He’s in the same political party as Gradgrind. He comes to Coketown to learn how to work the political process and get to know some money men like Bounderby.

Why was Stephen Blackpool cast out of Coketown?

After a dispute with Bounderby, he is dismissed from his work at the Coketown mills and, shunned by his former fellow workers, is forced to look for work elsewhere. While absent from Coketown, he is wrongly accused of robbing Bounderby’s bank.

What does the name Coketown suggest to you?

Coketown is a fictitious name for the “town of coke” and it is an ugly and unpleasant place where life is hard, boring, sad and monotonous. It is highlighted by the comparison between the town and its people and it is emphasized by the repetition of words and sentence structures.

Who are the hands of Coketown in Hard Times?

[3] This notion is illustrated in Hard Times, as the workers of Coketown who toil daily in the ‘lurid’ factories are identified by their utilitarian function as labourers: ‘Hands’ (71).

What type of character is Mr harthouse?

James Harthouse
A sophisticated and manipulative young London gentleman who comes to Coketown to enter politics as a disciple of Gradgrind, simply because he thinks it might alleviate his boredom.

Why was Stephen Blackpool shunned?

His fellow workers shun him when he refuses to join the union, and Bounderby fires him after Stephen refuses to give him details about the union that his fellow workers are forming.

Why does Louisa leave Bounderby’s house?

Tom lies to Louisa, telling her that he had taken Stephen outside on the stairs that night to tell him what good fortune he had in getting her help. Troubled, Louisa leaves her brother, who weeps, unable to confide in her or anyone else.

Who is harthouse in Hard Times?

James Harthouse, the second face of the aristocracy, is a young man who comes to Coketown because he is bored with life. He is employed to advance the interests of a political party. When introduced to Louisa, he becomes infatuated with her and seeks to arouse her love.

What is the common name for poor factory workers in Coketown?

Hand

In the meantime, an impoverished “Hand”—Dickens’s term for the lowest laborers in Coketown’s factories—named Stephen Blackpool struggles with his love for Rachael, another poor factory worker.

How is Coketown presented?

Coketown is described as being “inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next” (27-28).

What happened to Stephen Blackpool?

After being framed for bank robbery, Stephen ends up dying from falling into a giant hole in the ground.

What happens to Stephen Dedalus?

By the novel’s end, we see that Stephen recognizes a break with Buck Mulligan, will quit his job at Deasy’s school, and has accepted, if only temporarily, Bloom’s hospitality.

Why is Coketown referred to as a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage?

This quotation is a description of Coketown in Hard Times. Smog and pollution from the factory chimneys have filled the atmosphere, discolouring the natural red-brick colour of many buildings with this sooty residue, which Dickens compares to looking like an unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage.