Essay on Dickens and education in the opening chapters of Hard Times
In the opening chapters of Hard Times, Dickens depicts Coketown’s educational system in a disapproving manner. This is achieved by the narrative style, the characters, and the use of humour in the text, all of which present the schooling of children in a utilitarian society satirically.
The titles used by Dickens for the novel’s chapters ridicule the teaching methods depicted in the text. The first chapter is called ‘The One thing Needful’, and the second ‘Murdering the Innocents’. These titles are both quotes from the Bible, and therefore mock the importance that educators such as Gradgrind attach to factual knowledge by implying that it is their god.
