We see the entire book
get wrapped up in the last chapter of the text. How does the way in which the
characters act in Hard Times relates to what ends up happening to them? In other
words, how does the way in which a character acts (i.e. personality, decisions,
actions etc.) decide their fate at the end of the book? How does this relate to the word "Garnering"?
The main characters of the text have interesting paths. In the beginning of the text it seems as though there are some characters who were forced to succomb to the extreme fact-based society due to their powerful father, such as Tom and Louisa were. Their father's way was the only way they knew and their surrender (although that's all they knew) to the industrial focus of the society only continued with their growing. Louisa was forced into a marriage with Mr. Bounderby, a man who epitimized the materialism of Coketown, where they lived. Tom also took a high-level job at Coketown's bank, a very respectable position that is acceptable in that society. Over time and continuing in the book, both of these main characters face situations in which they come to realize and accept that the way they brought up wasn't natural. For example, this is very well shown through this metaphor of fire in Louisa, in which she has always had and identified with although not wanting to admit it because of society's expectations of her, until finally at the climax of the book she breaks down and her life takes on a different route. All in all, the title of the last book: Garnering, symbolizes that each of the characters have earned and gained what their fate is through the realization of who they really are and the rejection of the rigid expectations of society they were taught to conform to.
ReplyDelete-Fiona, Group 6
When I think of how each of the main characters end up in the end, one person who stood out to me is Sissy. Sissy is introduced to us and right away it is clear she does not fit in with the other people of Coketown. She is unable to answer questions at school, her father was in a cuircus, she used her imagination, and she was definatley not raised upon the idea of facts. In the beginning of the sotry it was clear that out of all the characters within the story, Sissy was the only one who was willing to over-step boudaries and be whoever she wanted to be. Because of this individuality she posessed she, out of all the characters, ended up having an amazing life."But, happy Sissy's happy children; all children loving her..."(Dickens, 287). There is a clear contrast between her fate and all the other characters. Stephen dies, Louisa is unmarried, etc. But Sissy ends up happily married with kids. Dickens suggests that this idea of Garnering is why Sissy lived happily ever after. In the end she earned this happiness,and she was always an individual, she was always kind and gentile, so ultimaltley she obtained this happiness that she deserved!
ReplyDeleteI noticed how Dickens painted Sissy in a better light than everyone else too, and I think the idea you brought up - that Sissy ended up happier than everyone else - is a nice contrast between the drudgery of Coketown. But, what stood out even more to me was the line "she had grown learned in childish lore" (287). I thought that the description of Sissy - the girl that constantly berates herself as being stupid, who was told that continuing in her schooling was useless - as someone who had grown learned really contrasted with the entire point of the fact-based institution: the only thing one needs to learn is facts, when, actually, the person that turned out learned in the end could barely learn any facts. In reference to "garnering," I think this small detail is just another instance in which acquiring more facts results merely in a loss of happiness.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Karen and Angela in that Sissy is very much a character that ends up with (from what we read on page 287) a very happy life in which she very much deserved. I also wanted to pose a question which is whether or not you think that Dickens wrote Sissy's fate to be positive and happy not only because she challenged the rigid institutions (the symbol for the Industrial Revolution) but because she actually had the courage to challenge such a powerful society? So to simplify: Sissy's fate due to challenging rigidity of Coketown's institutions or possessing the courage to challenge it at all, or both?
ReplyDelete-Fiona