perpetually
stuck in the messy grey area between two sides, the muddle
imprisoning him in the middle.
Mr. Bounderby is angered most by Stephen's frank talk about
the unfairness of the working conditions and the way society
and the government treat the working class. Mr. Bounderby
does not appreciate Stephen's questioning of the status quo
because such questions threaten his own position. If Stephen
is correct, Mr. Bounderby might be obligated to change the
way he does things, and Mr. Bounderby is not a man readily
open to change. It is easier for him to fire Stephen and rid
himself of the knowledge of these realities. He acts almost on
a whim, giving the choice little thought. In doing so he proves
Stephen's point; he, like all the other workers, is easily
disposable to Mr. Bounderby.
Book 2, Chapter 6
Hard Times Study Guide Chapter Summaries 30

In a similar vein, Tom's suggestion for Stephen to wait outside

Summary the bank for news of a potential job lead is immediately
suspicious. Tom has done little in his life that wasn't motivated
Stephen finds Rachael and the old woman he encountered on
by self-interest, so it seems unlikely he would try to help a
his last visit to Bounderby's outside the house. The old woman,
stranger. At the same time the true purpose of his suggestion
Mrs. Pegler, has scheduled her visit earlier this year for easier
is unclear. There are few reasons a man might invite another
travel in her old age. She returns with them to Stephen's home
man to loiter outside a bank after closing, but none bodes well
for a cup of tea. In conversation Mrs. Pegler says she has lost
for Stephen's future.
her son, a comment Rachael and Stephen take to mean her
son has died. Stephen tells Rachael he has been fired. Stephen's unfortunate firing is a poignant example of
situational irony in that it is based on his resistance to joining
When visitors arrive, Mrs. Pegler is terrified it is Mr. Bounderby
the union, which is based on his desire to keep a promise to
and wants to hide from him. However, the visitors are Tom and
Rachael to avoid trouble. The troubled outcome of his actions
Louisa, who is impressed with Stephen's courage. Louisa
are the direct opposite of his intent; he has gotten into the
delivers her sympathies to Stephen about his job. Louisa
worst trouble possible at work and has to leave Coketown and
surmises Stephen gave Rachael his promise not to join the
Rachael to find a new job and survive. Had he simply joined the
union, and Rachael says she only wanted Stephen to avoid
union, he might have avoided this trouble. This is the point of
trouble. Louisa offers Stephen some money to tide him over,
unionizing—workers are safer from retaliation from owners and
but Stephen accepts only two pounds to cover his traveling
managers when they stick together as a group. A factory
expenses to seek a job in another city. He promises to repay
owner can't fire all his workers at once.
her.

Before they leave, Tom speaks to Stephen alone on the stairs

outside, saying he may be able to help Stephen find work. He Book 2, Chapter 7
tells Stephen to wait outside the bank after closing this week,
and Tom will send word out with the porter if he is able to help.

After Louisa and Tom leave, Stephen and Rachael walk Mrs.
Pegler to her lodging, and then they say their own goodbyes.
As instructed Stephen waits outside the bank for an hour or so
each night the rest of the week, but nothing comes of it. At the
end of the week, he packs his few belongings, rises early, and
sets out from Coketown on foot.
Analysis
Throughout this chapter the narrative drops hints about
characters and the plot's direction, revealing bits of information
that allow the reader to understand truths the characters do
not yet see, without yet providing all the answers. Considering
Hard Times was published initially as a weekly serial, this
technique makes sense as a method for ensuring magazine
sales. For example, Mrs. Pegler's noncommittal responses to
questions about her son increase the possibility, already
foreshadowed, that she is Mr. Bounderby's long-lost mother, as
does her panic at the possibility of meeting Mr. Bounderby. It
stands to reason she would not want to meet face-to-face the
son she allegedly abandoned.
Summary
James Harthouse now spends much of his time in the
Bounderby home, often alone with Louisa. When Mr.
Bounderby buys a country estate, Harthouse visits frequently
there as well. On one visit he speaks to Louisa alone about
Tom. She confirms Tom has run up gambling debts and she
has sold gifts from her husband to give Tom money to pay
these debts. When Harthouse offers to help Tom pay his debts
and mend his behavior, Louisa is grateful. Tom joins them in the
garden, and after Louisa goes into the house, Harthouse offers
his assistance.
Tom confesses he is more than 100 pounds in debt and says
Louisa will not help him this time. To obtain such a large sum,
she would have to ask Mr. Bounderby for the money, which she
won't do. Tom is visibly angry with his sister; Harthouse judges
the ingratitude but keeps it to himself. He says he wants to
help repair the relationship between Tom and Louisa. At dinner
Tom is kinder to Louisa, and Harthouse is delighted to find her
smiling at him.

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Hard Times Study Guide
Analysis
In his continuing attempt to amuse himself and win Louisa's
interest and affection, James Harthouse is using her affection
for Tom to help transfer some of that emotion to himself. It is a
clever strategy, but it becomes clear this is all a game for him.
He does not like Tom well enough to want to help him for any
genuine reason. He knows Louisa is a married woman,
whatever the basis for that marriage happens to be, and his
attentions could potentially damage her reputation. He is
gratified when he sees her smiling at him, as if he has won a
prize. There is no indication he experiences joy or a surge of
love or affection when she smiles, just the selfish satisfaction
in knowing Tom is no longer the only one for whom she smiles.
Harthouse is right to be offended by Tom's ingratitude toward
Louisa. She has done a great deal for her brother, including
selling her jewelry to raise money to help him. And even more,
she married a man she didn't love—or even like—at Tom's
urging to protect his position at the bank. Tom believes
Louisa's only function as a sister and as a wife is to operate for
his personal benefit, so he is angry when she refuses to
intercede with Mr. Bounderby for the 100 pounds Tom needs
to pay his debts. One hundred pounds in 1854 is roughly equal
to 10,000 pounds or 12,000 U.S. dollars in 2017, so this is a
very significant amount of money for Louisa to ask of her
husband. Tom's selfishness seems to have no bounds.
Book 2, Chapter 8
Summary
The day after his conversations with Louisa and Tom, James
Harthouse is pleased with himself for cultivating Louisa's
confidence and burgeoning affections. Late in the day he
encounters an agitated, red-faced Mr. Bounderby on the road,
who informs him the bank has been robbed. Bitzer has brought
both the news and Mrs. Sparsit to the estate. Roughly 150
pounds are missing, but Mr. Bounderby is furious about the
principle of the robbery—done with a false key while Bitzer
slept—not the sum lost. Tom remains in Coketown to help the
police with their inquiries.
Mr. Bounderby declares his suspicion of Stephen Blackpool
along with two accomplices, one of whom is an old woman. He
Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc.
Chapter Summaries 31
recounts his belief that Stephen is nothing but trouble, and
Mrs. Sparsit testifies she has seen Stephen loitering outside
the bank after closing for many evenings. Mrs. Sparsit settles
in at the country house, not ready to return to the bank
because of her nerves. She is overly polite to the point of
annoyance and still expresses pity at Mr. Bounderby's
marriage.
When Tom returns to the house that night, Louisa asks him
several times, in private, if he has anything to tell her. Tom says
he doesn't understand what she is talking about, and he has
nothing to tell her. He says he thinks Stephen's involvement in
the robbery is possible, however honest Stephen might appear.
After Louisa leaves, Tom breaks into a crying fit on his bed.
Analysis
The hints dropped in the previous two chapters come together
with the news of the robbery. The reader knows about the
conversation between Tom and Stephen Blackpool in which
Tom invited Stephen to loiter outside the bank after hours.
Being recently fired, Stephen has motive to commit a crime
against Bounderby's bank, and Tom carefully places him at the
scene of the crime for days before it takes place. However, the
amount stolen covers the gambling debts Tom confesses to
James Harthouse. For these reasons, Tom is a far better
suspect than Stephen, as even his own sister thinks. However,
Louisa doesn't know what was said in the private conversation
between Tom and Stephen in the stairway, so she is ready to
believe Tom when he says he has nothing to tell her.
Louisa's love for Tom blinds her to the facts of the situation,
even as her training prevents her from wondering about the
facts she doesn't have. Even without the details of the private
conversation, she knows it indeed took place. Lacking the
creativity to speculate—wonder—about what they might have
discussed, as her fact-based education has taught her only the
factual, she does not question him directly about the
conversation. She also knows the amount of money stolen
corresponds to Tom's debts, but she puts this "fact" aside
because it is easier for her to accept that Tom doesn't know
about the robbery and place blame on a stranger. Tom's crying
fit at the end of the chapter reveals the first time he seems to
feel guilty for abusing his sister's trust. Yet, he remains a
dissipated, unrepentant man-child, a human failure in Dickens's
terms, despite feeling sorry for the trouble he has brought on
his sister.
Hard Times Study Guide
Book 2, Chapter 9
Summary
Mrs. Sparsit remains at the country house, doing a lot of
prowling about, and becomes friendly with James Harthouse,
whom she likes because of his status and charm. She
continues to call Louisa "Miss Gradgrind" not "Mrs. Bounderby"
but claims it is just force of habit, and she remains polite and
deferential to everyone. On the second morning of her stay,
she finds Mr. Bounderby does not yet have his breakfast and
offers to prepare it as Louisa comes downstairs. Mr.
Bounderby says Louisa "will be very glad to be relieved of the
trouble." Mrs. Sparsit chides him for being unkind to Louisa, but
Louisa is not bothered by the remarks even though her
conversation with Bounderby remains tense, and they
squabble briefly. Mrs. Sparsit serves breakfast and is cordial to
Mr. Bounderby until he leaves. Then she shakes her fist at his
portrait and calls him "you Noodle."
Soon after breakfast, Bitzer arrives to tell Louisa her mother is
ill. Thinking unhappily about her childhood and reflecting on the
emotional distance from her mother and family, Louisa returns
to her father's home in Coketown to see her dying mother.
When she asks Mrs. Gradgrind if she is in pain, Mrs. Gradgrind
says, "I think there is pain somewhere in the room, but I
couldn't positively say I have got it." Then Mrs. Gradgrind tells
Louisa she believes Mr. Gradgrind's studies have missed
something important that she cannot name. She asks for a pen
to write to him. Unable to hold a pen, she imagines she is
writing anyway. Her hand stops, along with other movement,
and Mrs. Gradgrind dies.
Analysis
Mrs. Gradgrind has been something of a non-entity through
Hard Times thus far. She appears occasionally in Book 1 to
scold her children for this or that. She lacks Mr. Gradgrind's
comprehensive command of facts but endorses his parenting
and teaching philosophy, so she leaves him to it. On her
deathbed, however, she displays extraordinarily powers of
perception about her husband and her daughter. Perhaps she
has known all along something was amiss in their lives.
When Louisa comes to see her mother, she is leaving the
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Chapter Summaries 32
scene of a minor squabble with Mr. Bounderby at home. Louisa
is not particularly bothered by the exchange itself, but the
quarrel does reflect the general discontent of her loveless
marriage. Mr. Bounderby implies Louisa does not relish doing
her wifely duties, namely preparing his meals, and Louisa does
not contest this truth. When Mrs. Gradgrind observes there is
pain in the room—and it may not be her own—she calls
attention to the emptiness of Louisa's marriage and her lack of
connection to other people. To underscore this fact, Mrs.
Gradgrind observes that her husband's teaching has skipped
important lessons she cannot name, and she confirms there
are intangible, unnamable parts of existence as vital to survival
as any fact. Though she does not say it, emotional
understanding is one of those parts.
Mrs. Sparsit's real feelings come to the surface in her outburst
toward the portrait. Noodle is a term used to insult someone's
intelligence. Mrs. Sparsit appears frustrated because Mr.
Bounderby, lacking comprehension and foresight, sent her
away from her routine and comfortable position in his house to
marry Louisa, a young woman who is not interested even in
making her husband's breakfast. The possibility exists, but is
never clearly confirmed, that Mrs. Sparsit may be jealous of
Louisa because of her own feelings for Mr. Bounderby and is
angry with him for rejecting her.
Book 2, Chapter 10
Summary
Mrs. Sparsit remains at the country house, appearing polite to
Mr. Bounderby while shaking her fist and calling his portrait
"Noodle" behind his back. She has taken to spying about the
house, seemingly getting from one place to another in no time
at all. Mr. Bounderby is happy to keep Mrs. Sparsit around; Mrs.
Sparsit observes Louisa's activities with Mr. Harthouse and
dreams of Louisa's downfall and shame, represented by her
descent of a staircase to an abyss.
No news has arrived about the robbery, but Mr. Bounderby
remains hopeful about finding Stephen Blackpool and the old
woman he was seen with before the robbery. Mrs. Sparsit
observes Louisa and James Harthouse sitting in the garden
together side by side. She doesn't hear their conversation, but
Harthouse assures Louisa of Stephen's probable role in the
Hard Times Study Guide
crime. Louisa is sorry for Stephen but comforted by
Harhouse's thoughts.
Analysis
Mrs. Sparsit's resentment toward Louisa shifts into malice as
she dreams of Louisa's downfall, which she believes (correctly)
will be precipitated by her relationship with James Harthouse.
These developments do little to confirm the reason for her
feelings. She may simply be angry with Louisa for disrupting
her routine and status as Mr. Bounderby's housekeeper,
although it is possible Mrs. Sparsit has had a romantic interest
in Mr. Bounderby. Or she is simply malicious and would like the
marriage destroyed, possibly because of the age difference, a
discrepancy she seems to resent as a reminder of her own
short-lived and unhappy marriage, in which she was 15 years
older than her husband. Furthermore she most likely would be
pleased to see her employer get what he deserves, as she
wished him at the time of his marriage. So she takes to careful
spying around the house and awaiting the disaster she hopes
will come.
Louisa's suspicions of her brother's role in the bank robbery
persist on a low level. She talks to James Harthouse about his
suspicions of Stephen Blackpool and finds herself oddly
relieved when Harthouse says he thinks it possible Stephen did
do it. Her relief indicates she does not yet believe Stephen is
guilty, but she prefers that possibility to her own brother's guilt.
In a sense Harthouse's opinion gives her permission to stop
suspecting Tom.
Book 2, Chapter 11
Summary
Mrs. Sparsit's spying and hopes for Louisa's downfall appear
ready to pay off. On Friday Mr. Bounderby is called away on
business, so Mrs. Sparsit sends word to Louisa she will not be
coming to the country house for the weekend. She learns from
Tom that James Harthouse is scheduled to return from a trip
to Yorkshire that evening.
On Saturday Mrs. Sparsit watches Tom wait at the train station
until she is satisfied Harthouse is not returning to Coketown.
She rushes to the country house and hides in the bushes while
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Chapter Summaries 33
Louisa and Harthouse meet in the garden. He professes his
love for her and begs her to meet him elsewhere if they can't
be together here. He leaves on his horse; a short while later
Louisa leaves for the train station, with Mrs. Sparsit in pursuit.
Louisa disembarks in Coketown, but Mrs. Sparsit loses sight of
her in the crowd outside the station.
Analysis
Mrs. Sparsit is not content to dream and wish for Louisa's
downfall; rather she takes an active role in attempting to bring
it about. She skips her planned excursion to the country house
to ensure that Louisa will be alone there, available to meet with
James Harthouse. She then goes there secretly to spy and
catch Louisa in the act, setting up Louisa for the inevitable fall.
Harthouse presents a convincing speech to profess his love
for Louisa, but his actions before and after the evening he
meets her call his sincerity into question. His attempt to
seduce a married woman, knowing it will ruin her reputation,
points to a lack of concern for her well-being. In contrast
Stephen Blackpool and Rachael are working-class people
whose reputations are less valuable than Louisa's is as a
member of the upper class. Stephen is aware of Rachael's
honor and reputation within their community and loves her only
from afar because he is unable to marry her. Harthouse does
not possess the same integrity Stephen shows, even though
he doubtlessly considers himself superior to him.
Book 2, Chapter 12
Summary
Louisa does not meet James Harthouse after his declaration of
love. Instead she goes to her father's house, deeply distressed.
She tells her father, in Coketown for a vacation, she does not
reproach him for her education yet regrets having been raised
with no way of understanding or expressing her emotions. She
confesses the circumstances that have brought her to her
childhood home. She never loved her husband and has
developed a relationship with a man she believes understands
her. She told him she would meet him tonight simply to get him
to leave her house, but instead she has come here. She does
not know if she loves Harthouse or not, but she has not
Hard Times Study Guide Chapter Summaries 34

consummated the affair. She begs her father to help her, to

save her, and collapses at his feet.
Analysis
Louisa's breakdown at her father's house represents a turning
point for both her and Mr. Gradgrind. She understands her
early education has not adequately prepared her for the world,
and he begins to realize his attempts to educate his children in
pure reason have damaged both of them. Louisa has entered
into a loveless marriage that has left her emotionally numb in
an attempt to mitigate the consequences of her brother's
unsavory activities. She has come dangerously close to the
shame of an extramarital affair.
Clearly Mr. Gradgrind must acknowledge he has failed both his
children, though in profoundly different ways. Tom has gotten
himself into trouble through active rebellion; Louisa has tried
too hard to conform to expectations. When Louisa asks her
father to save her, she does not yet know her father needs
saving as well.
Book 3, Chapter 1
Analysis
The chapter title, "Another Thing Needful," mirrors the title of
the first chapter of Book 1, "A Thing Needful," in which Mr.
Gradgrind emphasizes the importance of facts. In this first
chapter of Book 3, he recognizes, finally, the importance of
emotional understanding. He tells Louisa he wishes he had
known about her plight earlier, but he has always dismissed
any hints of emotional expression from Louisa. It is possible
the dramatic event of her breakdown has been a thing needed
to allow him to open his own mind to the possibility of
recognizing emotion and imagination as important in human
development. Only by seeing the damage he has caused his
favorite child can he understand the stakes of her emotional
development or lack thereof. He suspects his younger
daughter, Jane, has therefore benefitted from his absence.
Louisa is ashamed of the coldness she has shown Sissy in
recent years, and this feeling leads her to hide her face when
she learns Sissy put her to bed and ministered to her, making
sure her room was clean and pleasant. Sissy, in contrast to
Louisa, is in touch with her emotions and holds no grudge
against Louisa for her coldness. She readily provides the love
and comfort Louisa needs because she can feel emotions in a
way Louisa cannot.

Summary Book 3, Chapter 2

Louisa wakes up in her old room in her father's house and sees
her little sister, Jane. Louisa learns Sissy put her to bed the
night before and brightened up the room. Louisa observes
Summary
Jane seems very happy. Mr. Gradgrind comes to check on
Tom visits James Harthouse to ask why he never appeared at
Louisa and wishes he had learned of her problems sooner. He
the station the night before. Harthouse replies only that he was
assures her his intentions for her have always been good. He
"detained." Tom complains of his own long wait; before he
no longer trusts his ability to advise her and questions his long-
leaves, he says he has not seen Louisa.
term belief in the wisdom of the head over the wisdom of the
heart. He now suspects both are important. He asks if she Harthouse considers his chances against Mr. Bounderby in a
thinks Jane's education has been more balanced because he physical confrontation, but his only other visitor is Sissy. He
has so often been absent, serving in Parliament. Louisa says if immediately notices how pretty she is. She tells him Louisa will
this is so, it can only be good for Jane. not see him again, and there is no hope of changing this
situation. He argues he knows her marriage is unhappy, and he
Sissy comes in after Mr. Gradgrind and offers to stay with
understands her. Sissy counters she knows Louisa even better
Louisa. The two women recognize Louisa's demeanor toward
than he does. She tells him his only course of action now is to
Sissy cooled considerably after her engagement, but they
leave Coketown and never return. He dismisses the suggestion
affirm their mutual affection and reconcile. Louisa allows Sissy
as ridiculous, and Sissy quietly repeats herself. He must go.
to comfort her.
When he asks who Sissy is, she tells him her name and that

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Hard Times Study Guide
she lives in the Gradgrind house. Her father "was only a
stroller" who abandoned her. Sissy leaves, and Harthouse
thinks, "It wanted this to complete the defeat." He writes letters
to his brother, Mr. Bounderby, and Mr. Gradgrind declaring his
intention to leave his teaching post. He packs his things and
leaves for the train station. Later he reflects that the incident in
Coketown is the "only one that made him ashamed of himself."
Analysis
Sissy's visit to James Harthouse requires great courage.
Harthouse is a wealthy man of status, the brother of a member
of Parliament, and her employer's disciple. The daughter of a
circus clown, Sissy has lived on the charity and goodwill of the
Gradgrind family. Yet she is the only one in the Gradgrind
household who has the wisdom and understanding about
human nature to understand what needs to be done: Mr.
Gradgrind has lost confidence in his ability to make emotional
decisions; Louisa is too fragile to confront Harthouse at this
time; Tom lacks the empathy to defend his sister, even if he
knew what has taken place. Sissy understands the attempted
seduction is all an amusement to Harthouse and ends his game
by telling him to leave at once.
Harthouse's pursuit of Louisa as a game is confirmed in his
response to Sissy's request. He thinks of her visit and his
departure from Coketown as a personal defeat. He thinks of
the entire episode in terms of winning and losing; he feels
ashamed by this defeat, as he might in any other game, but he
shows no real emotion at losing Louisa. It is possible his shame
indicates a measure of regret at risking Louisa's reputation and
turning her life upside down. However, he has this thought
after Sissy reveals her background to him, with the phrasing "it
wanted this." "This" is Sissy herself, a woman of humble birth,
yet great strength and courage, who is able to order him away
from Coketown and gives him no option but to comply. She
overrides the status of his birth and wealth with her sincerity.
Book 3, Chapter 3
Summary
Mrs. Sparsit follows Mr. Bounderby to London and tells him
about her observations of Louisa and James Harthouse. Mr.
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Chapter Summaries 35
Bounderby returns to Coketown and goes straight to Mr.
Gradgrind's house. Mr. Gradgrind explains to Mr. Bounderby
that Louisa is in his home. She has not had an affair with James
Harthouse but is in a fragile state. He tells Mr. Bounderby they
have never really understood Louisa.
Mr. Bounderby counters with his rage, expressing his belief
Louisa has never respected or appreciated him as he
deserves. He demands Louisa return to his house immediately,
although Mr. Gradgrind suggests Louisa remain at home while
she recovers. Mr. Bounderby, as is typical for him, believes
Louisa wants to be fed turtle soup and venison with a gold
spoon. He decides if she does not return to him by noon the
next day, the marriage is over. He refuses to reconsider this
decision. Louisa does not return, and Bounderby resumes "a
bachelor life."
Analysis
Mrs. Sparsit's malice toward Louisa and her determination to
see Louisa finished off lead her to extraordinary lengths. She is
not content to wait for Mr. Bounderby to return so she can tell
him everything she has seen. She travels the long distance to
London—in the rain—to inform him of Louisa's activities.
Mr. Bounderby is a man driven by his anger and desire to bend
other people to his will, so it makes sense for him to return to
Coketown to berate his old friend, Mr. Gradgrind. Their
friendship is effectively destroyed by Mr. Bounderby's tirade
and unwillingness to relent and consider Louisa's needs. The
two men have been "friends" for years, but Bounderby is willing
to destroy that relationship in an instant. Like his factory
workers, friends are disposable commodities.
Wives, too, are also disposable for Bounderby. He makes the
decision in an instant to end his marriage if he does not get his
way. Neither he nor Louisa has been happy in the union, but he
makes wild accusations about Louisa's sense of entitlement
because she is unhappy. Mr. Bounderby does not recognize
the verbal irony of his accusations of entitlement. He expects
Louisa to do his bidding; he feels entitled to her obedience
without hesitation or consideration for her own wellbeing, yet
he does not recognize how this demand reflects his own sense
of entitlement. It is unreasonable for other people, but it is an
inalienable right, a given, for Mr. Bounderby and his ego.
The hypocrisy of Mr. Bounderby's demand that Louisa return
Hard Times Study Guide
right away or the marriage is over lies in how completely it
contradicts the advice Bounderby gives Stephen Blackpool in
Book 1. When Stephen Blackpool wants to divorce his drunk
and abusive wife, Mr. Bounderby reminds him he took her for
better or worse and implies Stephen may have made her
worse. Louisa is neither drunk nor abusive, simply confused,
but Mr. Bounderby believes he is justified in leaving her. His
blustering and vulgar behavior have made Louisa unhappy in a
marriage that might have been merely neutral, so he has in fact
made her "worse," but he does not recognize his role in her
problems.
Interestingly the narrative never makes clear whether or not
Mr. Bounderby officially divorces Louisa or whether they simply
live apart for the remainder of his life. On the basis of their
situation, most likely they live separate lives, remaining legally
married, as neither has a compelling reason to seek a legal
divorce. In Book 1, Chapter 11 Mr. Bounderby makes clear the
extreme complication and expense of obtaining a divorce. The
process would have cost thousands of pounds and required
Parliamentary approval. Furthermore, the only acceptable
grounds for divorce would have been infidelity, which Mr.
Bounderby could allege based on Louisa's relationship with
James Harthouse. Even though Mr. Gradgrind publicly refutes
a physical relationship between his daughter and James
Harthouse, Mr. Bounderby would be able to present a case in
favor of adultery if he chose to do so. The fact that Louisa lives
a respectable life after she and Bounderby separate indicates
he chooses not to mark her publicly as an adulteress.
Furthermore, Mr. Bounderby seems to want out of the
marriage as much as Louisa does because he could legally
compel her to return home but chooses not to do so.
Book 3, Chapter 4
Summary
Investigation of the bank robbery continues, and Slackbridge
presents a wanted poster of Stephen Blackpool at the union
meeting, declaring he was right about Stephen being a bad
sort. Mr. Bounderby and Tom bring Rachael to see Louisa
because she knows Louisa visited Stephen after he was fired.
Rachael declares Stephen is innocent and says she has
written, asking him to return to Coketown to defend himself.
Mr. Bounderby says the post office has no record of such a
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Chapter Summaries 36
letter, and Rachael tells him Stephen had to change his name
to find work in another city. She will not provide Stephen's
whereabouts and assures the group he will return in two days.
Louisa wishes Stephen and Rachael well, but Mr. Bounderby
remains convinced of his guilt.
After Mr. Bounderby and Tom leave, Sissy promises to visit
Rachael the next night to see if word of Stephen arrives. After
Rachael leaves, Mr. Gradgrind asks Louisa if she believes
Stephen is innocent. Louisa says she does; both are moved by
Rachael's faith in Stephen. However, two days pass with no
word from Stephen. Believing her letter has been lost, Rachael
gives up his address, but the messengers dispatched to find
him return alone. Another week passes with no sign of
Stephen, leaving everyone to wonder where he is.
Analysis
Mr. Bounderby is determined Stephen is guilty of the bank
robbery, so he takes every new piece of information and
makes it fit that belief. As has been consistently shown, this is
the way he uses facts, not for analysis but for support of his
foregone conclusions. Slackbridge has a similar assessment of
Stephen's guilt. Like Bounderby, Slackbridge doesn't like
Stephen, so his dislike makes Stephen automatically guilty in
Slackbridge's estimation. As the story spreads through town,
others will make the same assumption.
On the other hand, Louisa and Mr. Gradgrind are in the midst
of their respective transformations into empathetic people who
look at possibilities and feelings, not just facts. The facts of the
case are important, but Louisa and her father allow Rachael's
knowledge and experience of Stephen to inform their
interpretation of them, and the two find her confidence in
Stephen compelling. Even though Stephen does not return as
Rachael promises, they maintain open minds about his
innocence. The rest of the city takes his disappearance as
more evidence of his guilt.
Book 3, Chapter 5
Summary
Sissy visits Rachael every night for news of Stephen, and
Rachael begins to wonder if someone has killed him to keep
Hard Times Study Guide
him from exposing the truth about the robbery. He is not in any
lodging houses, so he has not fallen sick. On Friday evening
Sissy suggests they go to the country to look for him on
Sunday if no word arrives on Saturday.
In the meantime Mrs. Sparsit arrives at Mr. Bounderby's house,
with Mrs. Pegler, the woman suspected of colluding with
Stephen Blackpool. Tom and Mr. Gradgrind are there for a
meeting. Expecting Mr. Bounderby to praise her for nabbing
the suspect, Mrs. Sparsit is taken aback by Mr. Bounderby's
fury. All in attendance learn Mrs. Pegler is not a suspect in the
robbery; on the contrary, she is Mr. Bounderby's mother, who is
deeply offended when Mr. Gradgrind suggests she abandoned
her son and left him with an abusive grandmother. She talks of
her mother as a saintly woman and tells Mr. Gradgrind that,
despite their limited means, she and her husband doted on
their son. After her husband died, Mrs. Pegler worked hard to
send her son to school and obtain an apprenticeship for him.
She owns a shop in a neighboring town, and Bounderby sends
her 30 pounds a year but asks her never to visit or talk about
him. She believes this arrangement is fitting and says, "O for
shame, to accuse me of being a bad mother to my son, with my
son being here to tell you so different."
Mr. Bounderby paces and swells during this explanation, issues
various threats, but refuses to comment on the revelations. He
simply sends his guests away. He knows the truth about his
family will get around town quickly.
Tom stays close to Mr. Bounderby to monitor the progress of
the bank robbery case. Sissy and Louisa never speak of Tom
as a suspect, but they and Rachael continue to worry about
Stephen's whereabouts.
Analysis
As Sissy and Louisa become more convinced by Rachael's
protestations of Stephen Blackpool's innocence, they come to
wonder if she is correct in her belief that something has
happened to him. With Stephen eliminated as a suspect, Tom
is the next most likely culprit, and both women must come to
terms with the facts of this case that point toward the "whelp"
Tom. They stop short of suspecting him of foul play, although
the possibility is out there.
The strongest example of dramatic irony in the novel emerges
with Mrs. Pegler's identity. In the previous scenes in which she
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Chapter Summaries 37
has appeared, multiple hints indicate she may well be Mr.
Bounderby's long-lost mother, so the reader is likely already
aware her identity will be revealed. The expectation set up is
that she regrets having left her son and checks in on him to
see if he is thriving. Instead the narrative turns Mr. Bounderby's
entire life story into a massive fraud. He has spent years using
his status as a self-made man to bully others, to gain respect in
the community, to support the prevailing myth that anyone can
change his life and economic class with sufficient
determination. None of his story of abandonment and hardship
is true. Mr. Bounderby wasn't born wealthy, but he certainly
was not born into poverty. Yet the truth of his story is
sufficiently impressive, as he has risen from a modestly middle-
class upbringing and at eight years old endured the death of
his father. From these origins he has ascended to become one
of the most important men in Coketown. However, it was
necessary for Mr. Bounderby to exaggerate his humble origins
because doing so has given him something to hold over the
factory Hands. He has been able to bully them because he
could say he started out in far worse circumstances, lived in far
worse conditions, and was able to achieve in spite of what he
endured. Confessing to a reasonably comfortable middle-class
childhood takes away his sense of total superiority in the eyes
of everyone.
Mrs. Pegler appears a sad character in this scene. Her son has
neglected her and sends her a comparatively small amount of
money per year, the equivalent of 3,000 pounds or about
4,000 U.S. dollars in 2017. He forbids her to see him, so she
subjects herself to an arduous journey every year. He has told
horrible lies about her for decades. Still her deep and abiding
love for him and trust in him prompt her to accept his neglect
as natural and prevent her from believing he himself might have
been the origin of the stories maligning her as a person who
would abandon a baby in a ditch.
Book 3, Chapter 6
Summary
On Sunday Sissy and Rachael go to the countryside to look for
any sign of Stephen. Near the edge of a disused coal pit known
as the Old Hell Shaft, they find a hat with his name written in
the brim. Stephen has fallen into the pit, so the two women
disperse to find help. Sissy finds two men who help gather
Hard Times Study Guide Chapter Summaries 38

more assistance and send a message to Louisa. The rescuers provide good evidence of his innocence to the crowd who has
set up a rope and pulley into the shaft; after many hours, and assumed his guilt because he had disappeared.
with the help of a surgeon, they determine how to bring
Stephen's battered body safely to the surface.

Stephen is happy to see Rachael but calls his fall into the pit
Book 3, Chapter 7
more of "a muddle." Active pits are a hazard to miners who
work them; disused pits are a hazard to travelers who
encounter them. "See how we die an no need, one way an
Summary
another—in a muddle—everyday!" He tells her he believes Tom
During the activity surrounding Stephen's rescue, Sissy
set him up for the robbery. He also talks about watching the
whispers to Tom in the crowd, urging him to escape while he
stars while he lay in the pit and about his belief that he saw the
can. She tells Mr. Gradgrind that she told Tom to find Mr.
same star that guided pilgrims to Jesus' birthplace. In the end
Sleary's circus, and the family plans to send Tom abroad from
he is content to walk—even though he is carried—one last time
the nearby port of Liverpool so he can escape Mr. Bounderby's
with Rachael.
wrath.

The Gradgrinds and Sissy catch up with the circus and find the
Analysis performers have hidden Tom by painting his face black to play
a servant in one of their skits. After the performance Mr.
Stephen's run of bad luck ends with the worst luck of all. He
Gradgrind confronts a sulky Tom who tells his father how he
has fallen into a mining pit by accident and fatally injured
staged the robbery to cover his debt of the 150 pounds. Mr.
himself. The events of his life, including its end, confirm his
Gradgrind tells Tom he has arranged for him to leave the
belief that everything is a "muddle." He falls into the pit
country and offers his forgiveness. Tom refuses to speak to
because he is too poor to afford transportation back to
Louisa or show her gratitude or love. He sulkily accuses her of
Coketown to face false charges of bank robbery, concocted
never caring for him. Just as the circus troupe and the
by an upper-class, entitled young man trying to cover his
Gradgrinds prepare to transport Tom, Bitzer arrives on the
gambling debts. The abuse the rich have heaped on Stephen
scene to apprehend Tom and return him to Mr. Bounderby to
Blackpool knows no bounds, nor does the abuse from his poor
face justice.
associates either.

Stephen's association of the stars he sees from the pit with the
stars that appear in the Bible and guide the Wise Men to Jesus
Analysis
Christ's birth in contrast with the name of the pit itself, the Old
The efforts to help Tom escape the country are the acts of two
Hell Pit. Symbolically Stephen has spent much of his life in a
loving families. Mr. Gradgrind and Louisa love Tom and want to
kind of hell, including this pit where he almost dies. The
help him. Mr. Sleary's circus performers love Sissy and want to
connection to the Biblical stars implies Stephen is being led out
help her, and they want to help the Gradgrinds because they
of the hell his life has been toward his "Savior" and a peaceful
have been good to Sissy. The goal is a noble one, but it is
afterlife.
based on emotion, not reason.
The rescue effort that brings Stephen out of the pit also
In fact Tom is guilty of a crime. More than that, his reckless
indicates, perhaps, that not all of life is such a muddle. The
actions and attempts to cover his tracks have led to the death
equivalent of an entire village joins forces to help Stephen out
of an innocent man, not just innocent of the crime but innocent
of the pit, even though it seems almost certain he is dead down
of any involvement that might do harm to anyone. Furthermore,
there. The men who go down to assist him risk their own lives
Tom's problems, the sense he deserves his family's help and
to help him, and even though Stephen dies of his injuries, he is
his unwillingness to accept responsibility for what he has
able to die holding the hand of the woman he loves, and he is
done—evident in his sulky reception when his father and sister
able to declare his innocence of the crime of which he has
arrive at the circus—result from Louisa and Mr. Gradgrind
been accused. His suffering and the circumstances of his fall
either ignoring his misbehavior or helping him get out of tight

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Hard Times Study Guide
jams for years. The book shows that he deserves to face
justice for what he has done, and the escape plan raises the
question of whether exile is sufficient.
By modern standards, the choice for the circus performers to
disguise Tom in blackface may read as troubling. But such
costume choices would have been common in 19th-century
entertainments, and the makeup would provide a practical
means of disguise. At the same time, in the context of 1854 the
use of this makeup can potentially be read as a punishment or
a mark of Tom's shame as a criminal on the run—although
Dickens's opposition to slavery appears in many of his other
works.
Book 3, Chapter 8
Summary
Mr. Gradgrind attempts to appeal to Bitzer's better nature and
allow them to proceed with their plan for Tom, but Bitzer's fact-
based education convinces him it would be impractical to let
Tom go: if Bitzer returns Tom to Mr. Bounderby, he has a good
chance of being promoted to Tom's position.
Mr. Sleary plays along with Bitzer's plans and lets him take
Tom, escorted by some of his performers. He tells Sissy and
the Gradgrinds he has a plan to subdue Bitzer and help Tom.
The Gradgrinds and Sissy wait in an inn until Mr. Sleary returns
to tell them the plan was a success, and Tom is safely aboard a
ship out of England.
In private Mr. Sleary tells Mr. Gradgrind that 14 months before,
an old dog came to the circus and checked all the children in
the troupe before standing on its hind legs, wagging its tail, and
dying. Mr. Sleary says the dog was Merrylegs, and his return to
the circus meant Mr. Jupe had died. The dog returned to look
for Sissy. Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Sleary agree to spare Sissy
the pain of this story. Mr. Sleary then bids them all farewell and
hopes Mr. Gradgrind will think better of performers in the
future because entertainment after all is a valuable service to
people.
Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc.
Chapter Summaries 39
Analysis
Bitzer's desire to bring Tom back to Coketown to face justice
might seem legitimate and even honorable—Tom has
committed a crime and is indirectly responsible for the death of
an innocent man—if indeed Bitzer were motivated by a desire
for justice. However, Bitzer wants to return Tom only so Mr.
Bounderby will give him Tom's job at the bank. Bitzer, like Tom,
is operating from pure self-interest, so he is unable to occupy
the moral high ground. The defeat of the greedy and ambitious
Bitzer, never a likeable character from the day he chases Sissy
down the street and mocks her during their childhood, makes
Tom's escape more palatable. Even if the reader doesn't
sympathize with Tom, it is satisfying to see Sissy and the
circus people, whom Bitzer still scorns, ruin his plan for
advancement.
Mr. Sleary's story about Merrylegs the dog concludes the last
mystery of Hard Times by revealing whether or not Sissy's
father will ever come back to her. In conversation with Mr.
Sleary, Mr. Gradgrind reflects on the instinctual loyalty of dogs
as something in the world that can't be quantified. The elder
Thomas Gradgrind who hears this story is ready to accept the
possibility of unexplainable goodness in the world, signifying
how much he has changed since the first time he and Mr.
Sleary met on the day Sissy's father and Merrylegs
disappeared from her life.
Book 3, Chapter 9
Summary
Mrs. Sparsit and Mr. Bounderby quarrel because he resents
her for exposing his mother, and she resents him for marrying
Louisa. She tells him she has been calling his portrait a Noodle,
and he suggests she return to Lady Scadgers. She agrees.
After Mrs. Sparsit leaves him, Mr. Bounderby lives for five more
years, long enough to promote Bitzer at the bank, and also
long enough to become a mockery in Coketown before dying
of a fit in the street.
Mr. Gradgrind modifies his philosophy, "making his facts and
figures subservient to Faith, Hope, and Charity." He loses his
seat in Parliament, and his political colleagues taunt and scorn
him. The narrator calls these politicians "national dustmen" who