Essay Hard Times

Hard Times[pic 1]

Write a detailed comparaison of the three passages. In what ways does Dickens convey the changes in Louisa’s and Gradgrind’s characters and in their relationship ?

(Imagery, dialogue, actions/reactions and descriptions)

        Louisa and Mr. Gradgrind are two characters from the novel Hard Times by Charles Dickens (1812-1870). They both appear in Chapters 3, 15 and 28. Through these chapters, we can see the evolution of each character and their relationship thanks to the imagery, the descriptions and the dialogue Dickens provides.

        In the three passages, Dickens shows the evolution of Louisa by using the metaphor and semantic field of fire. In Chapter 3, her face and expression is described as “a fire with nothing to burn”. This shows all of her effort to keep this “fire” or her imagination alive and how she craves for beauty and freedom. Because if a fire has nothing to burn, it will die down. This also explains why she is “tired” and has “been tired a long time”, she is tired of fighting for her emotions. In Chapter 15, she is “consulting the chimneys” as if she was identifying with them and asking for help as a last glimpse of hope. And through a metaphor, she tries to communicate and to warn her father that she will soon be dead inside “Yet when the night comes, fire bursts out, Father!”. By saying this she begs him to help her, but because of his lack of imagination, he does not understand this metaphor. In Chapter 28, it is too late for Louisa, she describes herself in a state of “conscious death”. She does not feel or imagine anything any more. Dickens shows by using a pathetic fallacy and the semantic field of storm such as “deluge”, “thunder” and “lightning”. And the rain has the power to estinguish a fire and in this case, Louisa’s fire, Louisa’s life. In these three passages, we can see how Louisa evolves from a state of fight, to one of warning and to finish dead inside. Killed by her father’s blindness and faith in facts.

        But unfortunately, Louisa is the only one to evolve, her father stays the same. Mr. Gradgrind is very attached to his children’s practical education, he is missing the “inappreciable things” of life such as emotions, beauty and imagination. Despite all the warning his daughter sends him, he does not understand, he does “not see the application of the remark”, in fact he is blind. To show this, Dickens uses the semantic fields of sight in the three chapters: “he looked at her” in Chapter 3; “he might have seen” in Chapter 15 and “stood looking at him” in Chapter 28. And because of his blindness, even if he wants to evolve, he cannot. He tries to evolve, this is shown by the increasing number of questions he asks his daughter through the three passages. But even if his attempts to become a better do not change him, it changes his relationship with his daughter.

        The relationship between Louisa and her father is a very complicated one. Mainly because he has “starved” her “imagination” since she was a little girl. As she realises this, anger grows in her and she curses him for giving her “such a destiny”. But before arriving at this stage of their relationship they have both tried to save it. In Chapter 15, when Louisa “sat looking him fixedly” she is hoping that he will see her distress and stop being her manufacturer and becomes her father. But the “artificial barriers” he had been erecting keep him from seeing this opportunity. Unfortunately, this is not the only attempt he missed, in fact their relationship can be resumed as he series of missed opportunities.

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