Charles Dickens Thesis Part 4

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strewn wreck in his own home, is admired for his persuasive lectures on the management of children and servants. This suggests that one's true self may not be reflected in what he or she can discuss. Magwitch is a man with many identities, if his assumed names are any indication. He's Provis, Magwitch, Pip's uncle, and Mr. Campbell. Miss Havisham's identity, solid for so many years in the form of the spurned bride, is finally changed when she realizes the terrible things she's done to other human beings. The fiery fortune of her wedding garb might be seen as a figurative destruction of that identity. No longer talented to see himself as a country blacksmith or a moneyed city boy, Pip leaves the country and forges his own identity through his own hard work (Expectations, 154.)
Dickens’ insight in Great Expectations really influenced people. The story of Pip and his ups and downs motivated people as well as kept them in check. The topics and themes discussed in the novel dealt deep into many people’s lives.
Beginning in the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution was the largest single movement that changed the world forever. Before the revolution, people worked in their homes making goods by hand, which was costly and very time consuming. Machines on the other hand were very fast and took less people to operate, which meant it cost less. Many fob opportunities opened up for the people, but the revolution did have a much darker side.
Working conditions were terrible and the wages received by the workers were barely livable with. Women and children were hired more often due to their
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ability to adapt and could be paid much less then men. The machines were very dangerous and limbs were often cut off. “Accidents” often occurred and resulted in a fatality. If someone was not killed on the job it only meant that that day was not productive. The factories, which ran on coal, poured black smoke into the air
and polluted the town’s rivers and streams. The cities became dark, dirty, and overcrowded.
In Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times, Dickens highlights the living conditions of a nineteenth century industrial town. Dickens discusses the characteristics of the town and its citizens, working conditions, and the development of children and their education. Dickens really uses the book to state his views and feeling of the social and living conditions of the time. Dickens work was very appealing to his readers of the time, because they were the people dealing with these issues. They were the people of the nineteenth century Industrial Revolution.
The fictional town in which the story takes place is named Coke Town (Times, 16.) Coal miners refer to the residue coal produces that can be burned for fuel as “coke” (Times, 16.) The representation of Coke Town is a very good description of many industrial cities in Northern England. The town is described as a depressing and ugly town that is very noisy and smelly (Times, 27.) The buildings were turned black from the chimneys and factories. “ It was a town of machinery and chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed

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themselves” (Times, 27.) The piston of the huge steam engine moved up and down “like the head of an elephant” (Times, 27.)
The citizens of Coke Town were very affected by the towns living conditions. The town is drab and colorless just like the first two main characters introduced, Mr. Bounderby and Mr. Gradgrind. The two men are selfish and dull
and would never permit to wonder, fancy, or have feelings (Times, 16.) The people are kept from wondering what life would be like if they could escape from Coke Town (Criticism, 7.)
In the town of Coke many people work in the mills. The working conditions stated by a character are a total opposite of the real goings on at the mills. “First of all, you see our smoke. That’s meat and drink to us. It’s the healthiest thing in the world in all respects, and particularly for the lungs. The work. It’s the pleasantest work there is, and it’s the lightest work there is, and it’s the best paid work there is” (Times, 126.) A union forms between the mill workers and the owner. The descriptions of the mill workers and owners clearly point out the distaste Dickens has towards factory owners and the way they treat their work hands (Perdue, 16.)
Education is a terrible thing in the town of Coke. The children are being taught to base everything on fact. Only facts will be sought after, feelings or wondering will not be permitted. “Now what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life” (Times, 9.) Dickens reveals his disliking to this kind of education in the book by naming the