Individuality vs Utilitarianism in Hard Times.

Individuality vs Utilitarianism in Hard Times.

Copy the questions below and paste them into your responses.  Answer each question, in detail, to earn full credit for the review.

1. Review the assignment guidelines for the Literary Analysis Essay. Does the essay appear to meet the minimum requirements for the assignment (length, topic, sources, etc)?

2. Does the essay include an introduction that provides some background and context for the analysis?

3. Identify the thesis of the essay.  Does it make a clear and focused claim about the story? 

4. Organization:  Does the essay draft have a clear introduction, conclusion and multiple body paragraphs?  Does each paragraph address one issue or idea, and relate back to the thesis?   

5. Does the author use topic sentences and transitions to guide you through the essay?   At any point do you become confused about the purpose or direction of the essay?

6. Does the essay integrate both quotations from the story and quotations from secondary sources?  Do the quotations seem relevant and credible to you?

7. Sometimes students get caught up in researching the author’s background or historical events and they forget that the primary purpose is to analyze the primary source. As you read the essay, does the author clearly tie all the research back to an analysis of the story?

8. Check the citations.  Can the source for each quotation or paraphrase be easily found on the works cited page?  Are the citations in correct MLA format? Has the writer incorporated three secondary sources?

9. Do you notice any recurring grammatical errors, formatting errors or other problems with the essay?

10. Give your peer any other advice for revising the essay.https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=8zumK44S150C&lpg=PR7&ots=NM2HiOXq7j&dq=%C2%A0Individuality%20vs%20Utilitarianism%20in%20Hard%20Times.&lr&pg=PR7&output=embed

Individuality vs Utilitarianism in Hard Times

Imagine you stroll through a major city, but it isn’t your average city. Every building

looks the exact same with no unique design. The grocery store is a red brick building and so is

the coffee shop…which is also identical in appearance to the bank. The concept would get

exhausting rather quickly because humans are naturally creative creatures who yearn for

differentiation and individuality. In the novel Hard Times, Charles Dickens explores the concept

of reduced individuality through utilitarianism and how it actively contrasts human nature by

suppressing creativity, acting as an agent of conformity, and rejecting personal expression. Hard

Times shows the reader how suffocating a uniform world can be, and that we should escape from

one.

Hard Times opens with the introduction of the motive for the society the characters live in. Facts

are the key principle of their education and of utmost priority for every student to learn. There is

little to no toleration for anything outside of its facts. The reader is introduced to the character

Thomas Grindgard, who is the strict teacher of his classroom. He questions the students and

scolds them for either the lack of information, or incorrect information. He is an enforcer of the

rules presented by the beginning monologue. He particularly seems to pick on the young girl in

the classroom, Sissy. The reason Mr. Grindgard and Sissy seem to clash is because of Sissy’s

unique background, her being from the circus. Sissy’s background in the circus grants her a

sense of creativity, purpose, and individuality—things that are not very welcome in Mr.

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Grindgard’s classroom nor the society of Coketown. On the contrary, there is an unnamed

student referred to as “gentleman” by Mr. Grindgard complies perfectly with the society

presented within the novel. He is very knowledgeable, speaking only information that is factually

correct when asked questions, even going on tangents. He is constantly impressing their teacher

by complying to and exceeding the expectations, unlike Sissy (Dickens 597-602).

Throughout the storyline Sissy is publicly embarrassed for her “incorrect” answers by her

teacher, however there is one specific instance that stands out as an example of suppressed

creativity. Mr. Grindgard asks the class the question of whether the students would use a carpet

on the floor containing a flower print. He expected the students to say no, and most did as it was

the answer to all his previous questions. Unfortunately, Sissy and a few other students were

delayed in correcting their “yes” response, and their teacher caught this delay. After calling Sissy

out on her delayed response and asking why she responded saying “yes,” she replied in a very

embarrassed manner saying, “‘If you please, sir, I am very fond of flowers,’” (Dickens 601).

Sissy represented a sense of creativity. She argued that the addition of a flower pattern would not

harm anyone and even expressed her admiration for the plant. The gentlemen argued that she

“musn’t fancy,” and their teacher agreed. The classroom suppressed the creative nature of Sissy,

essentially curating the idea that her own desires and interests had no place in the classroom or

society outside of it.

Additionally, authoritative figures act as agents of conformity, only allowing ideas that

align with their ideal society under a society with reduced individuality as a result of misguided

utilitarianism. In the novel when the gentleman corrected Sissy, he said a very significant line

“‘You are to be in all things regulated and governed,’ said the gentleman,” (Dickens 601). This

line is indicative of the effects of the discarding of individuality on Coketown. Students are

governed and regulated on all things, and we can only imagine that regulation is done very

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rigidly given what we know about Coketown. Coketown is an exceptional example of a society

that lacks creativity. Every building is identical in appearance. In the novel the buildings are

described to have large and small streets that are identical to one another, people who do the

same work as one another at the same exact hours (Dickens 602). All the members of Coketown

conform to the same standards of living, rejecting their innate desire to operate as an individual.

There is a strong correlation between the language used and the erasure of personal

expression or identity. Mr. Gradgrind never referred to Sissy by her real name, instead he would

simply call her “girl number twenty” (Dickens 559). When a teacher only refers to a student as a

number, this can significantly impact the student’s understanding of their identity, therefore

rejecting them of personal expression. This renaming can come across as dehumanizing, making

Sissy feel as though she is not in a space where she can be a unique individual with thoughts and

feelings, but instead in a space where she is reduced to a numerical identity—a student just like

all the others. When she stops out of line of this assumed numerical identity, it warrants public

humiliation and conformity. Similarly, creating a space where students are incapable of

expressing their personal opinions on matters and instead forcing them to comply with a strict

status quo is another way of rejecting personal expression. The students are not encouraged to

find creative ways to answer questions or think “outside the box.” In fact, the students are

punished for such thoughts. Personal identity is squandered for the priority of a utilitarianist

town where there is no risk of hurting others by spreading information outside of rationally

approved ideas.

Although one may argue that uniformity is more natural to humans as we prefer familiar

things. Pattern recognition is a well-known cognitive function, and uniformity across all

platforms warrants comfortability. For example, in schools that require uniforms, students argue

that it prevents bullying based on appearance and requires less effort than planning an original

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outfit. However, school uniforms can also remove a creative outlet for students to express

themselves and embrace their own personal being.

Students are able to flourish when they have a creative outlet available to them. Creative

outlets are actually proven to be beneficial to the mental health of students as well. A

sociological study was conducted utilizing a participatory arts programme to test the

effectiveness of the programme on improving mental health, social connections, and creativity.

The study proved that after a 10-week period of the participatory arts programme, the

experimental group showed an improvement in mental health, quality of life, and creativity.

There was also a notable reduction in the stress of the experimental group (Agres, Kat R., and

Yifan Chen). The research proves the importance of an artistic outlet to allow people to get

creative which is beneficial to humans. This outlet is not encouraged in Coketown, which is

detrimental to the development of the students and the quality of life for the civilians. The lack of

a creative outlet can build stress in the students, rejecting their health and wellbeing. “Adverse

experiences in early childhood can result in long-term negative consequences;” (Buenrostro-

Jáuregui and Mario Humberto). The experiences the young students face as a result of the

function of school as an agent of conformity will likely remain with them into adulthood, which

can increase stress which remains suppressed without an outlet.

Utilitarianism operates in contrast to individuality in the novel Hard Times because it

rejects personal identity, acts as an agent of conformity, and suppresses creativity, fostering an

environment that is overall opposing to human nature. Personal identity is rejected by reducing

students to numerical values rather than allowing them to be unique individuals. Conformity is

enforced from the uniformity of the buildings to the identical lifestyles in the people of

Coketown. Creativity is not encouraged but instead diminished through the education system

which prioritizes facts and filling students with information rather than creative problem solving

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and personalized solutions. Through Hard Times we can explore how reduced individuality can

negatively impact self-esteem on a personal level and through research we can understand how

uniformity affects mental health.

Works Cited

Robinson, Bonnie. “British Literature II: Romantic Era to the Twentieth Century and Beyond.”

English Open Textbooks, 6 July 2018, oer.galileo.usg.edu/english-textbooks/16.

Agres, Kat R., and Yifan Chen. “The impact of performing arts on mental health, social

connection, and creativity in university students: a Randomised Controlled Trial.” BMC Public

Health, vol. 25, no. 1, 2 May 2025. Gale Academic OneFile,

dx.doi.org.dcccd.idm.oclc.org/10.1186/s12889-025-22552-3. Accessed 9 July 2025.

Buenrostro-Jáuregui, Mario Humberto, et al. “A Comprehensive Overview of Stress, Resilience,

and Neuroplasticity Mechanisms.” International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 26, no. 7,

Apr. 2025. Gale Academic OneFile, dx.doi.org.dcccd.idm.oclc.org/10.3390/ijms26073028.

Accessed 9 July 2025.

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Orloff, Mark A., et al. “Social conformity is a heuristic when individual risky decision-making is

disrupted.” PLoS Computational Biology, vol. 20, no. 12, 2 Dec. 2024, p. e1012602. Gale

Academic OneFile, dx.doi.org.dcccd.idm.oclc.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012602. Accessed 9

July 2025.