Monday, October 22, 2012
Link to A Christmas Carol
Both
Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and Mr. Gradgrind in Hard Times
are initially irritable, socially alienated figures absorbed by some strange
obsession. Gradually over the course of these stories they change their
attitudes and reform their views. In the story A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is absolutely despises Christmas and has
no respect for the people who celebrate it. The only thing that is worth living
for in his opinion is money. Just as Scrooge is obsessed with money, Gradgrind
wants the city of Coketown to live on “nothing but Facts”. As both texts
progress however, Scrooge and Gradgrind come to realize that their lifestyle is
only hindering those around them and they have an epiphany of reformation.
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Yes! I thought of this connection as well. (And it makes senses since both are Dickens novels). I also saw a parallel between how the Cratchits are poor yet they seem to appreciate life more than Scrooge,who has money, appreciates life. Bob Cratchit could be seen as like Stephen. Stephen and Bob are hard-working, underpaid and yet still pretty optimistic and kind although they have troubles at home (a terrible wife and invalid son, respectively).Thus it can be seen that from the "lower" classes, those with money and power learn how to life rightly.
ReplyDelete-Brianna Maki
I too thought of a Christmas Carol. Although I made more of a connection between Louisa and the ghosts. The ghosts of Christmas past, present and future together show Scrooge where he is heading if he doesn't change his ways, which leads him to turn into a generous man. Louisa plays this same role for Gradgrind; her breakdown makes him see that his educational system based on facts may not be the best thing for his children after all.
ReplyDeleteI really like this connection as I think there are a lot of thematic similarities between them. I think the biggest similarity I noticed was that Christmas is in many ways the fanciful and hopeful aspect that Mr. Gradgrind despises. While I think there is most definitely communalities here, I think there is also a difference between Mr. Scrooge and Mr. Gradgrind. The major distinction is that Mr. Gradgrind, has good intentions from a utilitarian perspective, whereas Mr. Scrooge comes across as just a selfish old man. This shifts the critique from being a selfish grumpy old man (scrooge) to a critique on society (through Gradgrind)-Bret O'Brien
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