The Difference Between Sissy and Bitzer - 1437 Words

Give me your definition of a horse, (Pg 3) says the eminently practical Mr. Thomas Gradgrind of Charles Dickens unforgettable novel, Hard Times. Can anybody really define a horse? Cecilia Jupe, also known as Sissy, was unable to answer this question because she was, well, normal. Bitzer, the boy brought up in Coketown, the city of facts, answered, Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely, twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive... (Pg. 4). Clearly the contrast between Sissy and Bitzer can be seen. The differences between Bitzer and Sissy are shown not only in their definitions of a horse, but also in their physical appearance, personality, background, and the different philosophies that they each represent: fact†¦show more content†¦An interesting contribution to Bitzers personality is where he was taught. Bitzers education was in the school of Mr. McChoakumchild, whose name has a disturbing connotation, as if his job was to choke the imagination out of the children. Bitzer had been raised and treated like a robot, and, as a result, he has the personality of a robot. Sissy and Bitzers personalities contribute to the two philosophies that Dickens is trying to point out. The main reason why Sissy and Bitzer act and think the way they do is because of how and where they were raised. Bitzer was raised in the labor-filled Coketown and had a utilitarian education, in which facts were stressed and nothing else in the world mattered except for ones self-interest. The children in the school where both Sissy and Bitzer attended was just a plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim (Pg. 2). Bitzers education consisted of facts, facts, and more facts. Nothing else was important and nothing else will ever be of any more importance than facts. This way of growing up instilled in Bitzer the unpleasantness that expresses when he grows older. Sissy, however, was brought up in a circus. Her father had been a horse trainer and doctored horses. The circus represents the one thing that the school of facts resents:Show MoreRelatedEssay on The Difference Between Sissy And Bitzer1417 Words   |  6 PagesTimes. Can anybody really define a horse? Cecilia Jupe, also known as Sissy, was unable to answer this question because she was, well, normal. Bitzer, the boy brought up in Coketown, the city of facts, answered, quot;Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely, twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive...quot; (Pg. 4). Clearly the contrast between Sissy and Bitzer can be seen. The differences between Bitzer and Sissy are shown not only in their definitions of a horse, but also in theirRead MoreEssay on The Utilitarian Education System1306 Words   |  6 Pagesstudents- rather than calling Sissy Jupe by her name, he constantly refers to her as ‘girl number twenty’. Similarly, Mr. Mâ⠂¬â„¢Choakumchild’s name seems to be the words ‘choke’ and ‘child’ put together, suggesting that he chokes children with facts. In contrast, however, Mr. Kidderminster from the circus has a name that contains the word ‘kidder’. He provides children with happiness and a world fantasy rather than depriving them of one. This contrast highlights the difference between what Dickens sees in educatorsRead MoreDickens Attitude Toward Education in Hard Times Essay864 Words   |  4 Pageseducation and the opposition to Dickens views. There is an immediate tension between Dickens way of thinking and Gradgrinds and MChoakumchilds. Gradgrind and MChoakumchild call the children vessels and do not use names but numbers. The children are allowed no independent thought. While Bitzer is how he is supposed to be, Sissy Jupe is free spirited and rebellious and exposes the contrast between the two characters. Dickens wrote Hard Times when society was changingRead MoreDickens Attitudes to Education in Hard Times Essay1605 Words   |  7 Pagescomparisons with a boxer as an example to the reader of the kind of strictness and no-nonsense teaching of nothing but facts at that time, and gets his ideas and opinions across through this medium. Dickens uses the characters Sissy Jupe and Bitzer to illustrate what effects 1840s education could have on children, and uses them as motifs or symbols to represent these wider issues. He does this by presenting them in stark contrast to each through their response to the teacherRead More Hard Times - The Theme of Education Essay2699 Words   |  11 Pagesincapable of Gradgrind’s formalities. This is why he is so harsh with his teaching, as he expects the pupils to understand what is being taught just because he does. The children are seen as being polite and compliant towards their teachers. â€Å"Sissy Jupe, sir,† explained number twenty, blushing, standing up, and curtseying.† This shows how though the teaching is boring and the teachers as tiresome, the children still show the proper respect towards them as they know of the harsh punishmentsRead MoreRepresentation of Different Social and Cultural Forces in The Handmaids Tale by Atweeon and Hard Times by Dickens2490 Words   |  10 Pageshow it operated and how it deforms or shapes the people who are living within that kind of regime†. Defined as an act that prevents the natural or normal expression, activity or development; repression is undoubtedly a common theme between two similar yet very different novels. Louis Althusser, as a 20th.Century Professor of Philosophy considers the implementation of repression through two distinct methods; the ‘Repressive State Apparatuses’ (RSA’s), which are an implementationRead MoreSocial Network2525 Words   |  11 PagesDickens. type of work ; Novel. genre :Victorian novel; realist novel; satire; dystopia language : English. time and place written :1854, London date of first publication :Published in serial installments in Dickens’s magazine Household Words between April 1 and August 12, 1854 publisher :Charles Dickens setting (time) :The middle of the nineteenth century setting (place) :Coketown, a manufacturing town in the south of England. tense :The narrative is presented in the past tense; howeverRead MoreCoketown1972 Words   |  8 Pagesand philosophic theories such as Utilitarianism and the mercantile doctrine of Laissez-faire under which England s factory system had flourished (Allingham) have on the people. This situation is allegorized in the scene where Bitzer, the allegory of fact, chases Sissy, who represents imagination since she belongs to the circus, through Coketown. † COKETOWN, TO WHICH MESSRS. Bounderby and Gradgrind now walked, was a triumph of fact; it had no greater taint of fancy in it than Mrs. Gradgrind herself