Salahaddin University

College of Languages
Department of English

The Conflict between Fact and Fancy in

HARD TIMES

A Research by: Supervisor:

Dler Qasm Ahmad Mr. Sangar Othman

April 2016
 Abstract
During Victorian age, industrialization widely affected people's life,
especially lower classes. That was the time when “Facts” ruled the society,
Facts that ruined lives of the poor. Because people (men, women, and children)
were all working in the huge factories just like machines, or more accurately,
they had became parts of machines.
Dickens was aware of that, and he knew that people need more than mere
facts. Some characters within the novel realize that there is something missing
or forgotten and they felt it, but couldn't know what exactly it was.
In 19th century life had became difficult for the working people. They
scarcely could get enough to live, but for their employers it was quite a different
case. They could get what they liked, and they could have every material things,
like big houses, beautiful furniture, gardens, country houses, factories. But they
never found real comfort with those things and that was due to their lack of
imagination or "Fancy". There were other reasons why people lost happiness,
like Darwinism which disbelieves in the existence of a divine power that has
created this universe (denies the spiritual side), but returns everything to a
material cause.
Also the philosophy of Utilitarianism, which we concentrate on in this
research, had great influence on people at that time. It was the theory whose
idea was that "an action is useful if it achieved the greatest happiness for the
greatest number of people". But Dickens thought that it would be destructive
without considering people's spiritual side, so he cleverly showed its negative
consequences in Hard Times.

Table of contents

1
 Page
Abstract
Section One: Introduction 1
Section Two: Theoretical background 2
2.1 The Author’s Biography 2
2.2 Some Characters 3
2.3 Plot Overview 5
Section Three: Themes 8
3.1 Dehumanizing 8
3.2 Loyalty and Standing alone 8
3.3 Inspection about People’s Privacy 8
3.4 The Struggle between Fact and Fancy 9
Section Four: Discussion: The Conflict between Fact and Fancy 10
Conclusion 15
References 16

Section One:

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 Introduction
HARD TIMES (1854), a novel written by Charles Dickens was a great
success to its author since it concerned about the problems of ordinary
people (middle and low classes). Dickens in his novel shows the life and
sufferings of poor working people, and learning schoolchildren on one
hand, and the tormenting of oppressive, merciless masters on the other
hand.
Hard Times, like every creative works, has its reasons to be written
which we mention two of them here. One reason was to criticize
Victorian society for being dried out from every soft feelings as Dowerah
said: “Hard Times is a creative work which Dickens wrote to criticize his
society, and mainly satirized ‘Science of Political Economy’ and
‘Philosophy of Utilitarianism’ for being based on ‘Facts’ (Dowerah,
2013: 454). Another reason for writing Hard Times was a financial one
“since the existence of Dickens’ weekly journal, Household Words, was
in danger, so he serialized Hard Times to save his journal” (Hard Times,
XII).
This paper shows some important points about the novel and
introduces the author, and focuses on weak points of a spiritless, dry
education both in Dickens' time and present time, it also looks at the
negative side of using Fact with exclusion of Fancy, analyzing the effects
of both Fact and Fancy on some characters in the novel.

Section Two:

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 Theoretical Background
2.1_ The Author's Biography: Charles Dickens (1812-1870) born
near Portsmouth, at Portsea. The Dickens' family was always moving
from one place to another because John Dickens, Charles’ father, was
continuously under debt and finally put into debtors' prison more than
once for that reason. While his father was in prison, Dickens has to
work in a blacking warehouse to gain a living. But he gave up this job
to join a school at Willington House Academy after his father released
from prison.
Charles courted a girl named Maria Beadnell when he was about
twenty, but their relation didn't continue. After few years he married
another girl whose name was Catherine Hogarth in 1836. However
they lived happily together and they had thirteen children, but the
marriage eventually failed. After twenty two years the couple
separated. This was coincidence with writing A Tale of Two Cities.
Dickens’ childhood greatly influenced his future life. For instance,
his novel David Copperfield was inspired by the days of working in the
blacking warehouse; therefore it can be regarded as a semi-
autobiography. Being a young boy, Dickens visited theater too often.
He was interested in reading, too, especially Arabian Nights and,
Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones, besides The French Revolution by
Thomas Carlyle (to whom he dedicated Hard Times). Later in his life,
he joined the staff of A Mirror of Parliament, a political newspaper,
contributed with The True Sun, a radical newspaper, and edited each of
the journals: The Daily News, Household Words, and All The Year
Round.
Pickwick Papers was among Dickens’ early writings, which was
serialized, and had become a real success to him. It sold over forty
thousand copies. Dickens was very famous in his life. He wrote fifteen

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 novels the last one of which (Mystery of Edwin Drood) left unfinished
because of his death in 1870, in addition to many stories and five
Christmas books, despite working for operas and dramatic production.
Amid his most popular writings: Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, A
Christmas carol, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, and A Tale of
Two Cities. The last one mentioned has sold more copies than any
other books published in English.

2.2_Some Characters:
 Mr. Thomas Gradgrind: A harsh Utilitarian thinker who has founded
the school in Coketown, also a member of parliament. So, he can be
considered as one of the rulers of the town. He is the father of Louisa
and Tom, also the patron of Sissy. Mr. Gradgrind eventually
convinced that Fact should get help from Fancy to make a successful
system for life.

 Josiah Bounderby: The closest friend to Mr. Gradgrind, “He was a

rich man: banker, merchant, manufacturer, and what not. A big, loud
man, with a stare and a metallic laugh.” (p.12). The person who
pretended to be a self-made man. He marries Louisa Gradgind, but the
marriage ends in separation. Bounderby is a cruel employer who
always blames his employees. Unlike his friend, Bounderby never
tends to change his belief or his nature, so, at the end he is put to
public shame by revealing his true identity.

 Louisa Gradgrind: The favorite daughter of Mr. Gradgrind, who has

brought up according to his father’s system. Her life would have been
destroyed if Fancy hadn’t helped her. Moreover she is the cause of her
father’s mental change.

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 Tom Gradgrind: The loving brother to Louisa. He too, has brought up
with his father’s educational system. As an adult he becomes an
employee at Bounderby’s bank, and he robs the bank. Being revealed
as the robber, he is obliged to run away to another country, and dies
far away from his family.

 Sissy Jupe: A fanciful girl who lives at Gradgrind’s house. She is the
main symbol of imagination, compassion, sympathy, and kindness in
the novel. Though, she is a poor girl that deserted by her father, and
faces difficulty living with Gradgrind family, she manages to nurture
softness in a very hard town. Sissy, an angelic figure, helps all
members of Gradgrind family, either mentally (Mr. Gradgrind,
Louisa, the younger children of Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind Jane and
Adam Smith) to find their true ways in life, or physically (Tom, by
helping him to escape, and Mrs. Gradgrind, by taking care of her
sickly condition), despite her role in finding Stephen, and comforting
Rachel.

 James Harthouse: The young man who tried everything in life and
gave them up after finding them bore some. He tries also political life
in Coketown, and pretends to love Louisa, but gets no different result
from other things he tried.

 Stephen Blackpool: Stephen is a poor, unhappy, laborer in

Bounderby’s factory, who falsely accused of bank robbery after losing
his work and leaving Coketown to find work elsewhere. However he
decides to return to prove his innocence, he dies on his way back to
Coketown.

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 Rachel: The working, unmarried woman, whom Stephen finds her as
his only hope and comfort in his miserable life.

 Bitzer: A student in Gradgrind’s private school. He is the true product

produced in Gradgrind’s “Factory”, who cannot be relented, or
satisfied only by proved “Facts”.

 Mrs. Sparsit: House keeper at Mr. Bounderby’s. She is jealous of

Louisa as Bounderby’s wife, so she wants to throw Louisa down her
imaginative “staircase”.

 Mr. Sleary: The manger of the Circus where Sissy’s father had
worked. He and his circus members work for people’s amusement and
their job is based on Fancy. He also helps Tom’s escape.

2.3_ Plot overview: The events of the novel take place in a Utilitarian
society, in somewhere called Coketown. It described as an industrial
town. Mr. Gradgrind has established a school where only ‘Facts’ to be
learned, and Mr. Gradgrind’s children are students in that school. Louisa
and Tom, two of Mr. Gradgrind’s children once were peeping at a circus
when their father caught them and told them never to “Fancy”.
Later, Mr. Gradgrind and his friend Mr. Josiah Bounderby talked
about the reason why young Gradgrinds are interrupted from learning
Facts. At last they both agreed that it should be because of Sissy Jupe,
another pupil in the school whose father works at the circus, and they
decided to get rid of her.
After they reached the dwelling of the circus people, they found out
that Sissy’s father had left her forever. Being moved by the scene

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Gradgrind decides to take the girl to his house, despite letting her to
continue studying at his school.
Years pass, Louisa and Tom are grownup. One day Mr. Gradgrind
invites his daughter to his room to tell her that Mr. Bounderby(several
decades her senior) has proposed to marry her, and he convinces her to
agree. Being an employee at Bounderby’s bank, Tom is delighted to have
his sister married to his employer, he thought that his sister would be a
great help if he got into trouble at his job.
Being moved from the comfortable house to a room in the bank, and
having been hoped to marry Mr. Bounderby herself, the old housekeeper
Mrs. Sparsit, begins to hate and plan for Louisa. This wasn’t long before
the arrival of James Harthouse, who came to Coketown to be
Mr.Gradgrind’s disciple in his political matters. For Mr. Gradgrind has
become a parliament member recently, and needed someone to help him.
The moment Mr.Harthouse met Mr. Bounderby, he learned all the facts
about the new town, and about Bounderby’s upbringing.
Harthouse then met Louisa, and immediately desired in her beauty.
Then he introduced to Tom, who was living with the Bounderbys.
Harthouse took the opportunity of Tom’s drinking habit to know more
about Louisa, to be able to seduce her. The more Harthouse comes closer
to Louisa, the more aware becomes Mrs. Sparsit’s spying.
Stephen Blackpool, the forlorn, miserable worker, has just been
deserted Coketown for being taken away from his job in one of
Bounderby’s factories. So, the suspicions of robbing Bounderby’s bank
falls on him, which has lately robbed. Some others suspect Mrs. Peglar,
the mysterious old woman, to be guilty of the robbery.
Mrs. Sparsit constantly spies on Louisa, wishing to dishonor her one
day. Besides Mr. Harthouse, always tries to persuade Louisa to run off
with him, declaring that he loves her. And Louisa, never experienced

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love, emotion, or passion, eventually promises him for the elopement.
Uncertain about what to do, Louisa returns to her father and tells him all
that happened, and then she faints. Seeing that, Mr. Gradgrind affected
too much, and finally realized that his philosophy had been depressing
and destructive, and began to change. Then Mr. Bounderby learns from
Mrs. Sparsit about the ‘canceled elopement’. He angrily goes to Mr.
Gradgrind. After having an argument with him, he divorces Louisa that
same night.
The next day Sissy makes Mr. Harthouse hopeless of seeing Louisa
ever again, so he leaves Coketown forever. Concerning Mrs. Sparsit, she
attempts to regain her position as Mr. Bounderby’s housekeeper by
bringing Mrs. Peglar, whom was suspected for the bank theft, into Mr.
Bounderby’s house. The old woman, only for Bounderby’s bad luck,
turns out to be his mother. And all his boastings and foul lies are
discovered in public.
Not long after that, while Sissy and Rachel (Stephen’s companion)
were wandering around the town, they by chance found Stephen had
fallen into a shaft on his way back to Coketown to preserve his honor,
and was seriously injured. He rescued, but he died after announcing that
the real thief is Tom Gradgrind, who has disappeared among the crowd.
Although Tom faced difficulties while attempting to escape to another
country, but eventually he managed to run through the help of Sleary’s
band.
The novel concludes with Mrs.Sparsit being discharged by Mr.
Bounderby, who died gloomily, and unaccompanied after few years.
Tom, also died in nostalgia, and far away from his family. While Sissy
rewarded her tenderness by having her own children, and living a happy
life.

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Section Three:
Themes

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3.1 Dehumanizing: A theme practiced in two ways in Hard Times.
One way is throughout Gradgrind’s system of study, which forbids
imagination and fantasy in little school-children, and makes them
some type of beast. Indeed, mankind needs spiritual side to be
considered as human, and by omitting this part, Mr. Gradgrind
changes pupils in his school into cruel things. Mr. Bounderby, too,
he changes his employees into living machines. Since ‘You saw
nothing in Coketown but what was severely workful’ (p. 19).
Shortly, the people of Coketwon had to be like pure iron to be parts
of machines. If some of them rusted (like Stephen Blackpool) they
would have been thrown away easily, because they wouldn’t be
“greatest use to greatest number”.
3.2Loyalty and Standing Alone: this may be seen only in two
characters (Sissy and Stephen), but still it’s a theme in the novel.
Sissy is loyal to the Gradgrinds, which she lives in their house after
being left by her father. She helps almost all the members of the
family in different ways. But she stands alone, as a symbol of
imagination, against the whole fact attached society. Stephen, too,
is loyal to his promise to Rachel which makes him to stand against
all of his coworkers not to join the union, even if this leads him to
losing his job.
3.3Inspection about People’s Privacy: While the novel proceeds,
some characters become more concerned with inspecting others’
private life. Mrs. Sparsit, for example spies on Louisa to bring
shame on her. Mr. Harthouse wants to know more about Louisa to
have her for himself, besides Mrs. Peglar rummages around Mr.
Bounderby to see what position he reached.
3.4The Struggle between “Fact” and “Fancy”: No doubt, this is the
most important and the most intended theme in Hard Times.

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Dickens seems to have planned to develop this idea very carefully,
to show how each of them (fact and fancy) works and influences
the life of individuals and the progression of society. Meanwhile,
he examines how could they be used effectively in the right way,
and in what cases they could be destructive. As the novel advances,
the necessity of “Fancy” becomes more and more, for Dickens sees
fancy more accessible than fact. And fact being harsh without the
help of fancy. Despite, exploring the importance of fancy in
education. The next section gives details about this.

Section Four:
Discussion

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 The Conflict between Fact and Fancy:
Fact, being something which is true and unchangeable, opposes with
Fancy, something changeable that can not be proved with figures, is the
most important idea in Hard Times. A novel written in Victorian
civilization which cared only about industrialization to a degree that
caused disappointment and unhappy life to most of the people of that
time. Dickens, for that same reason suggests that there is something else
needed beside fact to achieve “the greatest happiness for the greatest
number”, which is the spiritual side that Dickens calls “Fancy”.
In Hard Times, we can see that ‘headless heart is pitted against
heartless head’ (Sonstroim, 1969: 526). And this opposition is continued
almost till the end of the novel. At the very beginning we see Mr.
Gradgrind states that nothing except Facts should be studied, Facts are the
only thing needful in this life. ‘In this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir;
nothing but Facts!’ (P. 1).
Fancy was not the only victim of that age. But all that were unseen or
untouched, were regarded as non-existing. ‘Religion had put under
question. The significance of ‘Faith’ had reduced a lot, and there was no
room left for ‘Metaphysics’, ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Imagination’. Instead, the
emphasis was given to ‘Facts’, ‘Figures’ and ‘Logic’. Man’s thought was
occupied by: 1- The Industrial Revolution, and 2-Darwinism’ (Dowerah,
2013: 454). That was the hard times when Hard Times written.
Dickens seems to support Fancy rather than Fact. ‘He illustrates that
Fancy is more pleasant and appropriate than Gradgrind’s Facts’
(Sonstroim, 1969: 521). One reason for this may be because Fancy is
under attack in Coketown and is resisted by the high class. A man like
Mr. Gradgrind only sticks to Facts, but even he, is not perfectly free from
Fancy. It seems that imagination involved in his speech ‘Plant nothing
else, and root out everything else. You can form the minds of reasoning

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animals upon Facts’ (p.1, Italics added). As this speech contains
metaphoric expressions, it is very close to be mixed up with imagination.
Mr. Bounderby, although pretends to believe in the same principles as
Mr. Gradgrind does, he is not away from imagining. He imagines that he
hasn’t received a regular upbringing and has brought up in a ditch, which
is deceiving people with something that is absolutely not Fact. ‘Dickens
doesn’t indicate that ‘Fact’ is terrible and ‘Fancy” is fine. Because with
the help of ‘Fact’ steam engines are invented to create industrial cities,
which apart from their bad effects, they benefit people economically.
Regarding ‘Fancy’, it could be either imagination or deceitfulness. It
made Mr. Bounderby, a rich merchant and banker, to proclaim to be a self
made man, which is creating deception out of imagination’ (Trapp,2011:
3). So what makes Gradgrind’s Facts to be unsuccessful is his
exaggeration and excessive use of them.
One very obvious victim of ‘Fact’ is Louisa Gradgrind. Her unlucky
life begins at the point when her father hears her saying ‘I wonder’, and
her father replies:’ Louisa, never wonder’ (p.43). This few words make
Louisa experience an unhappy life, unsuccessful marriage (with Mr.
Bounderby), and unreal love (with Mr. Harthouse), till later in the novel
she becomes weary in her life. She thus speaks to her father about her
upbringing: ‘How could you give me life, and take from me all the
inappreciable things that raise it from the state of conscious death? Where
are the graces of my soul? Where are the sentiments of my heart? What
have you done, O father, what have you done, with the garden that should
have bloomed once, in this great wilderness here!’(p.193). After Louisa
falls senseless on the ground, Mr.Gradgrind understands what a failure
was his system of education, and what harms he had done to his children.
‘And he laid her down there, and saw the pride of his heart and the
triumph of his system, lying, an insensible heap, at his feet’ (p.196).

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 After that happened, Mr. Gradgrind began to relent for Fancy slowly
and reflected on the subject to guess what was missing in their life. He
concluded that there is a Fact missed to be included in his system which
can be expressed in his words: ‘that what the Head had left undone and
could not do, the Heart may have been doing silently’ (p.200). Head
representing reason and Heart representing compassion, Mr. Gradgrind
means that Fact and Fancy shall cooperate to create a successful system
in life. Compare Mr. Gradgrind’s voice in this two different situations,
first; ‘The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s voice, which was
inflexible, dry, dictatorial.’(p.1). second, ‘He spoke in a subdued and
troubled voice, very different from his usual dictatorial manner; and was
often at a loss for words.’(p.198). the impact of Fancy can be easily seen
on the latter while the former is produced purely in Reason.
Bitzer, a model student in Gradgrind’s Fact school, is restricted to Fact
more than any other characters in the novel did. He was free of
everything that couldn’t be proved with statistics; anything that is called
feeling was outside of his life. His heart was nothing more than a device
for circulating blood. Thus, it has almost become like a stone or a piece of
iron. ‘Bitzer,’ said Mr. Gradgrind, broken down, and miserably
submissive to him, ‘have you a heart?’
‘The circulation, sir,’ returned Bitzer, smiling at the oddity of the
question, ‘couldn’t be carried on without one._
‘Is it accessible to any compassionate influence?’
‘It is accessible to Reason, sir,’ returned the excellent young man. ‘And
to nothing else.’ (p.257, Italics added).
Sissy is completely different to Bitzer. She owns a very soft heart
which is full of sweet feelings, compassion, sympathy, and kindness. She
functions as an angelic character that helps the Gradgrinds, Rachel, and
Stephen. It was she who helped Tom run away, and helped Louisa in her

15
distress. She also was beside Mrs.Gradgrind till she made her notice the
absence of Fancy in Stone Lodge, so-called the Gradgrinds’ house, whose
name was as rigid as the hard facts of Mr.Gradgrind. But Sissy herself
was a symbol of Fancy, so she managed to influence even a woman like
Mrs. Gradgrind who was admired by Mr. Gradgrind for two reasons.
‘Firstly, she was most satisfactory as a question of figures; and secondly,
she had ‘no nonsense’ about her.’ (p.16, Italics added). Accompanied by
Sissy, Mrs. Gradgrind finally made her imperfect confession about her
need of Fancy saying ‘But there is something –not Ology at all– that your
father has missed, or forgotten, Louisa. I don’t know what it is. I have
often sat with Sissy near me, and thought about it.’(p.179, Italics added).
However she couldn’t recognize the exact name of it, but we know that
she obviously meant Fancy since the thing missed was not Ology.
Directing these few words and a little more to Louisa, Mrs. Gradgrind
dies.
‘So, Mr. M’choakumchild began in his best manner. He and some one
hundred and forty other school masters, had been lately turned at the
same time, in the same factory, on the same principles, like so many
pianoforte legs’.(p.7, Italics added). The system of education has a great
role in progressing the country, but still not as great a role as teachers and
instructors do have. For genius teachers can make their students interest
in the lectures they deliver, no matter how boring or how difficult the
subjects are. But tough teachers like Mr. M’chokumchild make the failure
of an education system even more.
‘A lot of students are depressed by current education system, and they
seem not interested. Learning only to pass examination instead of
learning to expand individual thinking is said to be one of the reasons for
that. It is argued that the education system of these days has left no space,
even in classes of arts, for personal imagination.’(Trapp, 2011: 2). This is

16
absolutely one of the reasons. I may call my country’s education system
as ‘Parrot System of Education’ since it gives attention not ‘learning’, but
‘memorizing’ facts to pass in the exams. So, just like in Coketown, no
one is allowed to think creatively, because they have to ‘stick to Facts’.
What mentioned above were only few examples of conflict between
Fact and Fancy, for Hard Times is full of examples about this theme. It is
the dominant theme of the novel, and Dickens very carefully and
skillfully developed it through the novel to inform his readers about life
in his society.

Section Five:
Conclusion
Hard Times, a great work both as a social critique and as an example
of high style and form with genius descriptions. ‘It was Dickens’ single
work which described as ‘a completely serious work of art’ in

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F.R.Leavis’ The Great Tradition, 1948. (Trapp, 2011: 5). And the most
attractive thing in it is opposition of Fact and Fancy with which Dickens
describes the cruel, merciless Victorian people. He also makes us imagine
the consequences of neglecting our spiritual side which is as important as
our physical structure or even more.
The importance of education, especially early education, is showed in
Hard Times but in a reverse sense. Because the governors of Coketown
have controlled the system and are aware not to make any creative
thinker, for them students like Sissy should be dropped out from school
for being fanciful pupil. Thus even the school is another factory from
which future workers are made to maintain industrialization. That is the
method by which the great number of workers are making the greatest
outcome for the little number of masters, so ‘The Greatest Benefit for the
Least Number of People’ is achieved instead of ‘The Greatest Happiness
for The Greatest Number’.

References

Dickens, C., 2002. Hard Times. Libanon: YORK PRESS.

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Dowerah, N. B., 2013.The Critique of Reason In Hard Times,2(5),
pp.454-461.

http://www.gradesaver.com/author/charles-dickens

http://www.gradesaver.com/hard-times/study-guide/character-list

http://www.gradesaver.com/hard-times/study-guide/themes

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hardtimes/themes.html

Sonstroem, D., 1969. Fettered Fancy in Hard Times: PMLA, 84(3),

pp.520-529.

Trapp, O., 2011. To what extent is Dickens’ Hard Times a condemnation

of a society based on ‘Fact’ rather than ‘Fancy’?. Dickens Essay prize.

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