Literary circle 1

The one thing needful p.1

'In this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!'

Murdering the innocents p.4

'It wouldn't hurt them, sir. They wouldn't crush and wither, if you please, sir. They would be the pictures of what was very pretty and pleasant, and I would fancy - '

'Ay, ay, ay! But you mustn't fancy,' cried the gentleman, quite elated by coming so happily to his point. 'That's it! You are never to fancy.'

A loophole p.7

'You! Thomas and you, to whom the circle of the sciences is open; Thomas and you, who may be said to be replete with facts; Thomas and you, who have been trained to mathematical exactness; Thomas and you, here!' cried Mr. Gradgrind. 'In this degraded position! I am amazed.'

Mr. Bounderby p.8

He was a rich man: banker, merchant, manufacturer, and what not. A big, loud man, with a stare, and a metallic laugh. A man made out of a coarse material, which seemed to have been stretched to make so much of him.

'Cold? I was born with inflammation of the lungs, and of everything else, I believe, that was capable of inflammation,' returned Mr. Bounderby. 'For years, ma'am, I was one of the most miserable little wretches ever seen. I was so sickly, that I was always moaning and groaning. I was so ragged and dirty, that you wouldn't have touched me with a pair of tongs.'

I chose these passages because they explained and gave meaning to the titles of the chapters of the book.

In case 1, the passage explains one of the central themes of the whole book, the relevance of facts.

The second passage is referred to the way in which Mr. Gradgrind taught little Sissy Jupe about facts and that every fancy is meaningless.

The chapter “A loophole” demonstrates the fail in the complete education about facts of Gradgrind’s children. It’s like a loophole in his plan.

The last passage is a description of a very important character, Bounderby, that also shows the style of people that was appearing in that age, poor people that begun working on factories and gained a great fortune.