T F 28 (382)

Jonathan Spees Class Summary English 382 After waking up way to early and trekking my way to combs I was greeted by the improperly named reward quiz where yet again I got a four out of five. Following the quiz and my disappointment about my mediocre grade, we had a brief discussion concerning the background of the novel we were reading which was Charles Dickens Hard Times. Our discussion began with a hysterical joke told by Professor Foss about the 200th birthday of Mr. Dickens. Following the joke, after the class settled down, we began talking about the background of Hard Times. We discussed how unlike most Dickens’ novels, this one has far less characters and how this novel is much less subtle than some of his others. The focal point of this class period was based on the five main male characters of Hard Times who we had been introduced to at this point, respectively Gradgrind, Bounderby, Sleary, Blackpool, and Harthouse. Following our brief discussion of Hard Times Professor Foss announced to the class that we would once again be taking part in the legendary BOOM BOOM BOOM activity and asked us to break into five small groups, one for each of the five main male characters. I was placed in group number four and we were initially assigned the character of Blackpool, arguably the most sympathetic character of the entire novel. We were given five to seven minutes to discuss this character in our group while writing down what we talked about and following our discussion we switched characters with another group. We proceeded to do this five times, one for each character before reconvening into a large class discussion. Upon first meeting our group launched right into a discussion about the would be hero of Hard Times Stephen Blackpool. As the first group to discuss Blackpool we stayed broad throughout our discussion, we addressed how he had an alcoholic wife who he was not allowed to divorce, and was actually in love with Rachel, despite not being allowed to be with her. We also talked about how he was a very honest worker, who refused to unionize with the other “hands” isolating him from all of his peers. As the conversation began to lull we were awakened by a loud BOOM and proceeded to pass our paper on Blackpool as we were handed the paper concerning James Harthouse. When we first received this paper what was written was a brief outline about James Harthouse. The group before us wrote that he was a rich aristocrat come down from London to visit Coketown to become involved in politics as a disciple of Gradgrind. We were able to add that in addition to his wealthy background, he was also a man devoid of emotion similar to Bounderby, however he did not share the same obsession with fact that Bounderby did. Despite this, the two strike up a mutual friendship based on the ability James has to lie with ease. He works his way into Bounderby’s good graces, and is introduced to the wife of Bounderby, Louisa who Harthouse decides to seduce, merely because of the fact that he was bored and had nothing better to do. Just as we were wrapping up our discussion of James Harthouse, Professor Foss yelled BOOM and we repeated the process of getting rid of one paper while receiving another. The third paper our group received was about the character of Mr. Sleary, the circus proprietor. Already on the paper we received were the physical characteristics of Sleary, including his lisp making him at times difficult to understand. It was also already written that his character was the complete opposite of Gradgrind and Bounderby, in that he was not interested in fact at all. He was concerned entirely about the imagination of the people and providing them with an escape. Hard Times is often described as a novel of fact verse fancy, and Mr. Sleary is the epitome of fancy for this novel. Our group was able to add that while Dickens’ novel expresses the loss of humanity and the dangers of the industrial revolution, Sleary represents free will and the continued hope of humanity. As we were running out of things to say for this specific character, we were saved from an awkward silence by the third BOOM of our activity and proceeded to pass along our paper. The fourth character we received was Thomas Gradgrind, and by this character we were running out of new things to add to the paper. Already written was how he is entirely concerned with Fact and how his philosophy concerning his school as well as his children is fact and only fact, this could be seen with the definition of a horse that is given in the second or third chapter. It was also talked about how Gradgrind took in Sissy Jupe after Sleary informed them that Sissy’s father had left her and she had been kicked out of Gradgrind’s school as a result of her inability to conform to Gradgrind’s fact only philosophy. Gradgrind took in Sissy to care for Mrs. Gradgrind, giving her a home and job when things looked very bad for her. It was also addressed how Mr. Gradgrind towards the end of the first half of the book becomes a member of parliament. One thing we were able to add was that while Gradgrind is cold and obsessed with fact, he is in fact a devoted father and this can be seen by his taking in of Sissy Jupe, however based on his philosophy he is not very good with his children, or rather any children. Right as we were wrapping up our discussion of Thomas Gradgrind, we heard our fourth and final BOOM and received our last character and the only one remaining was Josiah Bounderby. Upon receiving our fifth and final paper we found that there was not all that much to be added to the character of Bounderby as what could be said of him had already been written down. It was addressed how he was a self-made man who married Louisa who was thirty years his junior. Like Gradgrind, Bounderby is also obsessed with fact although unlike Gradgrind he is devoid of any emotions and sentiment. It was also stated how Bounderby was resentful of the working class and he talks about how he was abandoned by his mother and he came from an “egg box.” One thing we were able to add was how Bounderby is very friendly with Harthouse, who is trying to seduce Louisa throughout the course of the novel. Following our brief discussion of Bounderby, Professor Foss halted the BOOM BOOM BOOM activity and we got back into a large group for a class discussion about our activity and we discussed possible themes to the novel. We began our large discussion talking about Gradgrind and how he was missing out on life due to his philosophical view of the world and being concerned solely about fact. We discussed how Gradgrind represents the industrial revolution and the loss of humanity and free spirit. This can be seen most clearly with the example of the definition of the horse. From Gradgrind we shifted the discussion to Bounderby and discussed how they are similar characters based on their philosophical views, however we discussed how Bounderby is not a good person like Gradgrind despite Gradgrind having a skewed view of life. After a brief discussion of Bounderby we shifted to Blackpool and talked about how he is the optimist of the story despite his absolute lack of luck. He unlike most of the other characters is also a very moral person. We then shifted to Sleary and discussed how it is his philosophy that people have to be amused rather than just concerned with fact like Bounderby and Gradgrind. We then very briefly discussed Hardhouse, who we said was perpetually bored and the opposite of Blackpool. Where Blackpool is always selfless, Hardhouse is selfish and only concerned with entertaining himself. Following our brief recap of the male characters, with the remaining time we had left I the class period we talked about the two main female leads, Sissy Jupe, and Louisa respectively. We began with Sissy Jupe and discussed that despite their best efforts, Gradgrind and Bounderby are unable to instill in her their fact only philosophy, and she is able to keep the innocence that the circus gave her, despite constant opposition. We then shifted to the other female lead, Louisa, and we addressed how she does not have the “fancy” philosophy that Sissy does, yet she desires to live that lifestyle, as can be seen when she is caught peering at the circus through the fence. We concluded our discussion with the question is Louisa a sympathetic character, to which I personally responded that she is up until she agrees to marry Bounderby. To me this symbolized Louisa sort of giving up and giving into her upbringing and her father’s desire for her to live a life based solely on fact and logic. At 12:15 Professor Foss dismissed us after a very successful class period discussing Hard Times and I set off finishing the second half of the book.

Michaela Godfrey

Foss: ENGL 382-01

03-13-12

February 28th: Dickens Meets Boom Boom

On Tuesday, February 28th, we the students of British Literature Since Eighteen Hundred met Dr. Foss down in the depths of combs. All (hopefully) had come prepared for class, having read Hard Times by Charles Dickens. As we took our seats, Dr. Foss announced that, in order to “celebrate” the reading of a novel, we could rejoice—a multiple choice reward quiz was in order!

After we went over the correct answers, hearing the occasional grumble at an incorrectly answered question, we talked broadly about this particular work by Dickens. Dr. Foss warned us to “beware of spoiler alerts” within the intro and the supplementary materials that are part of our edition of Hard Times. He also went on to say that this novel was not as long, funny, or character filled as his other works. As a side note, Dr. Foss threw out there that Dickens had celebrated his 200th birthday about a month ago. For those of you just dying to know specifics,--and I know so many of you are--Dickens, according to a good ol' fashioned Google search, was born February 7th, 1812. He went on to become, in the eyes of many, the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era. So let's give a happy unbirthday to Charles!

After we covered the basics about the novel, we went a bit deeper and mapped out some of the major issues addressed in Hard Times. True to its title, this novel was designed to make readers think about the hard times faced by those living in England. As a class, we talked about this work in relation to the condition of England. Problems at the forefront of society at that time, such as the industrial landscape and conditions, Utilitarianism, and education, are brought up throughout the entire novel. The characters and the situations in which they find themselves really bring the above issues into light for the reader.

Narrowing the focus of our discussion, Dr. Foss wrote a list of characters on the board. The list included Gradgrind, Bounderby, Mr. Sleary, Blackpool, and Harthouse. Together, we discussed a common thread shared by each of these individuals: all of them seemed to have a philosophy by which each lived. Especially in the cases of Gradgrind and Mr. Sleary, their mantras are essentially put forth upon coming across them in the novel. For the rest of the characters listed, it was fairly easy to determine a philosophy of life that would be applicable to each.

Eventually, it came time for our “exciting second BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM” activity. For this exercise, the class divided into five small groups, and each group was then assigned one of the major male characters (reminder: Gradgrind, Bounderby, Mr. Sleaery, Blackpool, Harthouse). Our missions? Working in our small groups, we were to analyze each character, determine a life philosophy that could be applied, and then, explain traits that support the application of the philosophy.

After one character had been assigned to each group, Dr. Foss let loose a resounding BOOM, and the small groups began their discussions. My group started out with Harthouse as our character and we talked about the pieces of his personality that melded together to create his rather “I do what I want” philosophy. First and foremost, he was very unlike any of the other male characters in Hard Times. He was very relaxed and laid back, to the point that he was bored with most everything. One could also argue, we decided, that he was a rather snake-like character in that he was very manipulative. This side of his character is seen when he is attempting to seduce Louisa. Though she is married and unavailable, he still attempted to pursue her merely out of curiosity and boredom. In addition to his “I do what I want” attitude, we found a passage on page 120 that really brought his philosophy toward life into focus. When Louisa questioned him about his outlook on things, he referenced an Italian motto: “What will be, will be,” and declares that “it's the only truth going!”  So after combing through the pieces of the novel pertaining to Harthouse, the best philosophy to apply to his character is that Italian motto—what will be, will be.

Another BOOM resonated through the classroom. We scrambled to write down our last thoughts on our sheet of paper, and then we passed our character information sheet onto the next group. The second character we came across was Mr. Sleary. This rather eccentric man with a lisp was the head of the circus in Coketown. As he was in charge of this form of entertainment, he held a position of power within the lower class. Though he had a very definitive philosophy of “people must be amused,” we felt that he also seemed to be attached to a couple other philosophies of life. In his farewell to Sissy on page 41, our group felt that he also seriously advocated the idea of never forgetting your roots, and always work to make the best of your experiences.

Yet another boom rang through the room, and each group again passed their current sheet on. On this third shift, we received the character of Gradgrind. Just as the two previous groups had concluded, Gradgrind lived by the philosophy “stick to the facts.” He came across as a rather disconnected man. A realist and a utilitarian, Gradgrind's life, as well as the lives of those in his circle, had no room for emotion. He is simply a man who accepts facts, never fancy. A great example of Gradgrind's inability to appreciate emotion as an appeal can be found on page eighty-seven. In this excerpt, Gradgrind decided to pull Sissy out of school and keep her at home to work, as she is not performing well academically. Though she is very upset and crying, Gradgrind proceeded to use “facts” to demonstrate to her the logic and rationale behind the decision.

As we all boomed our way onto the fourth character, the character information sheet for Bounderby made its way into our circle. Based on the responses from the other class members who had already contributed to the sheet, it was blatantly clear that this character was not liked by many people in our classroom.. “Creepy,” was used in more that one instance in his description. Bounderby was overall seen as an older man who believed in pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. His philosophy was that you can do anything, if you really want it--”Be a self-made man.” Realistically, there was not much a chance for anyone in the lower class to become a wealthy individual. For the self-centered capitalist, status was very important. His wealth and role as a captain of industry gained him societal standing, but his marriage to the young, attractive Louisa and having a formerly wealthy woman acting as a servant in his home gave him even more status.

The final boom signaled the very last exchange of sheets, and my group ended on Stephen Blackpool's character. For him, his philosophy seemed to be “Never sacrifice your morals.” Though he was an incredibly poor man, a general consensus came about that he was by far the most moral character in the entire novel. Blackpool was a hard-working, loyal individual. He recognized and accepted social boundaries. Even though he lives a harsh, weary life, he consistently puts others before himself and works to be led by high moral standards. No matter the situation, he tried to make the best of it. One of the best examples that supports Blackpool's philosophy of “never sacrifice your morals” is his marriage. Though he would love nothing more than to get a divorce and marry Rachael, he is unable to do so, yet stays faithful to his wife.

To wrap up class, we shifted back into large group and shared our findings on the characters. We also briefly touched on the role, or lack there of, that females played in this work. The goal behind the Boom activity was to help us understand the types of problems faced by society at that time. Also, we talked about the fact that Dickens wanted his audience to be able to see the flaws of society through the characters. Ultimately, Dr. Foss wanted us, as readers, to be able to identify the condition of England questions posed by Dickens. The characters, the roles each played, and the situations in which they found themselves were carefully manipulated by Charles Dickens to bring social issues to light for many living in England.