7/28/2019 Summary of the Action Of

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Summary of the Action ofHard Timesfrom the Char les Dickens CD

The novel is set in Coketown, a northern industrial city. Thomas Gradgrind rules his

family and his school according to Utilitarianism, the philosophy of the time, which

has as its aim the greatest possible happiness for the greatest possible number of

people. However, the form of Utilitarianism which Dickens attacks in the novel isplain materialism that denies all other values than material ones, or Facts as they are

called.

Thomas Gradgrind has two children Louisa and Tom. They are caught by their father

when they try to see Slearys Circus, where the clownJupe works. Jupe has a

daughterSissy, and when Jupe leaves the circus and his daughter, Gradgrind invites

her to come and live with his family.

Josiah Bounderby is the rich owner of the Coketown factories. He is a proud self-

made man; but once and again his house is observed by a strange old

woman. Stephen Blackpoolis one of Bounderbys workers. Blackpool has a troubled

life. He has an alcoholic wife, who has left him, but he cannot be divorced from her.

He is in love with Rachel, a factory girl. When a strike breaks out and Blackpool is

not willing to join the trade union his mates will not have anything to do with him. He

is fired, and he has to leave town.

Tom Gradgrind starts to work in Bounderbys bank, and Bounderby proposes to

Louisa. Though she is 30 years younger than him, she accepts. Bounderbys

housekeeperMrs. Sparsitis jealous. Louisas marriage is unhappy, andJames

Harthouse, a politician, attempts to seduce her.

Bounderbys bank is robbed by Tom. However, it is Steven Blackpool who is

suspected, and Bitzer, a clerk in the bank gives evidence against him. Mrs. Sparsit has

discovered the relationship between Harthouse and Louisa and spies upon them.

Louisa turns Harthouse down, and she goes home to her father to talk to him about her

problems. He comes near to realizing that his upbringing of his children based on

Facts has been a misunderstanding. Gradgrind now shelters Louisa from

Bounderby, and the couple are permanently separated.

Stephen Blackpool is found dying in a disused mine shaft. He asks Gradgrind to clear

his name.

Gradgrind now learns from Sissy and Louisa that it is Tom that is the bank robber.

Tom is now hiding in Slearys Circus disguised as a clown. His escape abroad is

nearly stopped by Bitzer, but Sleary, his horse and his trained dog effect Toms escapenevertheless.

Mrs. Sparsit finds out that the strange old woman outside Mr. Bounderbys house is in

fact his mother, and that he does not have a humble origin as he has claimed. He is not

after all a self-made man.

Tom dies abroad, and Gradgrind lives into old age rejecting his Facts and Figures,

Faith, Hope and Charity having become his leading principles.

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