ENG 396a ~ Dickens’ Hard Times

“that there ith a love in the world, not all Thelf-intereth” (259)

Mr. Bounderby lies about his past denying his “humble” (232) beginnings to present himself as a self-made man in the hopes of gaining a certain amount of aristocratic respect. Mr. Harthouse gives the young “whelp”(162) a talking to while admitting he is “selfish in everything he does” (162). Mrs. Sparsit uses her artifice to maintain her aristocratic status. Tom Gradgrind takes a position in the bank to help secure his sister’s marriage to Bounderby, but not “for her own sake, or his sake, but for my sake”(161). All these characters (among others) behave out of self-interest. The narrative presents the self-serving philosophy of these characters to argue against it through Mr. Gradgrind’s change of “heart” (253).

As a pillar of the “Hard Fact men” (227) Mr. Gradgrind could not have his children exposed to the idle amusement of the circus. Preserving his own reputation, as it may be constructed out of his children’s behavior, he briskly removes them from that environment. He does offer Sissy Jupe a place in his home, but that results in her looking after the ailing Mrs. Gradgrind. Anything Mr. Gradgrind addresses he does so in self-interest.

The narrative most significantly marks Mr. Gradgrind’s journey out of self-interest with Stephen’s last request. Stephen Blackpool charges Mr. Gradgrind with clearing his name suggesting that he ask Tom for help to do so. Gradgrind’s reputation hangs in the balance once he realizes that his “whelp” (162) of a son has “disgraced” (250) him by robbing the bank. Mr. Gradgrind fulfills his “duty of vindicating Stephen Blackpool’s memory” (244), but is torn between his duty as a father and his Coketown reputation. His decision to help his “poor boy” (252) comes after he disappears into his study for an entire day. Mr. Gradgrind returns described by the narrative as “a wiser man, and a better man, than in the days when his life wanted nothing but Facts” (244). He is changing, his emotions are a wreck, but Mr. Gradgrind’s logic has evolved to include these emotions.

Helping his son escape is still out of self-interest, but his struggle with that philosophy illustrates the argument against it. Bitzer’s capture of Tom, not only heightens the tension of the plot, but reinforces the conflict with the self-serving philosophy repeatedly illustrated by the narrative. Just as Mr. Gradgrind acknowledges and embraces the importance of “compassionate influence” (254) his own methodology is thrown back at him.

--"If this is solely a question of self-interest with you--- Mr. Gradgrind began.
I beg your pardon for interrupting, sir, returned Bitzer; but I am sure you know that the whole social system is a question of self-interest (254)"--

The narrative argues against social structures dominated by self-interested reasoning with this conflict. Gradgrind still pleads with Bitzer to release his son by appealing to the memories of “many years at my school”(255). These attempts are to no avail. The narrative again brings attention to Gradgrind’s philosophy:

--"It was a fundamental principle of the Gradgrind philosophy, that everything was to be paid for. Nobody was ever on any account to give anybody anything, or render anybody help without purchase. Gratitude was to be abolished, and the virtues springing from it were not to be. Every inch of the existence of mankind, from birth to death, was to be a bargain across a counter. And if we did n’t get to Heaven that way, it was not a politico-economical place, and we had no business there (255)."--

By reiterating Gradgrind’s philosophy as the barrier to his son’s escape the narrative argues against self-interested motives.