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Hard Times by Charles Dickens: Analyzin­g Coketown­'s Industri­al Woes

688 Words / ~2 pages sternsternsternsternstern Author Lea W. in Nov. 2018
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English Language

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Herder Berlin

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1,2018

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Coketown

In the novel „hard times“ published in 1854 Charles Dickens describes his experiences of the inhuman working conditions Industrialism had created and the detrimental effects it was having on the environment in the English industrial revolution, by taking the example of Coketown a fictitious industrial city in the North of 19th century England. The given extract contains a detailed description of Coketowns urban image, living conditions and the mind-set of its inhabitants.

Shaped by the industrial revolution and its side effects like urbanization and the development of factories and mines, Coketowns cityscape is dominated by chimneys, conceived streets and endless lines of houses. Due to a high population density and production rate combined with a barely developed filtering system the city has to cope with air and water pollution. This shows in dirty stinking canals or rivers as well as in an atmosphere of smoke and ashes that always lies upon the city. The town is constantly full of sounds produced by the large underclass working restlessly. In general work seems to be the central aspect of life in Coketown, affecting all other sectors and leaving almost no room for diversity, skittishness or creativity among the inhabitants. The city is overly crowded by people mentally affected by their low standard of living that is aggravated by the lack of nature. Even the sun as the last natural constant has a negative impact on the town environment turning the city into a hot desert of stones that seems to be even more hostile to life.

This image of coketown is created by several stylistic devices like for example the frequent use of negatively connoted adjectives such as “unnatural” (l.4) or “monotonously” (l.13) underlining the disadvantages of the industrial revolution. In this context unnatural might refer to the change of manufacturing, during the industrial revolution from a production in harmony with nature to the pollution and exploitation of the environment. The image of a dirty unhealthy and dark city is also strengthened by colour words like “red” (l.4)which is associated with fire, aggression and blood , “black” (l.5) that is allied with dirt, darkness and smoke or “purple” (l.9) which represents artificiality as it is hardly ever found in nature. More over the “steam-engine” (l.12), representing the industrial revolution, is compared to “an elephant in a state of melancholy madness” (l.13-14) moving his head monotonously which is a metaphor for the working-class being captured in a circle of never changing unchallenging work. At the end of the excerpt this metaphor is used again saying “But no temperature made the melancholy mad elephants more mad or more sane” (l.56-57) which describes the underclass as unaffected by their surrounding and therefor indifferent, numb and empty. More over several enumerations and repetitions like “same hours”, “same sound” “same pavements” “same work” emphasize the dullness of coketowns population that is missing any kind of variety. The hopelessness of their situation is even intensified by the climax “yesterday and tomorrow, and every year”, saying that there was and will be a long time span of repeating the exact same processes, without any chance of break this “tradition”. Also, describing the polluted air in coketown many different phrases like “a haze of its own”, “bulky blotch” “A blur of soot and smoke”, “dense formless jumble” or “heavy vapour” are used to create a feeling of unease and oppression. In the last few lines the author criticises the industrial town once more by pointing out the contrast between “shadows on the wall” and “shadows of rustling woods” or “the hum of insects” and “whirr of shafts and wheels” which depicts the contrast between a healthy and natural environment and the reality in coketown.

With the given extract Charles Dickens successfully raises awareness for the unhuman living condition of the working-class in the 19th century. He also shines a light on negative developments such as uncontrolled urbanisation and the impact industrialisation has on the environment. Furthermore Charles Dickens might intend to trigger compassion and sympathy for people in difficult situations related to industrialisation. While at the same time he criticises them for not helping their situation and calls their attention to their own lives and the negative impact industrialism is having on them.tives


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