In Hard Times, Dickens depicts social relations in an unglorified fashion. He helps explain a rift between social classes. He focuses on both personal social relations and those that are held between the factions of society. In a way he does this to make people aware of the attitudes held in the time period. In the novel, Dickens focuses on a lot personal social relations, these include marriages. As in modern society, marriage is a commonplace thing. These personal relationships all are rocky and not fulfilling the covenant of marriage. In the Gradgrind marriage, Mr. gradgrind givens little regard to his wife, she was just a staple of the household and not something he seemed to love or cherish very much. This is depicted early on in the
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The workers and social elites had problems within their relationship. The social elites viewed the “hands” as disposable and just their to work the machines and turn a profit. A union was formed in the novel, and all but Stephen came to join this. A union decides to form, to ultimately create a strike. “Strange as it always is to consider any assembly in the act of submissively reigning itself to the dreariness of some complacent person...whose honesty in the main no competent observer free from bias could doubt, so agitated by such a leader”(106-107). Such an event shows the tension that the social elites are obviously not treating their workings how they should which coincided with Dickens view of reform in the workplace. The tension between the new business elites and the aristocrats is somewhat present but isn’t a major part of the novel. Mr. Gradgrind is one of the aristocrats, and has a quite flawless relationship with his counterpart, Mr. Bounderby, who is a self-made man. However men like James Harthouse cause some tension in the society because of their questionable character, which while also rich, make those in their class weary of them. Overall, social classes interacted with much tension that lead to unrest and conflict such as that of blaming the robbing of the bank on a hand, Blackpool, when in reality an member of upper class society, Tom, is guilty of …show more content…
He speaks of it in a way as if it is very helpful, a often rare opinion for the time, and was a useful method for the workers to achieve a goal, even sometimes in some agreeance with their master. He say it as a peaceful thing, as one would rather not tell the workers were on strike, and very organized, as this passage on page 303 says, “If the assembly, in respect of quietness and order, were put in comparison with the House of Commons, the Right Honorable the Speaker himself would decide”. In this essay Dickens spoke his mind about strikes, which as he was big on social reform it is not unexpected that he is in such great support and awe of the event but his depiction in Hard Times is not as positive as that in his essay. In the novel, a sense of disorder is more present along with a lack of unity. This lack of unity appears because they cast out a fellow worker who does not want to join the cause. A negative view is also shown because of Blackpool’s opinion on the strike, “‘it’s because they are so full of virtues that they have turned you adrift’”(114). His opinion is much more in support of strikes then one would originally believe upon reading his
The workers and social elites had problems within their relationship. The social elites viewed the “hands” as disposable and just their to work the machines and turn a profit. A union was formed in the novel, and all but Stephen came to join this. A union decides to form, to ultimately create a strike. “Strange as it always is to consider any assembly in the act of submissively reigning itself to the dreariness of some complacent person...whose honesty in the main no competent observer free from bias could doubt, so agitated by such a leader”(106-107). Such an event shows the tension that the social elites are obviously not treating their workings how they should which coincided with Dickens view of reform in the workplace. The tension between the new business elites and the aristocrats is somewhat present but isn’t a major part of the novel. Mr. Gradgrind is one of the aristocrats, and has a quite flawless relationship with his counterpart, Mr. Bounderby, who is a self-made man. However men like James Harthouse cause some tension in the society because of their questionable character, which while also rich, make those in their class weary of them. Overall, social classes interacted with much tension that lead to unrest and conflict such as that of blaming the robbing of the bank on a hand, Blackpool, when in reality an member of upper class society, Tom, is guilty of …show more content…
He speaks of it in a way as if it is very helpful, a often rare opinion for the time, and was a useful method for the workers to achieve a goal, even sometimes in some agreeance with their master. He say it as a peaceful thing, as one would rather not tell the workers were on strike, and very organized, as this passage on page 303 says, “If the assembly, in respect of quietness and order, were put in comparison with the House of Commons, the Right Honorable the Speaker himself would decide”. In this essay Dickens spoke his mind about strikes, which as he was big on social reform it is not unexpected that he is in such great support and awe of the event but his depiction in Hard Times is not as positive as that in his essay. In the novel, a sense of disorder is more present along with a lack of unity. This lack of unity appears because they cast out a fellow worker who does not want to join the cause. A negative view is also shown because of Blackpool’s opinion on the strike, “‘it’s because they are so full of virtues that they have turned you adrift’”(114). His opinion is much more in support of strikes then one would originally believe upon reading his