1. List all words and phrases describing Mr. Bounderby.

• “Mr. Bounderby was as near being Mr. Gradgrind's bosom friend”

• “man perfectly devoid of sentiment”

• “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. A man with a great puffed head and forehead, swelled veins in his temples, and such a strained skin to his face that it seemed to hold his eyes open, and lift his eyebrows up. A man with a pervading appearance on him of being inflated like a balloon, and ready to start. 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.”

• “looked older, he had not much hair”.

2. Ring the 4 phrases which explicity convey the narrators opinion of Mr. Bounderby character and find in a dictionary adjectives with the same meaning.

• “man perfectly devoid of sentiment” → insensitive: not knowing or caring how another person feels and therefore likely to hurt or upset him/her.

• “A big, loud man, with a stare, and a metallic laugh” → annoying , irritating: make people feel upset or angry.

• “A man made of coarse material” → rough: not calm or gentle.

• “He seems inflated, he is a Bully of Humanity” → haughty, proud: person who think to be better than others.

3. Now, go back to the list you made for exercise 1. Which of items on it are connected with one or more author’s comments?

All these four phrases are a narrator's judgment that underline Mr. Bounderby's tendency to materiality and to richness; his aim is success and he doesn't consider morals and emotions. The author doesn't judge the main character in a direct way, he uses irony and the grotesque in order to transmit what he thinks about him and reach an effect that better recalls a caricature.

4. The surname of the character contains the word bounder on purpose, find it in the dictionary. Which of the phrases you have listed reinforces the meaning of the surname?

Bounder = someone who behaves badly, cannot be trusted and is morally reprehensible. In my opinion the phrase that reinforces the meaning of the surname is: “A man who was the Bully of humility”.

5. Mr. Bounderby is described as coming from a poor family, without education and self-made. In other contexts these attributes may be presented as worthy of sympathy and/or admiration. Why aren’t they here?

Mr. Bounderby is described as coming from a poor family, without education and self-made but instead of becoming a model to copy he results a pathetic character. Mr. Bounderby is insensitive, annoying, irritating and haughty; it follows that if being a self-made man means something analogues to Mr. Bounderby, there is no attraction in being a self-made man at all.

6. Now, go on reading and see if what Mr. Bounderby says is relevant with the description of his character.

Mr. Bounderby describes himself as a self-made man, he speaks about his childhood “I hadn't a shoe to my food. 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. Not that a ditch was new to me, for I was born in a ditch”. In describing his past poor condition he exaggerates his misery, after referring to his dressing, Mr. Bounderby explains where he lived. The repetition of the world “ditch” is a device to reinforce the reader's sense of sadness and pity.

7. Which aspect/s of Mr. Bounderby character is/are emphasized in what he says?

Mr. Bounderby, through his words, is describing his childhood but not as it is. He is getting worse his story in order to praise his efforts and his current situation.

8. Does what he says confirm or modify his portrait?

What Mr. Bounderby says confirms his portrait “I was determined, I suppose. I have been a determined character in later life, and I suppose I was then. Here I am, Mrs. Gradgrind, anyhow, and nobody to thank for my being here, but myself”. With this sentence we understand that Mr. Bounderby is a haughty and proud person, who thinks only to impress others.

9. Consider how Mr. Bounderby speaks:

a. underline any repetition on pronouns, words or sentence, sentence patter in the extract

“I hadn't a shoe to my foot.. I didn't know.. I passed the day.. I spent my tenth birthday.. I was born..” “I passed the day in a ditch.. not that a ditch was new to me, for I was born in a ditch”. “I was determined, I suppose. I have been a determined character in later life, and I suppose I was then”

b. how would you defined this way of talking? How does his way of talking fit in this way character is described by the narrator?

The way of talking here is connected to his vanity. Mr. Bounderby with his talk seems to be the only person who suffered in childhood and the only one able to improve his life. The dialogue between Mr. Bounderby and Mrs. Gradgrind underlines the two different points of view: Charles Dickens' opinion and Mr. Bounderby's vision of his situation.