Hard Times

Narendran Sairam- Galileo September 3rd, 2008 World Literature Hard Times reading log Pages 1-49 Hard Times by Charles Dickens begins with a man telling another man what to teach in school. He is described as being a man with a “square of a forehead”, dark eyes, wide mouth and a dry and inflexible voice. He believes that the only things that should be taught in school, under any circumstances, is hardcore facts and nothing else. He believes that nothing but facts will ever help them. After expressing his wishes to the schoolmaster and a teacher, he turns o the students themselves. Dickens then introduces the man that is in love with facts as being Mr. Thomas Gradgrind. The reader is then given insight to the personal character of the Mr. Gradgrind and his family. The reader is told that the entire Gradgrind family was intent only on facts. They did everything by facts and nothing else. The reader is told that, at least the rest of the family is a little lenient about them but Mr. Gradgrind was very thick headed and would not accept anything but proven facts. Mr. Gradgrind calls on a student called Sissy Jupe and asks her to define a horse. He believes she is the best qualified person to answer that question because he knows that her father dealt with horses everyday but Sissy is stumped by the question and is unable to answer. This comes as a surprise to Mr. Gradgrind. He asks another boy, named Britzer to define horse and gets the answer he expected. Mr. Gradgrind begins walking home and on the way he spots his children, Louisa and Thomas peeping through a peephole at a circus. He's unable to believe that it was his children that have committed an act of such idleness and folly. He drags the home and even though we said keeps insisting that it was her fault, he still blames both of them. He also keeps saying, " What will Mr. Bounderby say?" The trio get home where Mr. Bounderby was introduced to the reader. The reader is told that

Mr. Bounderby was a good friend of Mr. Gradgrind. He was also devoid of sentiment and can approach relationships also devoid of sentiment. He was a rich man because he had many professions. It was a banker, merchant, manufacturer and many other thongs. Most importantly, the reader is told, that Mr. Bounderby is a man that is constantly blowing his own trumpet. When the Gradgrinds return home, they find Mr. Bounderby in the drawing room of the Stone Lodge, the house of the Gradgrinds. He is relating the unfortunate event of his early childhood to Mrs. Gradgrind, who listens with tolerance and patience. When Mr. Gradgrind tells him the story of Thomas and Louisa, Bounderby suggests that it could be that the doing that of Sissy Jupe. They both set out to find the child's parent and inform him or her that Sissy could not attend school anymore because of her atrocious behavior. On their way, the friends passed through the dark and industrial city of Coketown. As the turn a corner, but the run into a sissy Jupe who is being followed by Britzer. The Britzer and sissy boats tell a different stories of the chase and different motives. Britzer is told to leave and sissy, to stay. Mr. Gradgrind asks a sissy where she was going and she tells him that she was going to give her father than nine oils and goes on her way. The two friends walked along and reach Sissy's house. On entering, they find that Sissy had already reached home. Sissy's asks them to take a seat and rushes out to find her father. She looks around the house but is unable to spot him. She'd therefore, decides that he must have gone to the booth and rushes out to the booth. While there, Bounderby and Gradgrind find out from a man called Mr. Seleary that Sissy's father has abandoned her end is probably never going to return. Mr. Gradgrind is touched and proposes to take Sissy's into his own home and bring her up according to his policies. Sissy's agrees and beads farewell to all her friends. Pages 49-69 From her home, Sissy is taken to Mr. Bounderby's house. Here, the reader is introduced to a new character named Mrs. Sparsit. Mrs. Sparsit is like the housekeeper of Mr. Bounderby's home. Mr. Bounderby discusses the education and influence of Sissy by and on Mr. Gradgrind with Mrs. Sparsit.

The conversation then switches to Mrs. Sparsit's past. So when Mr. Gradgrind and his daughter, Louisa show up, Sissy is called to the scene and is picked up by the Gradgrinds and taken to the Stone Lodge. Back at the Stone lode, Tom is sad. He believes that his sister is the only place of solace in the entire house. He confesses to Louisa his plan to take revenge on Mr. Bounderby when he works for him. Louisa even begins to wonder about how Tom would take his revenge, when Mrs. Gradgrind, who had been overhearing their conversation, immediately stops her. Sissy , in her new home, is not having a happy life either. She is unable to memorize and learn the facts of life as is expected of her in her new home. One day she talks to Louisa about her troubles who, leads Sissy into telling Louisa about her past . Sissy confesses everything about her father and her self. At the end of her story she begins crying. Louisa requests her to finish her story before leaving to meet Mr. Bounderby. Her request is a fulfilled by Sissy.

Pages 70-95 During these pages, a new character called Stephen Blackpool is introduced. Stephen is a weaver that works for Mr. Bounderby. He is a married man of about forty but, the reader is told that he looks older and feebler with a hard life. He was an intelligent looking man with graying hair. He is introduced on a wet street while waiting for a woman named Rachel. He looks around and finds Rachel. The two walk together and the reader is shown a close relationship between the two. Stephen drops her off at her house and heads towards his own. On reaching his room he is astonished to find a woman of whom he is terrified. The woman is drunk and mad. She claws at poor Stephen and finally, exhausted, falls on the bed and begins snoring. Stephen himself falls into a troubled sleep, not knowing what else to do. The next day, Stephen goes to work and during the break at noon, Stephen goes to his employer, Mr. Bounderby. Stephen has a good reputation for not being troublesome, so he is accepted

into his house. It is here, that the reader is told, thought Stephen that the monstrous woman in his room is his wife whom he had once loved. He tells Mr. Bounderby in the presence of Mrs. Sparsit about how miserable he is and that he does not want to live with her anymore. He seeks advice from Mr. Bounderby on how to get rid of her through the law. Mr Bounderby explains that there is only one way to do it and that that was it too expensive. He tells him that the only way to remain happy is to go with the flow. Unhappy, Stephen steps out of the house and is surprised to meet an old woman who enquirers about Mr. Bounderby. She explains that she has traveled a long way to get a glimpse of the good man. Stephen thinks this to be curious and let the though occupy his mind even after the two depart. Stephen heads off to work while the old woman goes her way. When Stephen gets back home, he is happy to find Rachel, his present love there, tending to his wife. He strikes up a small conversation after which Rachel insists that he go to sleep because he has a big day ahead. She tells him that she will leave at three in the morning. Stephen drifts into a troubled sleep. He wakes up a little before there to find his wife awake and attacking Rachel. He helplessly watches Rachel calm the beast down and put her back to sleep. He thanks her and watches her leave. Page 96-114 Meanwhile the Gradgrinds, Mr. Bounderby, Mrs. Sparsit and Sissy, all, move on with their lives. Louisa and Sissy are now young women and Tom, a young man but of the three of them, Louisa seems to have become completely devoid of emotion of any kind just like her father had wanted her to be. One day Mr. Gradgrind decides to talk to Sissy about her education. He confesses to her that her education has been a failure. She respectfully agrees and thanks him for the opportunity that he had presented her with. During her time with the Gradgrinds, Sissy had taken a liking to the members of the family and they, to her. Sometime later, Mr. Gradgrind meets Louisa and asks her to come to his bedroom after

breakfast the following morning. That night Mr. Gradgrind talks over some matters with Mr. Bounderby at the bank and on the following morning he meet Louisa in his bedroom. Mr. Gradgrinds bedroom, the reader is told is furnished mostly in Blue. Louisa enters the room as she was told to. Mr. Gradgrind slowly confesses to her that there has been a marriage proposal but not receiving any reaction from Louisa, he repeats his sentence. He then further moves on the tell Louisa that the proposal has come from Mr. Bounderby. Louisa still does not reply. Mr. Gradgrind encourages his oldest daughter to think about the proposal carefully. She thinks for sometime and agrees to the proposal and asks her father to convey her message to Mr Bounderby. Her father dutifully agrees and complements her on her good decision making. Mr. Bounderby is overjoyed on hearing Louisa agreement. He calls Mrs. Sparsit and asks her to leave the house and move into her own private apartment with all her own commodities. Mrs. Sparsit agrees and wishes him a happy married life. Finally the day arrives and the marriage takes place successfully but Tom and Sissy are very surprised at Louisa's decision. Pages 115-141 Everything is going on fine and Mrs. Sparsit is happy with her new job at the bank. One day she is talking to Britzer, the same fellow who defines a horse in the beginning of the book, about Tom Gradgrind and his late slacking behavior, when a stranger interrupts their conversation. He says that he has a letter of introduction to Mr. Bounderby from Mr. Gradgrind. He enquirers about Mr. Bounderby and his wife, in whom he seems overly interested. He is shocked to learn that Mr. Bounderby's wife is only in her twenties but does not show it. He heads over to Me. Bounderby's for dinner where he introduces himself as being James Harthhouse. He only seems to have joined Mr. Gradgrind because he had nothing better to do. He converses with Mr. And Mrs. Bounderby and finds the later interesting. He finds her quite and reserved character quite interesting. He also finds Tom Gradgrind to be a social and fun-loving person. So after dinner he asks Tom to drop him at his house. Tom willingly walks him home. When they get to

Harthouse's house, Harthhouse lures Tom in with drink and tobacco and get a full picture of Louisa's life and her history from him. He learns that she married Bounderby only for Tom. Pages 142-167 Meanwhile in Coketown all the workers have gathered to hold a meeting in an attempt to improve each other's lives. A speaker named Slackbridge tells the people that they can only help each other by rebelling and telling everyone each other's trouble. Stephen, who is part of the crowd, disagrees and says that doing so will only lead to worse conditions. Some heed his words while others don't. The meeting ends and Stephen is summoned to Mr. Bounderby's house by Britzer. Stephen shows up at Mr. Bounderby's house and in the presence of Louisa and Harthhouse is questioned about the meeting. Stephen refuses to answer because he believes that confessing the contents of the meetings will be an act of disloyalty towards he fellow workers. But despite that he tell Mr. Bounderby that the unions and meeting will not prove to be an hindrance. Mr. Bounderby is annoyed and fires Stephen. Stephen leaves the house in despair. He realizes that the only way to find work is to leave the town. As he walks out of Mr. Bounderby's house, he meet the old woman he once met in the same place except that she was with Rachel this time. He asks them to come home with him and so they all head to his house. They have tea and Stephen informs them of his misfortune and his decision. The ladies are deeply sorry. Suddenly there is a knock on the door and Stephen is surprised to find Tom and Louisa at his doorstep. They both offer to help him. Louisa gives him two pounds for his journey and Tom tells him to wait outside the Bank for a few nights. Tom explains that if all goes well he might find another job. Stephen thanks that two and begins preparations for his leave. He also goes to the bank every night but returns disappointed every night. Finally, having lost his patience, He leaves town with a broken heart and his memories of Rachel.

Pages 168-218 Time passes and James gets a lot of influence over the people in town. He begins to enjoy his time in Coketown. He begins spending more time with Louisa, trying to win her heart over. He understands that the only person Louisa cares for is her brother. So he manipulates her emotions through her brother and tries to get her attention towards him. They have many emotional conversation and Harthhouse tries to make them more emotional but she seems to be devoid of emotions completely. Meanwhile, Bounderby is hard at work. One day a hundred and fifty pounds is reported missing from the bank and Bounderby's prime suspect is Stephen. He has heard from Mrs. Sparsit that Stephen had been lurking around the bank for the past few days but Louisa thinks differently. She knows that Stephen so she turns her attention towards her brother. She realizes that her brother had a legitimate motive to steal the money because he owed a lot in debts. She confronts him but he blatantly denies having stolen the money but when his sister leaves he begins crying and showing his guilt. Mrs. Sparsit, is meanwhile, staying with the Bounderby's trying to win over the attention of Mr. Bounderby by flattering him more than ever. She also insists on referring to Louisa and Miss Gradgrind and not as Mrs. Bounderby. Mrs. Sparsit also notices that Louisa is spending a lot of time with James Harthhouse. Suddenly, one day, Louisa receives news that her mother is dying. She rushes to the Stone Lodge to meet her mother, who was being nursed by Jane, her younger sister. Jane seems to be happier than she remembered herself being being at her age and Louisa believes that this was because Jane was brought up mostly by Sissy and not Mr. Thomas Gradgrind. Her mother calls to her and tell her that she feels as if she has missed something very important in her life. She writes a letter for Mr. Gradgrind explaining her dying troubles and breathes her last breath. Back at Mr. Bounderby's, Mrs. Sparsit get over her fear and goes back to her own apparent but still visited the Bounderbys often and while she was there, she could not help but notice the flourishing relationship between James and Louisa. She imagines Louisa to be running down a giant spiral staircase (Mrs. Sparsit's Staircase) but is never able to understand whats at the bottom of the

stairs. One day she finds out that Louisa in alone at the country house. Suspicious, she hurries there despite the downpour. There, she finds Louisa in deep conversation with James. James confesses his love for Louisa and Louisa agrees to be his lover. James asks her to meet him in the city and Louisa agree and asks him to hurry up and leave. As soon as he leaves, Louisa heads out the door and Mrs. Sparsit believes that she is going to meet James and so she decides to follow her but half way there she looses sight of her. Louisa heads straight for the Stone Lodge where she bursts out into her father's study and tell him how much she hated her life and how much she hated him for giving her such a life. She tells him that she hates Mr. Bounderby and might be in love with James. She is so heartbroken that she collapses to the floor. Mr. Gradgrind is at a loss for words. Pages 219- end In the final part of the book, everything is cleared. Louisa stays at the Stone Lodge for a few days so that she can recover. Sissy, who knows how to deal with 'matters of the heart,' vows to nurse her back to full health. She goes to James and asks him to forget about Louisa and leave Coketown and never to return. He agrees and leaves. Meanwhile Mrs. Sparsit tells Mr. Bounderby everything she saw in the garden. Enraged, he hurries to the Stone lodge and confronts Mr. Gradgrind. Mr. Gradgrind asks him to forgive his daughter. Bounderby tell him that if Louisa does not return to his house by the next day he will divorce her and so he does for Louisa does not return to his house. Bounderby's hate for Stephen doubles in the light of the recent events. He increases the number of people searching. Slackbridge gives a speech blaming Stephen and a city wide search is declared. One day, Louisa is visited by Bounderby, Tom and Rachel. Rachel tell Louisa that she has sent Stephen two letters informing of the charges against him. She believes that he will return to clear his name and saying so she leaves. But a weeks pass and there is no sign of Stephen and so the

suspicion on him only increases. Meanwhile, Mrs. Sparsit is in search of Mrs. Phelger, the woman that was in Stephen's house before the robbery. When she finds the old woman, she drags her to Mr. Bounderby, who is infuriated to find that Mrs. Phelger is his mother. One-by-one the truths start coming out and Mrs. Phelger tells everybody that she had not abandoned Bounderby in a gutter, but had raised him and fed him and loved. It was he who had abandoned her and had refrained her from visiting him. Mr. Bounderby is asked to confirm the story but refuses to offer any explanation of the past. During all this commotion, Stephen fails to reappear. One day when, Rachel and Sissy are taking a walk they find him clinging on to dear live in a pit. The ladies gather a crowd and a rescue team is called. Stephen is rescued and treated but his wounds are so bad that he dies in the arms of Rachel after asking her to ask Tom to clear his name. After the meeting Tom is fond to be missing. Louisa's fears are confirmed. Sissy tell Louisa that Tom is with Sealry's circus and will be transported safely out of the country. Louisa and Sissy travel to the circus and are reunited with Tom. Despite Britzer's attempt to take Tom back to justice, Sealry, double crosses him and makes sure that Tom gets away safely. A little later, Sealry informs Mr. Gradgrind that Sissy's father's dog, Marrylegs had returned signifying the old man's death. Meanwhile Mr. Bounderby resumes his normal life except for one thing. He fires Mrs. Sparsit and asks her to live her unpleasant relative, Aunt Scadgers. Live moves along in Coketown and things happen. Mr. Bounderby dies in five years time, Louisa never marries, Sissy has a big family and has many children that love Louisa, Tom begins his slow journey back home to his lovable sister to try and apologize to her for his blunders and the book ends.