irenegiacopello
Sapiens Sapiens
4 min. di lettura
Vota

Concetti Chiave

  • Mr Gradgrind is depicted as a man of realities, emphasizing facts and calculations, symbolized by carrying a ruler, multiplication table, and scale.
  • The educational approach is portrayed as rigid and unimaginative, likening children to "little pitchers" to be filled with facts, stifling their imagination.
  • Sissy Jupe, a new student, represents vitality and warmth, contrasting with Bitzer's mechanical and bookish nature, highlighting the clash between human warmth and cold facts.
  • Sissy is criticized for her inability to provide a factual definition of a horse, while Bitzer gives a scientific definition without real-life experience, showing the flaws in the education system.
  • The passage critiques the Victorian educational system, rooted in materialism and utilitarianism, stressing diligence over creativity and emotional development.

A man of realities

This passage deals with M'Choakumchild, where Mr Gradgrind is the teacher. At first the reader is provided a description of Mr Gradgrind by himself, like he was talking to himself about how to self-introduce, he defines himself a man of realities, facts and calculations, indeed he always has with him a ruler, the multiplication table and a scale, symbols of his formamentis. The narrator starts talking after this introduction, he states that children are “little pitchers” who must be filled with facts by Mr Gradgrind, who is like a “cannon loaded to the muzzle” and a “galvanizing apparator” which “storms away” their tender young imagination. These images convey the idea of a shock taking the children out of their normal lives.
In this passage Mr Gradgrind has a new student, Sissy Jupe, who is called according to her sex and an identification number, so she is called Girl number 20, and as she says her name is Sissy, Mr Gradgrind tells her Sissy is not a name, it's a nickname, which are not allow, since they imply human warmth. Moreover as she says his father works in a circus Mr Gradgrind frowns, because in circuses there is no production, only amusement, Sissy's father is a horse tamer, but Mr Gradgrind forces Sissy to say that he's a veterinary surgeon, which is a scientific and respectable job, although he doesn't want her to speak about his father at first, because he is connected to the circus.
Once he has known her father's job, he asks her the definition of a horse, but she can't answer, so she is judged as dispossessed of any fact.

The narrator uses brackets in order to stop the narration and tell the reader that Sissy is alarmed by Mr Gradgrind's question, which shows the close relationship between narrator and reader, who is led to sympathize with Sissy.
After that Bitzer answers, providing a scientific and bookish definition of a horse, even if he may have never seen one. Bitzer is the only one who is called by his name by Mr Gradgrind, because he's the only one who's worthy, he is a learning machine. While Sissy is different because she's not used to this kind of education, she's a normal, real child and not a learning machine, her vitality is underlined by her appearance, in contrast to Bitzer's one. Her father's job is also unusual, because almost everyone worked in factories, while he works in the circus.
Sissy's and Bitzer's appearance is symbolical, indeed Bitzer seems to have no life, because a pale complexion is made fairer by sunlight, he's so pale that if he cuts, he bleeds white, therefore he has no life, not even physically, while her being darker catches the light. Even Mr Gradgrind's one symbolizes narrow-mindedness, he has square fingers, square legs and wears a square coat, then his interests are facts, arithmetic, calculations and science, and he always brings a multiplication table, a ruler and a scale, indeed he represents the typical Victorian man, diligent, serious and authoritarian. His students are therefore diligent and hardworking, but also passive they have no feelings, they're obedient and mechanical.
The themes of this passage are the educational system in the Victorian age, based on statistics, measurings, logical calculations, and linked to materialism and utilitarianism.

Domande da interrogazione

  1. ¿Cómo se describe a Mr. Gradgrind en el texto?
  2. Mr. Gradgrind se describe a sí mismo como un hombre de realidades, hechos y cálculos, siempre llevando consigo una regla, una tabla de multiplicar y una balanza, símbolos de su mentalidad.

  3. ¿Cuál es la actitud de Mr. Gradgrind hacia los apodos y el trabajo del padre de Sissy?
  4. Mr. Gradgrind no permite apodos, ya que implican calidez humana, y desaprueba el trabajo del padre de Sissy en el circo, prefiriendo que se refiera a él como un veterinario, un trabajo más respetable.

  5. ¿Cómo se presenta la relación entre el narrador y el lector en el texto?
  6. El narrador utiliza paréntesis para detener la narración y mostrar la alarma de Sissy ante las preguntas de Mr. Gradgrind, creando una relación cercana con el lector y fomentando la simpatía hacia Sissy.

  7. ¿Qué diferencia hay entre Sissy y Bitzer en términos de educación y apariencia?
  8. Sissy no está acostumbrada a la educación basada en hechos y es una niña real y vital, mientras que Bitzer es una máquina de aprendizaje, pálido y sin vida, capaz de dar definiciones científicas sin haber visto un caballo.

  9. ¿Cuáles son los temas principales del pasaje?
  10. Los temas principales son el sistema educativo de la era victoriana, basado en estadísticas, mediciones, cálculos lógicos, materialismo y utilitarismo.

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