Dickens convinces the reader to like some of the characters in Hard Times more than others through the course of the novel. Dickens makes the dislikable characters embody the bad characteristics of their society, such as selfishness, self-importance and the values of utilitarianism, furthering his argument against that philosophy. On the other hand, he makes the more likable characters represent the good qualities of the world and people that he thinks need to be preserved, such as honesty, compassion and imagination.
One of the characters that Dickens convinces the reader to like is Sissy. When Sissy is first introduced she is described as “so dark-eyed and dark-haired that she seemed to receive a deeper and more lustrous colour from the sun when it shone upon her.”(1, 2, p.14) A quality that Sissy has that makes the reader like her is her perseverance. Even though she has been through many hard times, such as losing her father, she has kept her imagination and luster that she had when she was a child. Not only has she kept her vibrant character, but she has also influenced those around her in a positive way. When Louisa comments on how her sister Jane’s face seems to be beaming, she answers and says, “Have I? I am very glad you think so. I am sure it must be Sissy’s doing.”(3, 1, p.220) Other characteristics that Dickens gives Sissy to make her appeal to the reader are her thoughtfulness and compassion. This is evident when Louisa comes home after the incident with Mr. Harthouse. Sissy confronts him so that he will not hurt Louisa anymore. She does this even though Louisa did not ask her to. She also shows her honesty in this scene when she is convincing Mr. Harthouse to leave Coketown. She simply tells him the truth of the s...
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...nest. I have heard you talk, a hundred times, of it being a law. How can I help laws?”(3, 7, p.279) It is clear that he does not feel remorse or guilt about the crime he has committed, or for indirectly causing Stephen’s death. He even goes as far as telling Louisa, “You have regularly given me up. You never cared for me.”(3, 7, p.280) This is after she married Mr. Bounderby for Tom’s sake and after she gave him money to pay of his debt from gambling and drinking.
Dickens convinces the reader to like some of the characters and dislike others. He does this to further his argument against the issues of his society. He makes the likable characters embody the good and admirable qualities of society, while making the dislikable characters personify the problems. He does this through his descriptions of their appearance, speech, attitude and interaction with others.
Dickens used his characters to convey his thoughts of human nature - good and bad. Dickens believed if he could present both sides of humanity to the public, people would try to better themselves. Dickens hated the Victorian society in which he was bound, and he turned to the pen to alter his bete noire.
In every great novel there is a theme that is constant throughout the story. One of the better known themes portrays the fight of good verses evil. Different authors portray this in different ways. Some use colors while others use seasons to show the contrast. Still others go for the obvious and use characters. But what makes them all so different is the authors point of view. In Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities, he portrays good and evil in somewhat of a unique way. Dickens shows this difference by using characters, although we sometimes have to think about the difference between the good and the evil and wonder if they are not the same in the long run. Good and evil differs with the characters in this novel, yet sometimes coincides.
Understanding the relationship between environment and morality--indifference and depravity--Dickens evaluated what the system does to a person, how it classifies, how it deforms. Fagin manages the underworld, connoting corruption as an entertaining, enjoyable, and artful game not only because of his intrinsic craftiness, but also because it is the only way he knows to survive. Exploiting his audience's attitudes, Dickens shaped a character with religious stereotypes to ensure that his readers could recognize the absolute evil it had bore through its ignorance and apathy--poverty is a product of a societal environment.
Charles Dickens creates a believable picture of Victorian times. In a book review which appeared in the September, 1861 issue of Atlantic Monthly, it was stated that, “in none of his other works does he evince a shrewder insight into real life, and a clearer perception and knowledge of what is called the world” (Peterson and Brother’s). The world Dickens creates emphasizes social structure, where the imbalance between the social classes is prominent. Great Expectations, set in Victorian times, successfully demonstrates the theme of social class and how this social hierarchy can be an inaccurate measure of self worth. This primary theme shows how setting affects Pip’s understanding, ultimately drawing him to the conclusion that treating others with respect is more important than social standing. Dickens incorporates various settings such as the Satis house, Walworth castle, the Victorian prison setting, and the overall climate of the criminal world to develop the prominent theme of the imbalance between the extremes of the social classes.
What comes to mind first when dealing with the lively imagination of Dickens is the creative and detailed picture he gives. In describing Dr. Manette, for instance, Dickens exaggerates his characterization by saying Manette’s voice was like “the last feeble echo of a sound made long, long ago.” From this alone you can hear the faintness of his voice and feel the suppressed dreadfulness of his past. In this way, the sentimentality of it all gets the reader involved emotionally and makes the character come alive.
When considering representation, the ways in which the authors choose to portray their characters can have a great impact on their accessibility. A firm character basis is the foundation for any believable novel. It is arguable that for an allegorical novel - in which Hard Times takes its structure, Dickens uses an unusually complex character basis. The characters in Hard Times combine both the simplistic characteristics of a character developed for allegorical purposes, as well as the concise qualities of ‘real’ people (McLucas, 1995). These characters are portrayed to think and feel like we as readers do and react to their situations in the same way that most of us would. Such attributes are what give the characters life and allow us to relate to their decisions.
Dickens exhibits generosity, inspiration, stoicism, communication, and positivity. It goes to show you can become a leader just by touch the minds and bodies of people mentally and emotionally. Yes you have to take action, but you do not have to put harm to anyone to do it. Dickens once said, “Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tries, and a touch that never hurts.” This quote explains some of the exceptional characteristics of humans. A heart that never hardens, despite loathing and rage conducted at it. A temper that never tries, regardless the temptation, often by the same people that conducted loathing and rage at it. A touch that never hurts, but provides solace and help, even to the people who have been hostile. He came to be known as a theatricality for his books that he would read publicly. “He entertained crowds by reading his works using colorful, uncanny voices to animate each character...Ostensibly, Dickens was acting out each character as they sounded when they first entered his mind, uninvited”(Charles Dickens' writing inspiration? The voices in his
Our Mutual Friend, Dickens' last novel, exposes the reality Dickens is surrounded by in his life in Victorian England. The novel heavily displays the corruption of society through multiple examples. These examples, that are planted within the novel, relate to both the society in Dickens' writing and his reality. In order to properly portray the fraud taking place within his novels, Dickens' uses morality in his universe to compare to the reality of society. He repetitively references to the change of mind and soul for both the better and the worst. He speaks of the change of heart when poisoned by wealth, and he connects this disease to the balance of the rich and the poor. This is another major factor to novel, where the plot is surrounded by a social hierarchy that condemns the poor to a life of misery, and yet, condones any action that would normally be seen as immoral when it occurs in the aristocracy. It expands on the idea that only an education and inheritance will bring success in society, with few exceptions. Lastly, Dickens expands his opinions of society through his mockery of ...
Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Ed. Fred Kaplan and Sylvere Monod. A Norton Critical Edition. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2001. 5-222
Dickens is attempting to show through Oliver Twist that Oliver is idealistic in thinking that everyone is good. Dickens portrays Victorian Society as a whole as being idealistic and in denial of some of the things that were happening during their time period. Having lived in the Victorian Era, Dickens had firsthand experience with the people who lived in this time period. There was poverty, illness, and violence that the high class citizens during this era essentially attempted to ignore. ...
Although the overall message was clear, coming on the heels of the of Poor Law of 1834 as the book did, the characters Dickens created for the purpose of making his social commentary ranged from one dimensional to multidimensional caricatures. He used them as a means of presenting the "other" side of wealth-the dark, evil side.
He is living proof of childhood corruption and portrays himself as his young, mischievous, and perplexed characters Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. He proves that he is a product of the Victorian era as he brings attention to the childhood cruelty, the less fortunate in an English society, and the unwealthy dysfunctional families of the early Victorian time period. Charles Dickens reflects these and other issues as he brings to life the realism of writing. While others were writing about the way things should be, rather than the way things were, Dickens was challenging these ideas, and argued that paupers and criminals were not evil at birth. This was an act of rebellion, for he in fact was showing the Victorian middle class generation how things felt from a different point of view.
Charles Dickens is well known for his distinctive writing style. Few authors before or since are as adept at bringing a character to life for the reader as he was. His novels are populated with characters who seem real to his readers, perhaps even reminding them of someone they know. What readers may not know, however, is that Dickens often based some of his most famous characters, those both beloved or reviled, on people in his own life. It is possible to see the important people, places, and events of Dickens' life thinly disguised in his fiction. Stylistically, evidence of this can be seen in Great Expectations. For instance, semblances of his mother, father, past loves, and even Dickens himself are visible in the novel. However, Dickens' past influenced not only character and plot devices in Great Expectations, but also the very syntax he used to create his fiction. Parallels can be seen between his musings on his personal life and his portrayal of people and places in Great Expectations.
Charles Dickens used the themes sowing, reaping, and garnering in his fiction to criticize the social, moral, and economic abuses in his era. In his novel, Hard Times, Dickens provides a clear illustration of the English class system by examining the lives and motivations of both the rich and the poor. The characters from both ends of society are used by Dickens to show how the class system works, and through his overt social criticism, and satire, Dickens ultimately concludes that this system is unjust and unfair to the poor.
...human nature” makes for a bare-bones human existence, replete with crime, immorality, greed, and as especially demonstrated in Louisa’s case, unhappiness. Mr. Sleary’s compassion gives voice to Dickens’s hope for a more unselfish perspective on human motivation. His critique concludes that the success of government lies in realistically evaluating humanity in all of its general and idiosyncratic tendencies. As Nussbaum says in her essay, Dickens does not call for a “relativistic” approach to governance but one more in touch with the realities and complexities of being human.