Hard Times- For These Times. is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book is a state-of-the-nation novel, which aimed to highlight the social and economic pressures that some people were experiencing. Unlike other such writings at the time, the novel is unusual in that it is not set in London (as was also Dickens' usual wont), but in the fictitious Victorian industrial town of Coketown, often claimed to be based on Preston.
Realistic novel
A type of novel that places a strong emphsis on the truthful representation of the actual in fiction. Tenerally, the realist is a believer in pragmatism, and the truth he seeks to find and express is a relativistic truth, associated with discernible consequences and verifiable by experience. Gennerall, too, the realist is a believer in democracy, and the materials he elects to to describe are the common, the average, the everyday.
A type of novel characterized as the fictional attempt to give the effect of realism by representing complex characters with mixed motives who are rooted in a social class, operate in a highly developed social structure, interatct with many other characters, and undergo plausible and everyday modes of experience.
Dicken's social conscience
Young Dickens was sent to earn money in a blacking warehouse, Hungerford Market, London for about two year. His family was kept in Marshalea debtor's prison. During the last two years of labor, Charles faced humiliation, evil social treatment, and other poor social condition etc. that incited him against the situation he was living in.
Utilitarianism
"Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out nothing else." These are harsh words, spoken to a classroom full of young children. These are also the first sentences in the novel, so the reader is put into the utilitarian way of thinking as soon as he/she opens the book.
When reading the novel, the reader quickly gets acquainted with this ideology that was so dominating during the period it was written. But it is through the characters themselves that the reader receives most of the impressions, or experiences most emotions, and not least, forms his/her own ideas and opinions about the subject. Of course the characters are the most important ingredients in any novel, but in this one the characters seem to represent a whole lot more than just being characters in a story for the people to read. Perhaps it is because Dickens himself felt so strongly about the subject that his own ideology shines through so clearly in this novel especially, so he, himself, steps into the story and influences the characters directly (this will be further discussed in section 4 and in the conclusion).
Dickens accuses Utilitarianism of being responsible for the social malaise; the destruction of personality; for robbing people of probably the only real valuable thing they have - their individuality; for oppressing the women and the working class; and finally of depriving the children of a special stage of their life - their childhood.
Education
The need for skilled labour produced the need to educate people. However this education was not for the development of personality, but for the benefit of the whole society. This is why the education that existed in those days adopted an impersonal approach and students were taught in large groups, when a teacher did not even know their names. “Hard Times” deals with Utilitarian education as well. Students are taught to be extremely practical and education is based solely on facts and the Utilitarian principle: right answers must be universally right. The process of memorising as many facts as possible is referred to as “educational cramming” and this is one of the less grotesque metaphors found in this novel. A teacher is compared to a “cannon loaded to the muzzle with facts, and prepared to blow them [the children to be educated] clean out of the regions of childhood”. Children have no names and are referred to by index numbers. The most successful products of this system, for example, Bitzer, have a white complexion -an indication that education has literally stripped them of individuality. A chapter, where this process is described is named “Murdering the Innocents” which refers to replacing the rich personalities of children with cold and impersonal utilitarian attitudes.
Industrialisation
Coketown, as described in `Hard Times' is a construct of a typical industrial town, many of which were sited around the newly founded factories. It may be a fictional location of the industrial age, but it serves Dickens' purpose of presenting Utilitarianism at work. Many of the details of Coketown are based on truths about industrial towns, but Dickens slightly exaggerates them to focus the readers' attention on the points he would like to criticise.
It was believed that higher industrial output would increase the wealth of the country and therefore be desirable. Because of this Coketown exists solely for its industrial output and provides no comfort for its working class citizens. Everything inside it is extremely practical; no precious resources are wasted beautifying it, as they do not lead to an increase in industrial output. Dickens' contempt for Utilitarianism is conveyed through the opening description of the town.
The colours of the town are black and red - red brick covered in ash from the factories. Even on the surface, Dickens associates Coketown with “the painted face of a savage” - the implication is that like a “savage”, industrialisation is cruel, barbaric and uncultured. On a deeper level, this image links to the colour symbolism that runs through the novel. Dickens associated richness of colour to the preservation of life and individuality; neither black, nor white are considered as colours, and hence, Coketown rejects the idea of individuality and identity. It is robbed of it by the Utilitarianism that is is manifested in industrialisation. The lack of identity is further emphasised by all public inscriptions in the town being written in “black and white”. The “inscriptions” - the voice of the town are devoid of any identity. Everything in the town - a river, a canal is of dark colour, firstly, because of pollution, secondly, at symbolic level, because the town lacks an identity. Dickens describes it as being `severely workful' but significantly it is also in a “state of melancholic madness”, because everything in the town is dedicated to production.
Social divisions
In his description of the Coketown community, Dickens highlights the fact that it is not a healthy society. The workers have no escape from their problems. People resort to alcohol and drugs; crime is rampant and there is no counseling for these people. The middle class only impose harsher restrictions on them and view them as utilitarian elements, not as people, thus only promoting social problems further.
In Coketown, women are oppressed by men, because they are perceived as impractical and their work does not benefit the society as much as that of men, as men are physically stronger. Therefore, women have less value in this society.