The Penguin English Library Edition of Hard Times by Charles Dickens` Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys & girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, & root out everything else` Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school owner & model of Utilitarian success. Feeding both his pupils & his family with facts, he bans fancy & wonder from young minds. As a consequence his obedient daughter Louisa marries the loveless businessman & `bully of humility` Mr Bounderby, & his son Tom rebels to become embroiled in gambling & robbery. &, as their fortunes cross with those of free-spirited circus girl Sissy Jupe & victimised weaver Stephen Blackpool, Gradgrind is eventually forced to recognise the value of the human heart in an age of materialism & machinery. The Penguin English Library
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