very costly at the time therefore, only the wealthy could participate in this right. Dickens obviously did not agree with this. We also see Dickens protesting the treatment of the workers in the factories. He created individual characters, not “Hands” or a “group.” They have lives and feelings. He also shows how they were persecuted when they stood up for themselves through Stephen. Dickens must have wanted better treatment of these people.One of Dickens’s minor characters is a young boy by the name of Bitzer. Dickens portrays him as colorless and mean, for he lives by self-interests. He is a model student in the school of facts, yet he is lacking the emotions of a young boy. This is what Tom Gradgrind must have been like at his age. It is no wonder that Tom grows up to rebel, and he later becomes a thief. This is Dickens’ obvious protest of the facts systems once more. Some agree by saying, “Dickens seems to have harbored great distrust and dislike of all makers of statistics” (Monod 81). He shows us what is to become of the children educated only by facts and statistics. Perhaps Dickens gave some hope to the lower classes of his time with his novel Hard Times. These writings may have even caused them to stand up for themselves. This group of books may have even shown the upper classes that the people “beneath” them were individuals the same as them. But most importantly, he showed the people what was to happen if they stopped fantasizing.Works CitedCollins, Philip. “Good Intentions and Bad Results.” Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hard Times. Ed. Gray, Paul. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969. 29-37.Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1997.Ford, George. Charles Dickens: Criticism. 12 August 2000. *http://galenet.gale.com/a/acp/neta…/db/dama/titlesearch.html&r=1&f=G*.Gray, Paul. Twentieth Century ...
