Hard Times

7 Pages 1764 Words

Hard Times” and Utilitarianism

Coketown, as described in ‘Hard Times’ is a construct of a typical industrial town, many of which were sited around the newly founded factories. It may be a fictional location of the industrial age, but it serves Dickens’ purpose of presenting Utilitarianism at work. Many of the details of Coketown are based on truths about industrial towns, but Dickens slightly exaggerates them to focus the readers’ attention on the points he would like to criticize.
It was believed that higher industrial output would increase the wealth of the country and therefore be desirable. Because of this Coketown exists solely for its industrial output and provides no comfort for its working class citizens. Everything inside it is extremely practical; no precious resources are wasted beautifying it, as they do not lead to an increase in industrial output. Dickens’ contempt for Utilitarianism is conveyed through the opening description of the town.
The colors of the town are black and red – red brick covered in ash from the factories. Even on the surface, Dickens associates Coketown with “the painted face of a savage” – the implication is that like a “savage”, industrialization is cruel, barbaric and uncultured. On a deeper level, this image links to the color symbolism that runs through the novel. Dickens associated richness of color to the preservation of life and individuality; neither black, nor white are considered as colors, and hence, Coketown rejects the idea of individuality and identity. It is robbed of it by the Utilitarianism that is manifested in industrialization. The lack of identity is further emphasized by all public inscriptions in the town being written in “black and white”. The “inscriptions” – the voice of the town are devoid of any identity. Everything in the town – a river, a canal is of dark color, firstly, because of pollution, secondly, at symbolic level, because ...