Write a letter to Charles Dickens commending him on how he has exposed real deficiencies in human behaviour.
Dear Mr. Dickens,
I am writing to commend you on your ability to expose real deficiencies in human behaviour, particularly throughout your endearing novel ‘Hard Times’. The way you have encapsulated and so poetically expressed the extreme negativity that prevailed during the Victorian era as a result of industrialisation astounds me. I am especially intrigued with your ability to capture how these technological advancements forced humans into a utilitarian mind-set, placing their focus towards “fact, fact and fact!” (Dickens 10) as oppose too engaging with the subconscious mind and human emotion. I specifically love how you achieve this through exploiting the corrupt educational system of the Victorian era as children were taught to neglect their own sense of creativity and internal wisdom to submit to a confined, ‘factual’ and ‘practical’ society. This ideology was illuminated immediately for me in your novel in chapter two when Cecilia was asked to define a horse and if she would carpet her future home with prints of flowers. While asked to define the horse, Cecilia was unable to so to the standard of Mr Gradgrind as she could not identify the factual elements of a horse such as the number of its teeth (Dickens 7). This to me, was a brilliant way to critique the way in which children were taught from a young age to only concentrate on the empirical evidence that drives the world. Furthermore, alongside this moment, I admire how you cleverly analyse the way in which this fact-based mentality forced children to abandon their sense of creativity and free-will. This is evident in the moment where Cecilia states: “They [the flowers] would be the pictures of what was very pretty and pleasant, and I would fancy –“(Dickens 10), to which she is abruptly interrupted with “ay! But you mustn’t fancy!” (Dickens 10). You make it extremely clear that Cecilia must suppress her ‘wondering’ mind and stick to the ‘facts’ within society, thus you critique the way in which human beings failed to nurture the minds of one another which ultimately led to an impoverished society (Dickens 59). The way you have been able to make such commentary on these things inspires me. You have written an avenue for change and shed light on the very failings of human beings that one must not take lightly. I thank you for your incredible contribution to the world.
Kind Regards,
Teneille.
Texts quoted:
Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Proofed by David Price. 1854.
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