How does Dickens present his views on education in hard times? :: Free Essay Writer

How does Dickens present his views on education in hard times?Hard times is set in the 1840s in the brotherhood of England. Its set at atime when Britain is changing dramatically because of the IndustrialRevolution, which is mainly affecting this part of Britain. Thisrevolution moved much of the domesticate from the country into towns andcities, and small cramped villages were built around the factories andmills to house the workers. Dickens novel hard times was set duringthis time.Dickens uses many techniques end-to-end the novel to show his views oneducation to his readers, the first of which is to create differentcharacters, some of which contrast each other in different ways . dickensof such Characters are Sissy Jupe and Bitzer. They differ in the waysthey have been taught and the ways they see the education system.Bitzer is a model disciple, he has always stringently followed the systemand been taught exactly how the system requires him to be taught. Heis shown as lifeless and colourless, the boy was so light-eyed andlight-haired that the self-same rays appeared to draw out of him whatlittle colour he ever possessed. This gives the effect that he hasbeen drained of life and e precisething else but facts. When asked, Bitzerdescribes a Horse as a Quadruped and graminivorous and givesendless facts about the animal. Although this description is veryfactual and impressive, the use of long complex words and the amountof facts show that he has simply been taught these facts, and probablyhas never even seen a Horse. Sissy on the other hand does notunderstand how to factually define a Horse when asked, this is becauseshe has been brought up with Horses all her life and they are toofamiliar and strategic to her just to be described in facts. This isone way that Dickens tries to show to his audience that this type ofeducation is wrong, the teaching of bare facts limits the imaginationof the student and a more practical way of teaching, like Sissy hashad, would help the children understand the facts that they are beingtaught, instead of just learning them.Dickens in like manner shows the characters of some of the staff at the schoolto make his views known. Mr Gradgrind is the first to be introduced,from the onset Dickens portrays him as squared , both in hisappearance and character, he reveals little about him apart from thefact he is rigid, and has little individuality. This is emphasized bythe repletion of square and speaker, and by this he is shown to