Charles Dickens Research Paper

Through his book Hard Times, Charles Dickens shows readers what being a part of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain was like for each social class. Although his characters and events are extreme and dramatic, their stories illustrate what life might have been like in a way that is comprehensive. We learn though the eyes of Gradgrind, and Bounderby the positives and negatives of being at the top of the food chain. We also see the effects of being in the working class through Stephen and her Sissy’s circus friends. Dicken’s tells a little bit of each character’s story and intertwines them into a novel. This paper will demonstrate how the different social classes of the industrial revolution are in line with Dicken’s characters.

Before

They prided themselves in how much money they had and showed it off through mansions, art, fine clothing, personal carriages, and expensive dinning. Instead of going to work all day, they could afford to spend their time doing leisure activities like golf or parties. (Industrial Revolution Research) Bounderby, an owner of a bank, was a part of the upper class. He claimed that his mother and father abandoned him and he grew up poor to gain more popularity, but in the end of the novel, we meet his mother and find out that he had a very positive childhood. Through the novel, we see that Bounderby only cares about what will benefit himself. We are even shown a scene where he had the change to help out Stephen, who works in a factory

The growth of factories created more jobs than ever before. They could even work hard to earn enough money to rise to the next class. People within this class formed new schools and libraries due to the growing population of the middle and upper class. (The Industrial Revolution and Its Impact on European Society) In Charles Dickens Hard Times, We know that Gradgrind, a retired merchant who prides himself in teaching children about hard fact and rationalism, was a part of the middle class. (Dickens)

The working class, were those who worked 12 hour days, earned very little money, and lived in crowed dirty communities. They had dangerous work, unhealthy environments, and even the children worked in the factories. It was very hard to rise out of this class because you only earned enough needed to survive. Through the eyes of Stephen, we could see how overworked, underpaid, and poorly he was treated by the other classes. He was born into the working class and he was unable to rise out of it because he could never afford more than what would keep him and his drunk life alive.