Hard Times · Chapter
Mr. Bounderby explained
This chapter introduces Mr.
What happens
This chapter introduces Mr. Josiah Bounderby, a wealthy banker and manufacturer who is a close friend of Mr. Gradgrind. Bounderby boasts about his harsh, self-made upbringing, claiming he was born in a ditch and raised by a wicked grandmother. The chapter also reveals that Louisa and Thomas Gradgrind have been caught peeping at a circus, which disturbs Mr. Gradgrind's rational philosophy. Bounderby advises Gradgrind to expel Sissy Jupe from the school, blaming her for the children's curiosity.
Themes in this chapter
Fact vs. Fancy
Gradgrind's distress over his children's interest in the circus highlights the conflict between his fact-based education and the natural human attraction to imagination and fancy.
Hypocrisy and Self-Deception
Bounderby's constant self-aggrandizement about his humble origins is a form of hypocrisy, as he uses his past to claim moral superiority while ignoring the systemic issues of poverty.
Social Class and Inequality
Bounderby's pride in being a 'self-made man' reinforces class distinctions, as he dismisses the circus performers as 'vagabonds' and advocates for Sissy's expulsion based on her background.
Characters to notice
- Josiah Bounderby
Introduced as a loud, boastful self-made man who constantly vaunts his humble origins and lack of refinement.
- Thomas Gradgrind
Vexed by his children's interest in the circus, he discusses the matter with Bounderby and agrees to expel Sissy Jupe.
- Louisa Gradgrind
Caught peeping at the circus with her brother, she shows haughty defiance when confronted.
- Mrs. Gradgrind
A feeble, passive woman who is easily stunned by facts and offers little resistance to her husband's decisions.
- Tom Gradgrind Junior
Caught with Louisa at the circus, he is in the dumps and is briefly mentioned.
- Sissy Jupe
Mentioned as the stroller's child who applied to the school; Bounderby and Gradgrind decide to expel her.
Key passages
“A man who could never sufficiently vaunt himself a self-made man. A man who was always proclaiming, through that brassy speaking-trumpet of a voice of his, his old ignorance and his old poverty. A man who was the bully of humility.”
Bounderby constantly brags about being self-made and loudly boasts about his past ignorance and poverty, using his humble origins to dominate others.
This passage establishes Bounderby's character as a boastful, self-aggrandizing figure who weaponizes his past.
“I hadn't a shoe to my foot. As to a stocking, I didn't know such a thing by name. I passed the day in a ditch, and the night in a pigsty. That's the way I spent my tenth birthday.”
Bounderby claims he was so poor as a child that he had no shoes or stockings, and spent his tenth birthday in a ditch and a pigsty.
This quote exemplifies Bounderby's habit of exaggerating his childhood hardships to emphasize his self-made success.
“Turn this girl to the right about, and there's an end of it.”
Bounderby advises Gradgrind to expel Sissy Jupe immediately and be done with the matter.
This shows Bounderby's decisive, no-nonsense attitude and his influence over Gradgrind's decisions.