The Blue-collar Appeal of Hard Times
In Hard Times, Charles Dickens gives us a close-up look into what appears to be the ivory tower of the bourgeoisie of his day, yet these middle-class characters are viewed from a singular perspective, the perspective of those at the bottom of the social and economic system. Though Dickens’ characters tend to be well developed and presented with a thoroughly human quality, the stereotypical figure of arrogant and demanding Bounderby fails to accurately capture the motivations and attitudes of the typical successful businessman of the day and is an indication of the author’s political motives. Hard Times, rather than presenting a historically accurate picture of the extraordinary changes brought about by the industrial revolution, is a one-sided attack on the utilitarian value system of the middle 19th century based upon emotional blue-collar appeals for labor sympathy that are not uncommon in today’s corporate environment.
Josiah Bounderby of Coketown represents the utilitarian attitude and, as such, is the villain of the story and clearly the target of Dickens’ political argument. Dickens characterizes Bounderby as a powerful individual, driven by greed and guided by a distorted view of human nature. He is the only wealthy industrialist introduced in Hard Times, although Mr. Sleary might arguably be considered the more virtuous businessman. Dickens clearly portrays Bounderby as a greedy and individualistic, self-serving capitalist; rather than an insightful, forward-looking crafter of a new industrial age. Dickens artfully weaves his political enemy into a pompous, arrogant image reinforced with traditional working-class themes that lead the reader to conclude that Bounderby, ...
... middle of paper ...
...nate and truly human society should strive to benefit all classes of its citizens.
Works Cited
Coolidge, Archibald C., Jr. Charles Dickens as Serial Novelist. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1967.
Hayek, F. A., ed. Capitalism and the Historians. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1954.
Laughlin, J. Lawrence. The Elements of Political Economy. New York, NY: 1896.
Malthus, Thomas. First Essay on Population, 1798. London, England: Macmillan & Company. 1926.
Marx, Karl. "Capital." Great Books of the Western World. Vol. 50. Ed. Robert Hutchins. Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica. 1982.
Veblen, Thorstein. Selected Writings of Thorstein Veblen. Ed. Wesley C. Mitchell. New York, NY: Viking Press. 1947.
Wilson, John F. British Business History: 1720-1994. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. 1995.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
Canada likes to paint an image of peace, justice and equality for all, when, in reality, the treatment of Aboriginal peoples in our country has been anything but. Laden with incomprehensible assimilation and destruction, the history of Canada is a shameful story of dismantlement of Indian rights, of blatant lies and mistrust, and of complete lack of interest in the well-being of First Nations peoples. Though some breakthroughs were made over the years, the overall arching story fits into Cardinal’s description exactly. “Clearly something must be done,” states Murray Sinclair (p. 184, 1994). And that ‘something’ he refers to is drastic change. It is evident, therefore, that Harold Cardinal’s statement is an accurate summarization of the Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationship in
Conservative ideologies, at best, are convoluted and conflicting where First Nations peoples are involved. Since the introduction of the Indian Act of 1876, which gave rise to the Canadian federal government enacting the first treaty to ‘…protect, guide and ensure the traditions of the Indian’s.’, the federal government has been actively seeking new opportunities to dissolve the First Nations reservations or the identity of First Nations people. The one-sided and cultivated beliefs of assimilation stems not only from paternalistic colonizers with a dominating attitude, but as well from the belief that ‘Indians’ were considered to be sub-human because of their affiliation with nature and their surroundings. This Conservative form of assimilation [now referred to as integration] has been the focal point in many of the discrepancies that First Nations people have faced since the introduction of this Indian Act.
“In about half of the Dominion, the aboriginal rights of Indians have arguably been extinguished by treaty” (Sanders, 13). The traditions and culture of Aboriginals are vanishing at a quick pace, and along it is their wealth. If the Canadian Government restore Native rights over resource development once again, Aboriginals would be able to gain back wealth and help with the poverty in their societies. “An influential lobby group with close ties to the federal Conservatives is recommending that Ottawa ditch the Indian Act and give First Nations more control over their land in order to end aboriginal poverty once and for all” (End First). This recommendation would increase the income within Native communities, helping them jump out of
As a conclusion summary to the ideas that were represented in this essay, the aboriginals in Canada were and are still are to certain degree victims of a predigest government.
Residential schools, systemic-racism, and the repression of Aboriginal heritage and tradition have resulted in a deeply engrained distrust among aboriginals towards the government. Over the last few decades the Canadian government has tried through a variety of initiatives and policies to reconcile with Aboriginal communities. Court victories and greater constitutional recognition of Aboriginal peoples suggest that the Canadian government has recognized their past mistreatment of Aboriginals and have taken steps towards reconciliation. Even with a federal policy geared towards the recognition of past wrong-doings, Aboriginal court victori...
Watching the regular news as I frequently do, I always hear the way a reporter speaks about a topic and immediately I know the view that that particular reporter takes. This happens in many instances, but one time in particular caught my attention. A reporter was doing a story on vandalism. Usually you hear about vandalism on abortion clinics and harassment of that sort, and usually the reporter uses the words “Anti-abortionists” to describe the people who commit these crimes. One the other hand this time was different. The reporter was doing a story on vandalism that happened on a church billboard, outside the church, and the billboard said something having to do with pro-life and the choice that they believed in. Later that night there was a huge black question mark that was spray painted on that saying. The reporter desc...
Temkin, G. (1998). Karl Marx and the economics of communism: Anniversary recollections. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 31(4), 303–328. doi:10.1016/S0967-067X(98)00014-2
Marx, Karl. (2009). Capital, a critique of political economy; the process of capitalist production. Berlin: General Books.
Marx, Karl. "Capital." Great Books of the Western World. Vol. 50. Ed. Robert Hutchins. Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica. 1982.
Karl Marx, the preface, “a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy,” written 1859, Progress Publisher, Moscow, Translated by S. W. Ryazanskaya 1999
“Hard Times” was Charles Dickens’ tenth novel. “Hard Times” is a fictional novel set in nineteenth century England. The novel takes place in a fictional industrial revelation town “Coketown.” The story follows an array of characters in events over a long period of time. “Hard Times” is renown as a important novel of the nineteenth century. This essay covers the concepts that make “Hard Times” so significant. The three concepts this essay covers are history, ideas and sentiments, and the art of the novel. This essay looks at these three concepts and uses three chapters as examples.
Oliver Twist is a parody to the Victorian lifestyle. The upper classes do not care about the lower classes because their main concern is money. At this time in British history, laissez-faire capitalist beliefs dominate people’s political views. According to George Orwell, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “…refused to re...
The novel, Hard Times by Charles Dickens revolves around the central idea of English society, including the social, economical, and political issues during the mid 19th century. Fact superior to imagination is one of the main themes of this novel, apparent mainly in book one. Mr. Gradgrind raises his children to ignore their imaginations and anything that is not cold hard fact. For example, Louisa, his daughter, in particular tends to question this rationalism with her curiosity about the circus. There are countless examples in which Mr. Gradgrind bestows his “wisdom” on both his children, and students in the education system located in Coketown. The way Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind raised their children, described by Dickens, parallels the way in which John Stuart Mill was raised by his own parents in London during the 19th century. John, similarly to Louisa, was educated with the idea that any of his own imagination or creativity was wrong. His parents would burn toys in front of him, emulating the idea that any object or concept that brings happiness is simply wrong. His father, Sir James Stuart Mill, also had a major impact on Mill’s childhood and even manhood. The majority of his infancy was centered on education, and the thought that hard-core knowledge was the solution to any conflict. During this time, his father would make him read Greek and Latin classics to ensure that he were prepared for disciplinary jobs in the future. Through this childhood of fact, and purely fact, along with a lack of moral influences instituted in his life, constituted Mill to become an advocate for utilitarianism. This theory was proposed by Jeremy Bentham who was indeed Mill’s family friend and tutor, emphasizing the idea of maximizing happiness and ...
Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens, is an intense denigration of society’s treatment toward the poor. In this time period depicted, wealth and class ascertained one’s status. This dim-witted but true reality forced many into a predetermined fate as with Oliver. When Oliver is first born, Dickens divulges on how the boy will be addressed: “the orphan of a workhouse—the humble, half-starved drudge—to be cuffed and buffeted through the world—despised by all, and pitied by none” (Dickens 3). Society cringed at the idea of the poor, viewing them as lesser beings. In Dickens’s era, laws and institutions were formed to “abet” the poor; however, these were actually meant to appease the “better” part of society. Even when the upper classes assert to be assuaging the lower-class dilemma, they only end up aggravating and adding to it. The rules called for the division of the poor families to ensure that they would not continue to repopulate the lower-class, as it was alleged that this rank was inherently immoral. The poor children were put into these institutions in belief that the state could raise them accordingly to society’s standards versus their “meager” parents. The workhouses, established by the middle-class, said purpose was to raise the poor children after the age of nine. However, these institutions replicated the vices it was “supposed” to obliterate by feeding and clothing the children as little as possible. The middle-class characters’ assumption that the lower-class is made up of innate criminals sustains their image of themselves as an unsoiled and virtuous group in society. These characters placed into positions of power, such as Mrs. Mann and Mr. Bumble, deduce that they are morally superior to their paupers, simply b...