Charles Dickens
Hard Times by Charles Dickens is a social novel set in the fictional industrial town of Coketown, exploring the harsh realities of the Industrial Revolution. The story centers on Thomas Gradgrind, a strict utilitarian who believes only in facts and logic. He raises his children, Tom and Louisa, without imagination or emotion. Louisa marries the wealthy but dull Mr. Bounderby, while Tom becomes selfish and corrupt. Their lives fall apart due to this rigid philosophy. Through characters like the kind factory worker Stephen Blackpool and the imaginative Sissy Jupe, Dickens contrasts the coldness of industrial society with the warmth of human compassion, ultimately criticizing a system that values profit over people.
