Hard Times

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1854

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 1, Chapters 1-8

Book 1, Chapters 9-16

Book 2, Chapters 1-6

Book 2, Chapters 7-12

Book 3

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Discussion Questions

Essay Topics

In the opening lines of Hard Times, Gradgrind teaches children about the importance of facts. How does his personal philosophy dictate the course of the narrative?

Tom and Louisa grow up in the same house but develop two very different characters. At what point and in what ways do their characters diverge?

Sissy is the antithesis of everything Gradgrind believes, yet she emerges as a singularly happy individual. In what ways is her existence a rebuke of his beliefs?

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