Concetti Chiave
- The narrative is structured around three agricultural metaphors: sowing, reaping, and garnering, symbolizing the stages of planting facts, harvesting results, and picking up the remnants.
- Themes include childhood education and social criticism, contrasting industrial Coketown with the world of the circus, highlighting issues like pollution and utilitarianism.
- Thomas Gradgrind, the protagonist, is a strict educator and father who eventually realizes the flaws in his philosophy and finds redemption through charity.
- Louisa and Tom, Gradgrind's children, suffer under the rigid system, while Sissy, an adopted child, thrives and finds happiness, illustrating the system's impact on individuals.
- Coketown is vividly depicted with unnatural colors, mechanical noise, and dehumanized people, emphasizing the harsh industrial environment.
Three sections (names of agricultural processes)
Sowing seeds of facts
1) "Sowing"- planting the seeds of facts (students become "pitchers")
2) "reaping"- collecting the crop (of the seeds planted)--> starts revealing the faults of the system. Louisa is forced to marry an older man that she doesn't love and her emotional break down. Tom starts robbing a bank and he becomes a criminal. The crop is actually this and not how Thomas expected. Sissy doesn't seem to be affected by this system (she ends up having an happy family)
3) "Garnering" - pick up the pieces that are left behind-characters try to restore a balance in their lives--> Louisa never marries againbut she is close to sissy's family
Themes and contrasts
Themes- written after Oliver Twist and we can see this difference in the themes he deals with.
-childhood (education)
-social criticism
World of coketown (Thomas Gradgrind) vs world of the circus (sissy was rescued)
1) factory system (attacked with a sarcastic tone
2) Pollution
3) Utilitarianism (philosophy of facts)
Characters
Thomas Gradgrind (grind=turn into powder, to destroy) - protagonist
He's a father and educator and a founder of a school where he works. He becomes a MP.
He truly believes that his philosophy really works so that he implements it in every aspect of his life.
He Storms away his children imagination. But at some point he becomes aware of the limits of his system and he changes his mind and he becomes involved in charity works--> happy ending
Tom, Louisa (real children)
Sissy (adopted)
Coketown- Chapter 5
• Described through Colors- unnatural red( because of the blackening of the pollution), black (canal) , purple (river)
• Noise - comes from machinery (rattling and trembling), high pitched monotonous noise.
• Smell-
• People- dehumanized, conformed, they look like one another
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è il significato del "processo di semina" nel contesto del testo?
- Quali sono le principali differenze tematiche tra il testo e "Oliver Twist"?
- Chi sono i personaggi principali e quale ruolo svolgono nella storia?
Il "processo di semina" rappresenta la fase di piantare i semi dei fatti, dove gli studenti diventano "brocche". Questo processo culmina nel "raccolto", che rivela i difetti del sistema educativo, come il matrimonio forzato di Louisa e la deriva criminale di Tom.
Le differenze tematiche includono l'attenzione sull'infanzia e l'educazione, la critica sociale, e il confronto tra il mondo industriale di Coketown e il mondo del circo. Inoltre, il testo attacca il sistema di fabbrica con un tono sarcastico e affronta temi come l'inquinamento e l'utilitarismo.
I personaggi principali includono Thomas Gradgrind, un educatore e padre che crede fermamente nella sua filosofia dei fatti, ma che alla fine riconosce i limiti del suo sistema. I suoi figli, Tom e Louisa, e l'adottata Sissy, rappresentano le diverse reazioni al sistema educativo. Coketown è descritta come una città industriale deumanizzante.
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