HARD TIMES

HARD TIMES - Charles Dickens

SUBGENRE: Novel
SITUATION: Thomas Gradgrind is a teacher. He thinks that imagination ang figures are the most important things in life. Tom lives in Coketown, in the North of England. For him life is made with practical facts and he thinks that the imagination is only a way to escape real life and to waste time. At school he teaches what are the real things in life, without using the imagination. In his class there's a girl called Sissy Jupe, who is a circus' man's daughter. Louisa, Thomas' daughter, marries Bounderby, a factory owner for whom her brother Tom works, but she is unhappy. A politicial called Harthouse tries to seduce Sissy. For this reason she asks help to her teacher, Thomas. Tom, has a crysis of value and he thinks is better to leave the town. At the end, Thomas understands his mistakes and that his theories are wrong.
CHARACTERS: Mr. Grandgrind, Tom Grandgrind, Louisa Grandgrind, Mr. Harthouse, Mrs. Sparsit, Sissy Jupe, Stephen Blackpool, Rachael.
NARRATOR: External, 3rd person
THEMES: Love, respect, the importance of the life, imagination
STYLE: Realistic descriptions

- Serena Mannarella