Sissy Jupe

Penetrating through the window, the sunlight illuminates the once ominous classroom. As it sweeps across the desks, it washes away all color from the monotonous faces that are learning the philosophy of fact. But for one student the light does not etiolate her skin, but rather irradiates the darkness of her complexion. This young girl, Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe, is the outlier amongst a society filled with people stripped of all imagination and creativity. The environment of Coketown, portrayed in Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times, is one that suppresses all human uniqueness. Sissy grows up in this industrial environment, and is forced to leave the comfort of her own home when her father abandons her after his failures at work. Thomas Gradgrind, a prominent man in the town that prides himself on his obedience to the Coketown policy of fact, agrees to take Sissy into his household. Eventually Sissy bears witness to the disassembly of the Gradgrind family, primarily Mr. Gradgrind’s children Tom and Louisa, as a consequence of the strict lifestyle they observe. Throughout the novel, Sissy Jupe functions as the antithesis of the oppressive compassionless society that Coketown engenders and develops into the protagonist of the story through her vigilant care over the family that took her in.

The characterization of Sissy as a child illustrates her as a compassionate, and sympathetic young girl. Sissy’s father, a horse trainer in the circus, is failing as an entertainer and is emotionally withdrawn because of his collapsing performances. Before he makes the decision to leave Sissy and the circus behind him, he often confides in his daughter. In order to bring his spirits up, she often reads stories about “faires”, and “genies” (Dick...

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...circus connotes images of color and imagination, paralleling the vitality and benevolence only Sissy’s character possesses. Through influencing Tom to take refuge at the circus, the auditor observes the heroic and commiserative qualities that highlight Sissy’s character apart from all the others.

Sissy Jupe ends the story with a prosperous lifestyle that no other character is granted with. Charles Dicken’s characterization of Sissy, in the novel Hard Times, drives the auditor to question the cogency of the Gradgrind philosophy. Ultimately she transforms into a heroine while maintaining her portrayal as a foil to the dismal, and forlorn setting of Coketown. Her character functions as the symbol for the ideal balance between fact and fantasy, giving the auditor a sense of assurance that people can escape the ramifications of an industrialized community.