Description of classroom philosophies that suggested the absolute reliance upon calculations and

facts in opposition to emotion, artistic inspiration and leisure/relaxation.

Hard times is entitled Sowing/implanting,

Reaping/getting and garnering. Sowing" and
horticulture varies from the children as the
planted field and the children as plants, in order
to form the children's minds. Utilitarianism
focuses on hard facts and calculations,
Romanticism is more spiritual, tends towards
the artistic and the poetic and makes aesthetic
valuations that Utilitarianism finds irrelevant.

Thomas Gradgrind, "a man of realitiesŠfacts and

calculations and introduces himself as Mr.
Gradgrind, spends his time in constant
cogitation/thinking. now takes it as his duty to
educate the children. He identifies a student,
called Girl number twenty, who replies that her
name is Sissy Jupe. Gradgrind corrects her that
her name is Cecilia regardless of what her father
calls her. Jupe's father is involved in a horse-
riding circus and this is not respectable‹in
Gradgrind's opinion. He advises Cecilia to refer
to her father as a "farrier" (the person who
shoes a horse) or perhaps, a "veterinary
surgeon."

lesson continues with Gradgrind's command:

"Give me your definition of a horse." While Girl
number twenty knows what a horse is, she is
unable to define one. Another child in the class,
a boy called Bitzer, easily defines the animal by
means of biological classifications. Thomas
Gradgrind, "a man of realities" is a hard
educator who grinds his students through a
factory-like process, hoping to produce
graduates (grads).

third gentleman is a government officer, his job

is to remove fancy and imagination from the
minds of children. They learn that it is nonsense
to decorate a room with representations of
horses because horses do not walk up and down
the sides of rooms in reality and Sissy taught to
not imagine and ordered that all governed
things are roled by facts or governed by facts.

the schoolteacher, Mr. M'Choakumchild, begins

his instruction to be dry, inflexible and
uninspiring‹but full of hard facts. His primary job
in these preparatory lessons is to find "Fancy" in
the minds of the children and eradicate it.

Murder of the innocents" is exclusively used to

describe this Biblical story. While the students
are not literally danger (M'Choakumchild), their
childish imagination has been targeted for
annihilation.

Dickens is not arguing against education,

science or progress. He is arguing against a
mode of factory-style, mind-numbing, grad-
grinding production that takes the fun out of life.

Mr. Gradgrind forbids "wonder" and encourages

classification and dissection, the exposition of
fact, he has trust in his student because he was
teaching them from childhood with all academic
knowledge, but on his way to his house, But in
this moment his "ears were invaded by the
sound of music." He goes to spread the students
from his class to home and only when he sees a
surprise, he finds his two children‹"his own
metallurgical Louisa" and "his own mathematical
Thomas" struggling to catch a glimpse of what is
happening inside which means they are wanting
to go that side deep inside of them, Gradgrind is
embarrassed, arguing that the two children are
debasing themselves but Louisa merely replies
that she is "tired" and has been "tired for a long
time." Loophole" now offers escape from the
"Murdering, The loophole is a symbol of
escape‹both mentally and physically.

Mr. Josiah Bounderby is Mr. Gradgrind's

closest friend, and just like Gradgrind he is a
man "perfectly devoid/empty of sentiment." He
calls himself a "self-made man

Mr. Gradgrind informs his friend Bounderby that

Louisa and Thomas were caught spying at a
circus and Mrs. Gradgrind replies "I should as
soon have expected to find my children reading
poetry, Bounderby makes it clear that the circus
is composed of the very vagabonds that Louisa
and Thomas should be grateful for having
avoided, circus is a "cursed bad thing for a girl
like Louisa.
Mr. Gradgrind is at first hesitant but he soon
agrees with Bounderby that Cecilia must be
removed from the school so that she might not
infect the other students with her ideas,

Dickens was not alone in arguing that the

conditions of workers in cities like Coketown (or
rather, Manchester) were inhumane and ought
to be regulated more closely, and argues that
they need a sense of humor, etc..

Gradgring brings Cecilia to his household and

decides that she will be reclaimed and formed to
end her previous education that was focused
around fantasies, dwarves, etc..

Louisa was overheard using the phrase "I wonderŠ." And her father
forbade her from wondering. Between Mr. Gradgrind and Mr.
M'Choakumchild all of the youthful impulses to wonder have been
notably suppressed. The children born in Coketown are "unlucky
infants" and all of the social bodies agree on the single point that
these children are never to learn how to "wonder." Instead they are to
focus on "trust" and "political economy." This sort of existence has
become unbearable for the young Gradgrinds. This explains the urge
of Mr. Gradgring to run for a seat in the parliament. Tom tells his
sister: "I am sick of my life, Loo. I hate it altogether

Louisa looks at the shadows on the wall and she looks into the fire and
she is able to almost spin stories out of what she sees. Thomas cannot
see what she does, but he does listen to the things that she says while
she looks into the fire. Looking into the fire causes Louisa to wonder.
And when Thomas notes her admission, Louisa replies that she has
always had "unmanageable thoughts. Louisa has angered and
disturbed Mrs. Gradgrind to the point where she says: "I really do wish
that I had never had a family

Sissy did not have an easy time of things and she continually
considered running away. The belief that her father would be unable
to find her was the only thing that kept her in Gradgrind's custody
Mr. M'Choakumchild is teaching National Prosperity, Proportions and
Statistics, Sissy always answers incorrectly. Her responses are based
more on compassion that on calculation

Until now we learn that those children that were forced to

statistics, politics, academic knowledge free of wonder,
fantasy, Music, poetry, etc… has made trained children
from an early age like Tomas the student of mathematics
and brother of Louisa are both children of Mr. Gradgring
has been tired of living this life and said that clearly, while
Sissy Jupe that has slow learning problem and answers
incorrectly all the time, we see that she is envying Louisa
and her brother for being trained at an early stage of their
life on these things, while actually we see from the
previous events, that Louisa and her brother are actually
been forced into it which has created conflicts within
themselves and this might create and has created a big
hate in their hearts towards this kind of empty life of
wonders, music, art, leisure, etc… and been forced into
living without sentiments with only facts and calculations.
Then Mr. Gradgring begins becoming embarrassed by this
situation and ask advices from his friend Mr. Bounderby,
but then Mr. Bounderby is a man without sentiments, and
soon convinces Mr. Gradgring around his opinions and
turn around to blame others for such distractions that has
caused these distraction to Lousia and Tom her brother,
and they start blaming Sissy Jupe for affecting them
negatively since her environment is more to the fantasy
and sentiments, so they realizes without a proof that this is
where the problems start.
Rachael who is a lady 35 year old worker at factory with Stephen who
is 40 year old are friend and together advice each others of the
hardship of the life, and Rachel is glad that Stephen has finally come
home. A doctor had been by earlier and Rachael reminds Stephen that
they all have an obligation not to judge the drunken wife of Stephen
because they are all sinners.

Gradgrind tells his daughter Louisa that she is the subject of a

marriage proposal‹and Louisa does not respond. Gradgrind expects
Louisa to convey some emotion, but she is entirely stoic and reminds
Gradgrind that her upbringing has prevented her from knowing what
emotions to express.
Gradgrind explains that it is Mr. Bounderby who has made the
marriage proposal and Louisa refrains from registering any emotional
response
When her father asks her what she intends to do, Louisa turns the
question back to him and asks him what he thinks she ought to do.
Gradgrind looks at the situation analytically and dismisses the fact of
Bounderby being fifty years old. The marriage has little to do with love
and is simply a matter of "tangible Fact." In the end, the decision is for
Louisa to make. But as she does not see that any opportunity will
bring her happiness she realizes that it does not matter what she does.
She continually repeats the phrase "what does it matter?" and this
frustrates Mr. Gradgrind.

Mr. Gradgrind is very pleased and he kisses his daughter on the

forehead. When Mrs. Gradgrind hears the news she is happy but then
she works herself into a fit and soon passes out. Sissy Jupe is present
and she is, perhaps, the only one who is able to sense the difference in
Louisa. Louisa keeps herself at a distance and is "impassive, proud and
cold." Sissy feels a mixture of wonder, pity and sorrow for Louisa.

The eight weeks between the proposal and the wedding are hardly
romantic and are entirely fact-based. It is more of a business
transaction than anything else. The wedding ceremony is adequately
dry and Bounderby makes a long-winded speech. He is much honored
to be married to the daughter of as fine a man as Mr. Gradgrind, who
is after all, a member of Parliament. Tom sees his sister off and in his
happiness‹for his position at the bank is certainly secured now‹he is
unable to detect her disappointment.

Stephen informs Rachael that he has lost his employment and

they are both depressed because they know Stephen is going to
have to leave Coketown
Though he is not happy to leave, Stephen is sure that Rachael's
life will be easier without him there to complicate things. Deep
down, both of them know that they will never see each other
again.

Mr. Harthouse has been very successful in his teaching job and he is
considered to have great promise in the industry. He has been
devoting most of his attention to Louisa, however. Louisa is clearly
unhappy in her marriage and she re-iterates the question that she
posed her father: "What did it matterŠWhat did anything matter
Mr. Harthouse is too lazy to actually engineer any sort of design or
plan. He never makes a deliberate plan to seduce Louisa, After months
of study, Harthouse begins to understand Louisa and he makes efforts
to make her happy. He realizes that his philosophy will gain little
ground with her because he does not care about the issues and she
realizes that her life is so incredibly cloistered and detached from the
outside world

The only way that Harthouse can make Louisa happy is through Tom
and he decides he will take advantage of an opportunity should it
present itself. Harthouse finds Louisa alone and in a conversation with
her brother, then he professes an incredible interest in Tom and in
winning her trust, he learns that Tom has borrowed quite a bit of
money from Louisa since Mr. Bounderby is getting wealthier more and
more to repay gambling debts. Tom's ungrateful manner and his
increasingly reckless lifestyle are both a source of consternation for
Louisa. When

Harthouse has not committed himself to any plan of action. In fact, he

has yet to develop romantic feelings for Louisa in a true sense, Mrs.
Sparsit and Bitzer had been in the bank at the time but Bitzer was
sleeping on duty. A false key is found in the street and it is concluded
that the safe was broken into with the false key. Bounderby
immediately suspects Stephen Blackpool for not only has Stephen
left town, but Mrs. Sparsit and Bitzer can testify to the man's ambling
back and forth in front of the bank for several days before the robber
took place.
Louisa harbors a suspicion that her brother has somehow been
involved in the crime. But when she asks him to confess, he rejects her
advances‹even as she insists on absolute forgiveness. Louisa asks Tom
if he thinks that Stephen Blackpool is involved in the crime as he
seemed to be a very upright person. Tom is deliberately equivocal in
his answers and Louisa leaves his room more bothered than before,
After she leaves, Tom begins sobbing in guilt and tearing his hair. He
loves his sister for her goodness even as he hates himself because he
is so unworthy of her.

James confesses a love to Louisa and Mrs. Sparsit are watching them
setting together in the garden, but Louisa refuses, then Harthouse
leaves and Louisa soon follows. Mrs. Sparsit soon track Louisa down
and then lost her.

Louisa begins an angry interrogation of her father in regards to

her education‹where are her emotions: "the graces of my soul?
Where are the sentiments of my heart?" She explains to her father
that he has done her a horrible disservice and that she is now in a
ruined position.
Her capacity to love and to differentiate between emotions is
incredibly, deliberately deformed. Mr. Gradgrind is moved with
pity and he begins to make apology to Louisa, who has become
more distraught than ever before. She implores her father to save
her from her situation for he has gotten her into it. She then
passes out on the ground and Mr. Gradgrind's educational system
has come crashing down with her. This is the end of Book Two:
Reaping means that what Mr. Gradgring sow in his daughter
Louisa in his education system has resulted in her destroying her
life, he regrets and his education systems crashes, so now he
reaped what he sowed in her, defeat, destruction, regret, and life
misery. Louisa confesses that “I crushed my better angel into a
demon." Her "better angel" is the fanciful, imaginative spirit that
she has almost murdered on account of the "demon"‹hard facts,
analysis and the suppression of desire. The image of a shipwreck
aptly characterizes the "insensible heap" that Louisa has become
and breakdown renders her temporarily unable to process any
emotions or thoughts.

Louisa asks her father for advice but he replies that he does not
really trust himself to give her the correct advice. To be honest, he
simply does not know enough about emotion to offer proper
counsel. He considers his youngest daughter, Jane, and points out
that she is a happier case and that despite the rigorous education,
she has had daily associations with Sissy and this has made all the
difference. Even Mr. Gradgrind admits that he has also undergone
a sort of change in large part thanks to Sissy. It seems then, that
Sissy might have some advice or counsel for Louisa and later on,
after Mr. Gradgrind leaves Louisa's room, Sissy enters.

Mr. Harthouse receives a message that there is a young lady waiting to

see him. It is Sissy and she has arrived to inform Harthouse that he is
no longer to see Louisa and that he must depart Coketown and never
return.
Gradgrind makes it clear that he feels that his daughter has been
wronged‹both by his actions and Bounderby's as well. In a partial
retraction from his earlier positions, Gradgrind looks at Louisa's
age and her upbringing and he thinks that she would do well to
have a few weeks to emotionally recuperate at Stone Lodge,
under Sissy's care. Mr. Bounderby make a threat if his wife is not
to return the next day, then the marriage will be
annulled/canceled

Then Mr. Bounderby gets back to the robbery case for it has
remained unresolved and with the highly suspicion is focused on
the disappearance of Mr. Stephen Blackbpool and the mysterious
lady and he was seen with her, then Mr. Bounderby places posters
everywhere demanding them with a prize

Rachael is so confident in Stephen's innocence that she has written to

him, informing him of the charges leveled against him, Tom shadows
Mr. Bounderby as if he is very eager to apprehend the thief. He follows
the banker everywhere that he goes and he continually maintains
Stephen's guilt. For if Stephen is innocent, why doesn't he come back
and defend himself

Gradgrind suggests that Pegler/ the mysterious old woman that keep
on asking for Mr. Bounderby and Mr. Gradgring says to her that she is
ought to be ashamed of herself for arriving at the scene after
deserting her son in his youth and leaving him in the care of his
drunken grandmother.

In this moment of despair caused by Mr. Gradgring and Louisa’s suspicion of Tom to be

likely involved in this situation, again it is Sissy who has orchestrated a plan for

deliverance and rescue. She could easily see that Tom was guilty

Tom said that he had very little money and did not know who could hide him and this

was the most reasonable solution as Sissy had read of the circus in the paper just the

day before. It is also favorable that the town is only a few hours from the port of

Liverpool and Mr. Gradgrind hopes that he might be able to get his son passage on a

ship that will send him far away from shame and punishment.

Sissy, Louisa and Mr. Gradgrind find Sleary's circus and they find that Tom has been

successfully hidden as a member of the group. He is, in fact, performing as part of the

troupe. After his performance, Tom is cleaned up and he confesses his crime without

remorse

His amoral/unethical attitude is yet another blow to Mr. Gradgrind's educational system

and it is especially disappointing to see that Tom does not regard his sister kindly even though

she offers him forgiveness and assures him that she still loves him. Mr. Gradgrind is ready to

take Tom to Liverpool but he is stopped by Bitzer, who has arrived with full intention of

seizing Tom and claiming his reward.

Bitzer is unwilling to compromise his duty and Mr. Gradgrind finds that his appeals to

emotion and mercy are unsuccessful because Bitzer's education at the Gradgrind school

has been so thorough. With the help of a trained horse and the dog, Merrylegs, the Sleary

Company sends Tom off to Liverpool while detaining Bitzer, who is unaware of what is

happening.

Mr. Gradgrind truly repents of his old philosophies and he becomes an old and decrepit

man who spends many hours in Parliament trying to present his facts and figures in the

service of "Faith, Hope, and Charity, but his work is strenuous and his labors are largely

unsuccessful. Indeed, he is taunted/ mocked by those who were once his

compatriots/followers and those that are agreeing with his previous facts way like of

thinking

Finally, Sissy's story is the brightest of all for she has happy children and they are also a

comfort to Louisa. "Happy Sissy's happy children" escape the emotional destruction of

the Gradgrind's educational system and they love Louisa who becomes their wonderful

teacher