- 1. Hard Time
Character
JANVI NAKUM
- 2. Presented by : Janvi Nakum
Presentation: 4
M.A. Sem :1
Paper no : 104 Literature of the Victorians
Topic : Hard Time Characters
Roll no : 15
Enrollment No : 4069206420210020
Email id : janvinakum360@gmail.com
Submitted To : S. B. Garadi Department of English, MKBU
- 3. Hard Time
Hard Times: For These Times is the tenth novel
by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The
book surveys English society and satirizes the
social and economic conditions of the era. One
of Dickens’s reasons for writing hard times was
that sales of his weekly periodical Household
Words were low, and it was hoped the novel’s
publication in instalments would boost
circulation – as indeed proved to be the case.
- 4. Characters
Thomas Gradgrind Stephen Blackpool
Louisa Rachael
Thomas Gradgrind, Jr (Tom) James Harthouse
Josiah Bounderby Mr. Sleary
Cecelia Jupe Bitzer
Mrs. Sparsit
- 5. Mr. Mcchoakumchild
Mrs. Pegler
Mrs. Gradgrind
Slackbridge
Jane Gradgrind
- 6. What is the meaning of Gradgrind?
One that is patently and usually as a matter of outspoken policy
marked by a materialistic and philistine outlook.an uninspired
and assiduous seeker after facts.
- 7. Thomas Gradgrind
Thomas Gradgrind is the notorious
school board Superintendent in
Dickens’s 1854 novel Hard Time who is
dedicated to the to pursuit of profitable
enterprise. His name is now used
generically to refer to someone who is
hard and only concerned with cold facts
and numbers.
- 8. Thomas Gradgrind is the first character we meet in Hard Times, and
one of the central figures through whom Dickens weaves a web of
intricately connected plotlines and characters. Dickens introduces us
to this character with a description of his most central feature his
mechanized, monotone attitude and appearance. The opening scene in
the novel describes Mr. Gradgrind’s speech to a group of young
student, and it is appropriate that Gradgrind physically embodies the
dry, hard facts he crams into his students’ heads.
- 9. In the first few chapter of the novel, Mr. Gradgrind expounds his
philosophy of calculating, rational self- interest.
This philosophy has brought Mr. Gradgrind much financial and social
success. He becomes a Member of Parliament, a position that allows
him to indulge his interest in tabulating data about the people of
England.
Gradgrind admit, “The ground on which I stand has ceased to be solid
under my Feet”. and he becomes a wiser and humbler man, ultimately
“making his facts and figures subservient to Faith, Hope and Charity”.
- 10. Louisa Gradgrind
Louisa is one of the central characters of the novel. She is the
eldest of the Gradgrind children and the prize pupil of the
educational system. When she grows older, her father arranges
her marriage to Mr. Bounderby. Throughout her life, Louisa is
very unfulfilled because she has been forced to deny her
emotions. She has an emotional breakdown after being
tempted into infidelity by Mr. Harthouse. Her marriage with Mr.
Bounderby is soon dissolved and she never remarries.
- 11. Tom is also referred to as "the whelp." He is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Gradgrind and an employee of Mr. Bounderby. He is resentful
towards his sister, Louisa, though she is only kind towards him.
His ultimate misdeed comes when he steals money from his safe
in the bank and then announces the loss as a true theft. In the end,
Tom is forced to flee the country to escape punishment. He dies
overseas and full of regret.
Tom Gradgrind
- 12. Mr. Josiah Bounderby
Mr. Bounderby is one of the central characters of the novel. He
is a business acquaintance of Mr. Thomas Gradgrind. He
employs many of the characters in the novel and he is very
wealthy. He marries Louisa Gradgrind (several decades his
junior) and the marriage eventually ends unhappily. In the
tumult of a bank robbery investigation, Bounderby's true
identity is revealed much to his shame. Throughout the novel,
Bounderby is an emblem of hypocrisy.
- 13. Cecelia "Sissy" Jupe
Sissy is abandoned by her father who is a well-meaning circus performer. He
feels that she will have a better life if he is not able to hinder her progress in
society. Sissy lives with the Gradgrind family but she is a poor pupil at their
school. In contrast to Mr. Gradgrind, Sissy lives by the philosophy of emotion,
fancy, hope and benevolence. In the end, her kindhearted nature softens the
rough edges of the Gradgrind family and they come to be grateful for what
she has done for them. At the end of the novel, Dickens writes that Sissy
grows ever more happy and she eventually has children of her own to care
for.
- 14. Reference
Graderind Definition & Meaning Merriam- Webster
https://www.Merriam- webster.com
Hard Time Character list/Spark Notes
https://www.Sparknotes.com/lits/hardtimes/characters/
Hard Time: Wikipedia
https://en.m.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Times_(novel)
