Charles Dickens' Hard Times
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In Charles Dickens' novel Hard Times, the author provides us with a story of mill workers of Coketown, a hellish mill town that exists solely to exploit its human capital for profit. As Dickens tells us of one resident, Stephen, he lives in "the hardest working part of Coketown; in the innermost fortifications of that ugly citadel, where Nature was as strongly bricked out as killing airs and gases were bricked in" (Dickens 58). The lack of education and ability for upward mobility among the mill workers is readily apparent. Mill schools stick just to the "facts," and mill parents are desperate their children receive some schooling as a means of achieving a better lifestyle. The entire mill town is structured around the exploitation of human resources for the profit of the owners of the means of production. In this sense, the happiness of the greatest number of people, the measure of morality from a utilitarian perspective, is perverted in Coketown, since a handful of wealthy males profit from the exploitation of workers barely earning sustenance. This analysis will show how Dickens' view that education would provide a means of leveling the playing field between workers and owners is related to the philosophy of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism (1) is the concept that the "moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility, that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all persons." Taking an action,
. . .
empower the workers and help create a more even playing field.
In Hard Times, Dickens provides a portrait of Coketown and its institutional structures that seem in direct confrontation with the very elements of human existence people need to be happy or feel pleasure. One of these key institutional structures is education. Instead of being the model society it is promoted as being, Coketown's decision-makers mask their real goals through the manipulation of such institutions. For example, Gradgrind symbolizes the teaching philosophy that underlies Coketown's reasons for existing. Gradgrind is only a "man of facts and calculations" who has no use for teaching or exploring anything else, particularly if it would help improve the moral development of students or promote individuality or leisurely activities (Dickens 3). In this sense, Dickens maintains that a real education might empower individuals and lead to greater happiness for greater numbers of people, the goal of utilitarianism, but decision-makers like Gradgrind and Bounderby - Gradgrind's industrial counterpart - do not make decisions based on promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers.
The decisions of men like Gradgrind and Bounderb
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1435
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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