GOOD TIME TO READ HARD TIMES. Review on Hard Times - Charles Dickens

ABOUT THE BOOK

This is one of the most uplifting of Dickens’s novels. This book is certainly different from all the other books by Charles Dickens as it has no particular central character. Well all the other novels by Dickens have a strong connection with London but this story depicts Coketown and Coketown only, a typical red-brick industrial city of the north. Hard Times is a very tragic and wonderfully described story of human oppression.

THE CHARACTERS

Among the many characters that appear in the novel, some of the most important ones are:

Mr.Gradgrind, who runs a school at Coketown, a parliament member, a stoic who believes in nothing but facts.

Mr.Bounderby, a heartless, boastful, wealthy manufacturer and a great liar as well.

Louisa Gradgrind, eldest daughter of Mr.Gradgrind, who against her will marries the boastful Bounderby for the sake of her selfish brother, Tom.

Stephen Blackpool, a “hand” at Mr. Bounderby’s factory who gets wrongly involved in the robbery of Mr.Bounderby’s bank.

Rachael,a factory hand, and friend of Stephen.

Sissy, or Cecilia Jupe, a deserted daughter of a circus clown, who is adopted by Mr.Gradgrind and Louisa’s greatest friend and advisor.

As there is no central character, the story builds up round all the characters who appear in this book.Everyone has a different story,most of which is only tragic.

Since Louisa's name has been mentioned in the last pages of this novel,lets start with Louisa: From childhood,her mind has been filled with facts by her stoic father,with no place left for any emotions,dreams or fantasies.Yet in secret,she had always nurtured her imaginative nature and Sissy's presence has also affected it much.She married Mr.bounderby,who was almost 30yrs older than she was (and whom she hated very much) only for her brother,Tom's sake.And all her life she suffers inwards.

Then there is Sissy,her father a circus clown left her,so that she could lead a better life without him, and then Mr.Gradgrind adopted her to modify her way of living.He tried to fill her with facts like he had filled his own children with, but Sissy was out-and-out indifferent to his practical facts and continued with her own childish and good beliefs.

Then there is Stephen married to a bad woman and in love with his ever-supporting friend Rachael who is also a worker at Bounderby's factory.Stephen gets charged with a crime he didn't committ(Tom committed it) and comes back from an exile he gave himself(another story!) to clear himself but an accident occured and he lost his life.Before death he left Mr.Gradgrind(who has now, after many years, realised his mistakes)with the charge to clear him.Rachael left alone did not fall apart but continued to live a useful life.

As for Louisa, she was misunderstood by Tom for whom she had done everything she could.She was turned out of house by Bounderby and she lived(lets not say very happily but usefully)with her no-more-stoic father,sisters,brothers(not Tom who didn't live to say sorry to Louisa for the wrongs he did to her) and the ever sweet friend Sissy.

Well this is a woderfully described plot.The ending is neither happy nor very sad.It points out the social backdrops of the then times, where harsh regimes were enforced by the likes of Josiah Bounderby,the pompous self-made man and Mr.Gradgrind,the censorious disciplinarian.Well the tragic lives of Stephen,Rachael,Louisa and even Sissy are decribed very well.This book is a must-read for all according to me.

.......Thanks for reading my review........Feel free to rate it and comment on it........