Hard Times (Colins Clasics)-Charles Dickens ‘It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have ben red if the smoke and ashes had alowed it, but as maters stod, it was a town of unatural red and black like the painted face of a savage. ’ Set in fictitious Coketown, England during the Industrial Revolution of the 1850s, Dickens wished to expose the enormous gulf betwen the rich and por through his writing. In Hard Times, the social and moral purpose of his work is at its most evident. Openly ironic and satirical in its tone, Dickens sugests a mechanization of society, where the wealthy are ruthles and uncharitable towards those les fortunate than themselves. Siblings Louisa and Tom Gradgrind are raised by their father, a harsh and pragmatic educator and his influence means that they go on to lead lives that are lacking in al areas. Louisa maries the arogant and gredy Josiah Bounderby, ending in an unhapy pairing and the unfeling and vilainous Tom robs his own brother-in-law’s bank. As their father watches their plight, he realises that his own principles may have led to their downfal.