----------------------------------Hockey Nat Nov 25, 2005 Hard Times - Sissy Jupe (7 pages) ----------------------------------Sissy Jupe: More Than Just

A Number In Charles Dickens novel Hard Times, he uses the characters to present th e reader with many messages. One of these messages presented is that the Gradgri nd system of education is faulty. Dickens is critical of an education system tha t only regards things that can be weighed or measured as being worthy. Thus, int angibles like imagination, emotion, and compassion are not considered worthy. Th e Gradgrind system of education can be seen as flawed through the examples of Si ssy Jupe. The lack of individuality and creativity can be proven to be detriment al to those who ascribe to the Gradgrind system, which denies anything that isn t factual. Sissy s caring; thoughts of fancy, and individualism have kept her from l ong-term sorrow, pity and loneliness.**though she is abondened by her father and left to the hopeless system of education still she is the happiest and wisest a nd ultimately d happiest character in d novel. The Gradgrind system is also prov en as flawed through Sissy in that her caring and ingenuity helps the other char acters potentially realize how they have let the system flaw them. Also, Sissy s a bility to ward of the system s teachings will prove useful and helping others esca pe the system, be it short term. In the schoolroom scene, Sissy starts to show how the Gradgrind system only reli es on fact. As Dickens describes the schoolroom, we see the following contrast: B ut, whereas the girl was so dark-eyed and dark-haired, that she seemed to receiv ed a deeper and more lustrous color from the sun when it shone upon her, the boy was so light-eyed and light-haired that the self-same rays appeared to draw out of him what little color he ever possessed (Dickens 7). Sissy is full of color a nd vitality because she lives a life that is full of imagination and compassion. This is in opposition to the other children who have been bleached of all imagina tive thoughts and life because of the Gradgrind educational system. The factual basis of Gradgrind is further emphasized when is Sissy is addressed only as Girl number twenty (6) by Gradgrind. A name shows individuality and is an expression of creativity. However, this is ultimately shunned in Gradgrind s system. In additio n, a name leaves room for interpretation and can be shortened and changed. F.R. Leavis explains how being addressed as a number gives preciseness and fact to a person: Sissy s incapacity to acquire this kind of fact of formula, her unaptness for educati on, is manifested to us, on the other hand, as part and parcel of her sovereign and indefeasible humanity: it is the virtue that makes it impossible for her to understand, or acquiesce in, an ethos for which she is girl number twenty , or to t hink of any other human being as a unit for arithmetic. (Leavis 367) Arithmetic is an exact science and one by which Gradgrind abides by and uses as identification. **Another scene in which Sissy s compassion, positive outlook, and individ uality go against Gradgrind s system is when her father abandons her. Despite the obvious cruelty in how her father left, she never gives into the thought that he r father is leaving for his own reasons but rather to make life better for her. This is seen when she states: O my dear father, my good kind father, where are you gone? You are gone to try to do me some good, I know! You are gone away for my sake, I am sure. And how mise

rable and helpless you will be without me, poor, poor father, until you come bac k! (Dickens 32) Gradgrind can t believe that Sissy thinks he is doing this for her, and why should he? According to the Gradgrind system, Sissy isn t basing her conclusion of why h er father left on fact; it is being based on wishful thinking and fancy as well as compassion. It is only natural of Sissy to believe that her father is doing wha t is best for her. This is reinforced when Bernard Shaw states, But Cissy is noth ing if not natural (Shaw 361). Of course, Gradgrind s system is anything but natur al and doesn t make sense to Sissy because it goes against the natural grain of her upbringing of individuality and fancy. In fact, it is unnatural for Sissy to be subjected to a monocular way of thinking and viewing of the world as the Gradgri nd system would dictate. Another action that goes against the Gradgrind system i s that Sissy demands to hold on to the nine oils. This is seen when she exclaims : No, no! Oh no! Pray let me keep it for father till he comes back! He will want it when he comes back. He had never though of going away, when he sent me for it. I must keep it for him, if you please! (Dickens 35) This is just another example of Sissy s compassion and positive outlook since she is only concerned for her father s well being and not the reality that her father has left her and believes that he will return. However, to Gradgrind, it is a fa ct that Sissy s father is not coming back and he doesn t understand why she won t see that as a fact. However, the Gradgrind system has no hold on Sissy s mind; therefo re, she thinks as she pleases. As Sissy moves on with her life and moves in with Gradgrind and his fami ly, it is seen that the Gradgrind system is more faulty than ever. Even though h er free thoughts and ideas of fancy are suppressed, she still shows vigor and li fe and this is seen when the narrator states that, Sissy, with her dark eyes wond eringly directed to Louisa s face, was uncertain whether to say more or to remain silent (Dickens 47). Another piece of evidence that shows that Sissy still mainta ins her creative way of thinking is stated when she brings up the question of Na tional Prosperity posed in class by Mr. M Choackumchild: Miss Louisa, I said I didn t know. I thought I couldn t know whether it was a prosper ous nation or not, and whether I was in a thriving state or not, unless I knew w ho had got the money, and whether or not it was mine. But that had nothing to do with it. It was not in the figures at all. (47). The minute she questioned the reasons of who were the prosperous people and the percentage she is shot down. She still questions what is out side of the box and the realm of exactness that exists in the system. In Gradgrind s system, it doesn t matter who or what, but yes or no. This is confusing to Sissy because, to her, a ny logical person would question the reasons to the yes or no answer. This is an other reason why the Gradgrind system is so faulty; creative reasoning has no pl ace and neither does imaginative interpretation. To Sissy, this is not sensible in human terms. Another example of Sissy s struggle with the Gradgrind system is w hen Louisa also questions Sissy on her father in this scene which can be seen as a way to emphasize that the system still hasn t taken hold of Sissy. This is seen when Lodge states that, There are, of course, vivid and memorable descriptions o f people and places in Hard Times, but they are highly compressed, and overtly s ymbolic rather than realistic in function (Lodge 403). Sissy s father, in a way, is a symbol of the imaginativeness that still remains in Sissy because she still b elieves her father will return to her. This is seen after Sissy responds to Loui sa s inquiries as to why her father left: Only for my good. Nobody understands him as I do; nobody knows him as I do. When he left me for my good he never would have left me for his own (Dickens 48) He has no real purpose than to show how Sissy, after time, still retains the ind ividualism in a system as harsh and horrible as Gradgrind s. As the end of the book nears, Sissy is seen as nothing but a shining sta r in the dim skies of Gradgrind s system. Whereas all the other victims of his sys tem are nothing but in pain and loathing and self-righteousness, Sissy maintains her helpful, caring nature. In fact, it seems to have grown even more through t ime. This is seen as she is helping Tom run away and hide with her old circus fr

iends after he has robbed Bounderby s bank. As Sissy is talking to Louisa about To m s whereabouts she states: I though of father s old circus. I have not forgotten where Mr. Sleary goes at thi s time of year, and I read of him in a paper only the other day. I told him to h urry there, and tell his name, and ask Mr. Sleary to hide him till I came. (206) This caring and creative thinking by Sissy is what has been bleached from the mi nds of the Gradgrind system pupils. Sissy maintains it, though, and it has shown to be more useful than the factual knowledge drilled into the system s victims. T he circus, which Gradgrind had once denounced, has now become young Gradgrind s sa vior. Without Sissy and her ingenuity, young Tom Gradgrind more than likely woul d have been caught. The last and final chapter of the book shows exactly how Sissy exemplif ies that the Gradgrind system is flawed. When all others have failed at life and are now suffering, she is more alive than ever. Not only is she still full of v itality and life, but also she is raising her children in the same way so they t oo have a truly happy life. This is seen when the narrator proudly states: But, h appy Sissy s happy children (Dickens 222). This quote shows just how wonderful a lif e Sissy is now leading no thanks to the Gradgrind system. All that had succumbed to the system are living out their lives in pity, sorrow, and loneliness, and s ome have even already perished. Some would say death to be a better fate. The Gradgrind system has proven to be wrong through the actions and beli efs of Sissy Jupe. Her constant beliefs and morals have maintained her a level h ead and has pushed her through such a wrong system. In the Victorian times of ma chines, and factories churning out replication after replication, and exactness, she has exemplified what a Victorian woman should be: extraordinary devotion (es pecially to a needy male), remarkable love-based power of intuition, firm but mo dest assertion of heart-felt values, great spiritual strength and endurance (Cowl es 439). Thus, Sissy is the ultimate proof of why the Gradgrind system is a horr ible system that produces sorrow in its numbers.

Works Cited Cowles, David L. Having It Both Ways: Gender and Paradox in Hard Times. Kaplan and Monod 439-44 Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Ed. Fred Kaplan and Sylvere Monod. A Norton Critic al Edition. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2001. 5-222 Leavis, F.R. Hard Times: An Analytic Note. Kaplan and Monod 364-84 Lodge, David. How Successful Is Hard Times? Kaplan and Monod 400-9 Shaw, Bernard. Hard Times. Kaplan and Monod 357-63