Product Overview
Ordering Books for Hard Times by Charles Dickens
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About the Book Hard Times
Hard Times by Charles Dickens is set in the fictional industrial town of Coketown and follows the lives of two primary families—the Gradgrinds and the Bounderbys. Thomas Gradgrind, a strict utilitarian, believes in facts and figures, raising his children Louisa and Tom devoid of imagination and emotional expression. Louisa, who marries the wealthy but arrogant factory owner Josiah Bounderby, faces an unhappy and loveless marriage, while Tom, employed at Bounderby's bank, falls into a life of vice and crime. The narrative exposes the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and rigid education on individuals.
The story also introduces Sissy Jupe, a compassionate and imaginative girl raised in a circus who contrasts sharply with the Gradgrind children's upbringing. Sissy's influence begins to soften the Gradgrind household, particularly Louisa, who starts recognizing the emptiness in her strictly fact-based world. Meanwhile, Stephen Blackpool, an honest worker at Bounderby's factory, struggles with personal and systemic injustices, highlighting the grim realities faced by the working class. By the end of the novel, the rigid beliefs of Gradgrind are challenged, leading to a more balanced approach to life that values compassion as much as logic.
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