Satire is a writing technique utilized by writers to expose and criticize the corruption or stupidity of an individual or a society, using humor to improve humanity by denouncing its shortcomings. Satire provides a strong message while entertaining the reader. This method is often used throughout literature, including brilliant works like Charles Dickens’ Hard Times. Dickens uses satire to criticise the ruthlessness of Mr. Gradgrind, and his opposition of creativity and imagination in the education system of Victorian England during the Industrial Revolution, and proves that the philosophy of utilitarianism and self-interest are inefficient and prevent children from gaining the proper skills to improve their lives during such a difficult and chaotic time.
For example, Dickens starts this work with characterizing the man who created the school in Coketown, Thomas Gradgrind. Gradgrind was a utilitarian who thought that feeding children with only facts, figures and statistics was the proper way to educate them, and rejected the use of their imagination or emotions. He thought that hard facts were the key to living a practical life. Gradgrind believes that, “Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing and root our everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts…” (Dickens, 9).
The absurdity of the education system is also displayed heavily through Gradgrind’s physical appearance. He is characterized as a man with, “square coat, square legs, square shoulders, along with a, “square wall of a forehead…while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves, overshadowed by the wall” (Dickens, 9). Gradgrind physically embodies the dry, hard facts that he crams into his students’ heads, and his relentless rigidity proves inefficient for the young students, as well as his children. Dickens is trying to show his readers that feeding young children a bunch of facts and denying them a creative outlet prevents them from developing a sense of character and reaching their full potential.
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Dickens also satirizes the characteristics of the school itself as lifeless and dull. For example, “The scene was plain, bare, monotonous vault of a schoolroom…” (Dickens, 9). Dickens chooses traits of the classroom comparable to that of a prison. He is trying to emphasize Gradgrind’s belief that the creativity and imagination of the students must be locked away, because it is not necessary nor important in the education of young children. Dickens believed that school should be the place where children can release their thoughts and explore their minds, challenging themselves and their peers every day. This drab and mundane environment creates hostility, and will only cause fear and intimidation. The classroom traits can also personify the curriculum that the children are learning. Facts are concrete, very black and white, much like the lifeless and colorless box that the children spend the school-day in. Dickens is mocking the strict schools in Victorian England, and shows his readers that children will not thrive in the future if they are unable to express themselves and think critically.
The two extremes of students in Gradgrind’s school are also satirized by Dickens. For example, “…whereas the girl was so dark-eyed and dark-haired, that she seemed to receive a deeper more lustrous colour from the sun” (Dickens, 11). This quote is describing a child named Sissy. Sissy is an imaginative and compassionate young girl, who was the daughter of a clown. She is energetic, passionate, and full of life and emotion. Sissy embodies the kindness and gentleness of Victorian England, which is a contrast to the mechanical and austere views of Gradgrind. Unfortunately, bring different does not make her special, and she is ridiculed and punished for her individuality by Gradgrind. “[Gradgrind]‘Sissy is not a name…Don’t call yourself Sissy. Call yourself Cecilia.’ ‘It’s my father as calls me Sissy, sir,’ returned the young girl with a trembling voice and with another courtesy. ‘Then he has no business to do it,’ said Mr. Gradgrind” (Dickens, 10-11).
Gradgrind is telling innocent Sissy that she does not have a proper name and that her father has no right to name her that, which is cruel and unjustified. Dickens included this to emphasize Gradgrind’s rigidity, because he is persecuting her for not fitting the “mold” of a model student due to her unique name and her colorful imagination. A teacher is supposed to inspire and help a child grow as an individual, not shame them for being different. This again aligns with Gradgrind’s structured physical appearance, as well as his belief and reliance on cold, hard facts. On the other hand, a student named Bitzer is one of the successes produced by Gradgrind’s utilitarian system of education. He is the foil to Sissy, and is characterized by Dickens as lifeless as well.
Dickens says, “His skin was so unwholesomely deficient in the natural tinge, that he looked as though, if he were cut, he would bleed white” (Dickens, 12). Bitzer represents people who agree with the utilitarian and fact-driven philosophy believed by Gradgrind: robotic, fact-spewing, colorless people. This is more proof that the reliance of facts in education destroys the humanity in people, and drains them of all of their exuberance. The point that Dickens is trying to make is that a person with these traits would not survive in a time like the Industrial Revolution. One’s ability to survive and thrive is measured by their ability to be creative and think outside the box, as well as use their past experiences to strengthen them.
The Victorian England that Dickens grew up in lived was panic-stricken with massive economic turmoil, as the Industrial Revolution brought extreme change throughout the established order. The gap between the middle and working classes grew as factory owners took advantage of their employees in order to increase their own profits. Workers, who were referred to as “the Hands” in Hard Times, were forced to work long hours for low pay in loud, cramped, and dangerous factories because they lacked education and job skills, and had few options for improving their terrible living conditions and working conditions. Dickens made it his mission to ease the horrible living and working conditions of the poor. He used his talents as a writer to bring attention to their suffering, and utilized techniques such as satire to express his feelings in a humorous fashion.
Gradgrind represents the utilitarian political economy that refuses to aid the poor English population. The philosophy became popular because it appealed to those who had benefited financially from the Industrial Revolution: the upper and middle classes. Unlike before, the middle class of England had moved into a position of power as a result of their newfound wealth. The poor were taken advantage of, as jobs and housing were lost by numerous families as machinery replaced man in the workplace. Dickens is trying to open the eyes of his fellow Brits and help them see the corrupt ways of the utilitarians. He is trying to tell the readers that facts alone cannot provide reasoning.
One must be creative and use their imagination to conquer their obstacles and come out victorious. Dickens wants people to have hope, and is trying to prevent humanity from turning into a machine that is void of emotions or imagination. With an end to the utilitarian education system, children can build character from their experiences and the use of their creativity and colorful imaginations to help them fight for a better standard of living and improved working conditions. They will finally obtain the tools and skills necessary to fight back to the nasty middle and upper classes.
The Industrial Revolution brought so much chaos that utilitarianism seemed the most logical politically and economically for the English population. However, only a portion of the population actually benefited from the adoption of this new way of thinking. Utilitarians claimed that they made decisions that helped everyone, but they only helped themselves. They decided that their gain was more important than the tremendous losses that the poor would have to face. Dickens would not stand to see the poor English population suffer any longer. He used his brilliant talents as a writer, and incorporated writing techniques such as satire into this novel to expose the upper and middle classes for taking advantage of the poor, as the economic spiral of the Industrial Revolution made them even poorer.
Dickens satirized the education system as a way to illustrate the absolute absurdity of utilitarianism, in order to alert his people of the deceit and hypocrisy that surrounded him. He was able to express his deep concerns by satirizing the heartlessness and cruelty of Mr. Gradgrind, and his opposition of creativity and imagination in the education system of Victorian England during the Industrial Revolution. The preservation of humanity was his main objective, so the maintenance of creativity, imagination, and critical thinking was a necessity. Charles Dickens would not allow the emergence of new machinery influence his people to become machines as well.
