MURDERING THE INNOCENTS by Charles Dickens

pages 348-350 EXERCISES

• Thomas Gradgrind is very serious and precise, right from the start he reveals to be a calculating person following the utilitarian principle and acting rationally.

• I expect Mr Gradgrind to adopt a very strict method in his school, based on the concrete production of useful minds.

• The title “Murdering the Innocents” suggests that innocents may be the children attending sir Gradgrind’s lessons; the act of murdering refers to the treatment they have to bear, since they are compelled to face stressful situations because of the teacher's attitude.

• Mr Gradrind addresses to Bitzer in a friendly way, by calling him with his own name.

• I think Mr Gradgrind expects an accurate, precise, scientific answer.

• The two children Sissy and Bitzer are described through an evident physical contrast which hints at a light-darkness effect; though the girl has got dark eyes and dark hair (“so dark-eyed and dark-haired”), the boy presents pale hair and light-coloured eyes (“so light-eyed and light-haired”). They both are under the light coming from a window, and Bitzer appears almost transparent under the sunlight. He has “cold eyes” and his whole body is pale.

• Narrator: 3rd person omniscient, anonymous and objective narrator

• Several contrasting images permeates the extract; first of all, the girl Sissy is embarrassed, she blushed when Mr Gradgrind addresses to her; this aspect reveals her emotional childish reaction, definitely common in a little girl at school. On the other hand, Bitzer demonstrates to be self-confident, tempered, he controls himself in front of the teacher and he is prepared. Moreover, the girl is presented in a ‘human’ way (she displays her emotions), while the boy appears almost sick in all his paleness and perfection.

• Caricature of Mr Gradgrind: in the opening part, for the description the writer adopts the grotesque, in order to parody the character’s figure. The man seems so perfect and strict, he acts like everything should respond to rational and specific rules-calculations. The word “sir” is repeated continuously, in order to exaggerate his social role, and with the aim of making the reader aware of the self-importance he attributes to himself.

• After the boy’s answer, Sissy does not understand what a horse is. The teacher’s choice of addressing to Bitzer has the function of showing the boy’s competence: it seems like Mr Gradgrind wants to emphasize that student’s figure.