Do you think that Louisa's big melt down at the end of book two was the only influence on Mr. Gradgrind's dirastic change of teachings? Or were Thomas's actions also a big factor?
That is indeed a good question. It seems to me that Louisa was the only one who affected Mr. Gradgrind (her being his favorite and whatnot). And he was unaware of Tom's gambling addiction and how greatly Facts had let him down until book 3 (specifically chapter seven: whelp-hunting). What I mean by that is, we see that the marriage has obviously devastated Louisa, but Tom just seems sulky and his father doesn't seem to take his mopping seriously until he learns about all the money he has lost.
I just paged through the book to suggest looking into how Mrs. Gradgrind's death might have attributed to her husband's change in attitude, but found this quotation demonstrating just what little influence she had on him: "Mr. Gradgrind, apprised of his wife's decease... buried her in a business-like manner." (199). Not even death phases him greatly; Louisa's meltdown seems to be the only thing that got through to him.
That is an interesting observation about Mr. Gradgrind's lack of emotion towards the death of his wife, and it appears to fit into a larger pattern of unresponsiveness to death in general. In Book 3, when Stephen Blackpool expressed that his dying wish was for Mr. Gradgrind to clear his name, "Mr. Gradgrind was troubled and asked how?" (264). This was Mr. Gradgrind's first contact with the dying Stephen, yet his reaction was merely "troubled." And, he reverted to his "eminently practical" self from earlier in the novel when his first response was "how," rather than consoling the ailing man. Although I do not believe this makes Mr. Gradgrind a heartless person, I think it shows that, despite his attempts to reform, Mr. Gradgrind does not know how to react to intensely emotional situations, such as death.
To relate this back to the initial question, maybe it is possible then that only Luisa's meltdown was able to get through to him because of its sheer directness. His lack of emotional intuition may have blinded him to Tom's plight, or made him clueless as to the reasoning behind his actions. It took a direct confrontation to enlighten Mr. Gradgrind of his need to reform, and this was only presented by Luisa. It was the only case where he was FORCED to react to emotion--in the other, subtler, situations, he may avoided it because he simply did not know how.
It is my opinion that even though what altered Gragrind's thought process the most was in fact Louis's meltdown, that Tom's actions also played a role in it. This is explained at the very beginning of chapter 7, the day after Gradgrind has found out that it was most likely Tom that robbed the bank. The narrator says "Aged and bent he looked, and quite bowed down; and yet he looked a wiser man, and a better man, than in the days when in his life he wanted nothing but facts" (266).The fact that this "wiser", "better", look comes out after he realizes what Tom has done tells me that both of his children's fault have affected Gradgrind. He is seeing the all the failures of his philosophy unfold right before his very eyes. -Jackson Jelinek
That's a good point. Maybe Lousia's breakdown sort of started opened his eyes to the flaws of fact, and then he just kept on seeing them. That would sort of reconcile the two ideas--Louisa started the change but wasn't the only one to affect it. It's more realistic than saying it was all her doing.
I think that Louisa and her meltdown are the sole factor that influenced Gradgrind into changing his ways. It is obvious that Louisa made Gradgrind aware of the unhappiness that she was feeling as a result of the way he brought her up when Dickens says, "Her father's face was ashy white" (211). The descriptiveness used to describe Gradgrind's allows readers to imagine the look of shock that he has on his face as he hears of Louisa's distress. This breakdown was clearly the factor that caused Gradgrind to change his actions, and the ways that he has changed towards Tom are just a result of the revelation he has because of Louisa.
While I agree that Louisa played a large role in influencing the change in Mr. Gradgrind, I don't think that she was the sole perpetrator. I thought the quote Jackson brought up earlier was important when it describes Mr. Gradgrind as "Aged and bent he looked, and quite bowed down" (266). Similarly, when Mr. Gradgrind is listening to Louisa's breakdown, "on hearing this, after all his care, he bowed his head upon his hand and groaned aloud" (209). In both cases, Mr. Gradgrind is described as bowing his head, which symbolizes inferiority. So, it appears that Mr. Gradgrind - when met with the repercussions of his schooling style in Louisa and Tom - is recognizing that a Fact-based education is not all-important and acknowledging that it is inferior by bowing. And, this recognition of the approach as inferior brings about the change in him. So, I think that Tom and Louisa both play important roles in bringing sense to their father, but perhaps Louisa's role appears greater since it occurs first.
I think that Louisa was the main factor in making Gradgrind see the error of his ways. I think this actually came up in discussion on Friday. Louisa was a perfect model for Gradgrind's educational system. She was the complete opposite of Sissy, she married Bounderby when she was told to without question, etc. However, when she had her meltdown, she literally threw herself in a heap on the floor. Gradgrind "saw the pride of his heart and the triumph of his system, lying, an insensible heap, at his feet" (212). I think this had two effects on him: Louisa was "the pride of his heart," so seeing someone so dear and important to him in so much emotional distress had a profound effect on Gradgrind; he realized that he had been doing something wrong to cause her so much pain. Also, seeing the "triumph of his system" on the floor is kind of symbolic of his educational system failing. Gradgrind finally realized that his fact-based education wasn't as successful as he imagined it to be.
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ReplyDeleteThat is indeed a good question. It seems to me that Louisa was the only one who affected Mr. Gradgrind (her being his favorite and whatnot). And he was unaware of Tom's gambling addiction and how greatly Facts had let him down until book 3 (specifically chapter seven: whelp-hunting). What I mean by that is, we see that the marriage has obviously devastated Louisa, but Tom just seems sulky and his father doesn't seem to take his mopping seriously until he learns about all the money he has lost.
ReplyDeleteI just paged through the book to suggest looking into how Mrs. Gradgrind's death might have attributed to her husband's change in attitude, but found this quotation demonstrating just what little influence she had on him: "Mr. Gradgrind, apprised of his wife's decease... buried her in a business-like manner." (199). Not even death phases him greatly; Louisa's meltdown seems to be the only thing that got through to him.
~Cam
That is an interesting observation about Mr. Gradgrind's lack of emotion towards the death of his wife, and it appears to fit into a larger pattern of unresponsiveness to death in general. In Book 3, when Stephen Blackpool expressed that his dying wish was for Mr. Gradgrind to clear his name, "Mr. Gradgrind was troubled and asked how?" (264). This was Mr. Gradgrind's first contact with the dying Stephen, yet his reaction was merely "troubled." And, he reverted to his "eminently practical" self from earlier in the novel when his first response was "how," rather than consoling the ailing man. Although I do not believe this makes Mr. Gradgrind a heartless person, I think it shows that, despite his attempts to reform, Mr. Gradgrind does not know how to react to intensely emotional situations, such as death.
ReplyDeleteTo relate this back to the initial question, maybe it is possible then that only Luisa's meltdown was able to get through to him because of its sheer directness. His lack of emotional intuition may have blinded him to Tom's plight, or made him clueless as to the reasoning behind his actions. It took a direct confrontation to enlighten Mr. Gradgrind of his need to reform, and this was only presented by Luisa. It was the only case where he was FORCED to react to emotion--in the other, subtler, situations, he may avoided it because he simply did not know how.
Emma Fisher
It is my opinion that even though what altered Gragrind's thought process the most was in fact Louis's meltdown, that Tom's actions also played a role in it. This is explained at the very beginning of chapter 7, the day after Gradgrind has found out that it was most likely Tom that robbed the bank. The narrator says "Aged and bent he looked, and quite bowed down; and yet he looked a wiser man, and a better man, than in the days when in his life he wanted nothing but facts" (266).The fact that this "wiser", "better", look comes out after he realizes what Tom has done tells me that both of his children's fault have affected Gradgrind. He is seeing the all the failures of his philosophy unfold right before his very eyes.
ReplyDelete-Jackson Jelinek
That's a good point. Maybe Lousia's breakdown sort of started opened his eyes to the flaws of fact, and then he just kept on seeing them. That would sort of reconcile the two ideas--Louisa started the change but wasn't the only one to affect it. It's more realistic than saying it was all her doing.
ReplyDeleteI think that Louisa and her meltdown are the sole factor that influenced Gradgrind into changing his ways. It is obvious that Louisa made Gradgrind aware of the unhappiness that she was feeling as a result of the way he brought her up when Dickens says, "Her father's face was ashy white" (211). The descriptiveness used to describe Gradgrind's allows readers to imagine the look of shock that he has on his face as he hears of Louisa's distress. This breakdown was clearly the factor that caused Gradgrind to change his actions, and the ways that he has changed towards Tom are just a result of the revelation he has because of Louisa.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that Louisa played a large role in influencing the change in Mr. Gradgrind, I don't think that she was the sole perpetrator. I thought the quote Jackson brought up earlier was important when it describes Mr. Gradgrind as "Aged and bent he looked, and quite bowed down" (266). Similarly, when Mr. Gradgrind is listening to Louisa's breakdown, "on hearing this, after all his care, he bowed his head upon his hand and groaned aloud" (209). In both cases, Mr. Gradgrind is described as bowing his head, which symbolizes inferiority. So, it appears that Mr. Gradgrind - when met with the repercussions of his schooling style in Louisa and Tom - is recognizing that a Fact-based education is not all-important and acknowledging that it is inferior by bowing. And, this recognition of the approach as inferior brings about the change in him. So, I think that Tom and Louisa both play important roles in bringing sense to their father, but perhaps Louisa's role appears greater since it occurs first.
ReplyDeleteI think that Louisa was the main factor in making Gradgrind see the error of his ways. I think this actually came up in discussion on Friday. Louisa was a perfect model for Gradgrind's educational system. She was the complete opposite of Sissy, she married Bounderby when she was told to without question, etc. However, when she had her meltdown, she literally threw herself in a heap on the floor. Gradgrind "saw the pride of his heart and the triumph of his system, lying, an insensible heap, at his feet" (212). I think this had two effects on him: Louisa was "the pride of his heart," so seeing someone so dear and important to him in so much emotional distress had a profound effect on Gradgrind; he realized that he had been doing something wrong to cause her so much pain. Also, seeing the "triumph of his system" on the floor is kind of symbolic of his educational system failing. Gradgrind finally realized that his fact-based education wasn't as successful as he imagined it to be.
ReplyDelete