character (KARE-ec-ter): a person who is responsible for the thoughts and actions within a story, poem, or other literature. Characters are extremely important because they are the medium through which a reader interacts with a piece of literature. Every character has his or her own personality, which a creative author uses to assist in forming the plot of a story or creating a mood. The different attitudes, mannerisms, and even appearances of characters can greatly influence the other major elements in a literary work, such as theme, setting, and tone. With this understanding of the character, a reader can become more aware of other aspects of literature, such as symbolism, giving the reader a more complete understanding of the work. The character is one of the most important tools available to the author.
Using the definition above, characterize Stephen Blackpool.
9 comments:
Haven Jones (that is who I am)
Ah, Stephen Blackpool. He's definitely an interesting character. Reading about his life was pretty depressing, or at least that's what I thought. Dickens clearly describes him as having "had a hard life" (62), but I think that's an understatement. Here is a character who has really had it rough, so to speak. He spends all day sitting at a loom in a factory, in the middle of a gloomy town. When he finally leaves work, he gets to spend just a few minutes walking with the woman he loves (Rachael), and usually it's raining then, before he retires to his usually empty apartment. Only, on some occasions like the instance we read about, he arrives home to find that his drunken, delirious wife, from whom he can't afford to get a divorce, has destroyed his possessions and is sleeping on his bed. That's a pretty unfortunate existence, if you ask me.
I think Dickens includes the character of Stephen Blackpool to paint a picture of how terrible life is, or was at the time, for the lower classes. No matter how hard he works or tries to achieve, Blackpool is hopelessly caught in the horrible life he leads. To quote the title of chapter 11, for Blackpool and the other members of the working class, there is simply "no way out." I think everything about Blackpool, from his experiences and actions to the way he speaks, is intended to enhance the theme of class divisions in Hard Times - just look at the difference between his life and that of Gradgrind or Bounderby.
One last thing: Despite how terrible life has been to Stephen Blackpool, I found it particularly interesting that he still remains somewhat positive about his situation. Dickens writes, "[Stephen] had known, to use his words, a peck of trouble" (62). Now, I know if I were Stephen, I would use very different words to describe and complain about how horrible life had been to me. But hey, maybe that's just me?
...just reread the prompt, I don't really think I did a great job of actually characterizing Stephen Blackpool. So, if I had to sum him up in 3 adjectives, I would say: hard-working, somewhat optimistic, and beaten-down.
Garrett Klokman
I completley agree with Haven when she talks about using Stephan to show the class separation between the lower and upper class of the time. A great example of this is in chapter 11 like she mentioned. Dickens starts the chapter describing Stephens job as a weaver which is depressing, repetative, and overall horrid. Then when Stephen goes to Bounderbys house there is a very obvious theme of class differences. Dickens uses the fact that people with money of the time were able to divorce and remarry many times because they could afford it. But when Stephen actually needs to get a divorce he cannot afford one because it costs way too much. Dickenson also uses this charcter to inhance this theme because the chapter before we are introduced to his living conditions which are not even close to what bonderbys house is or Mr. Grandgrid. Finally Dickensen creates Stephen unable to speek proper english, unlike bounderby, to fully capture the class difference. Overall Dickenson creates this depressing character to show how the upper class is happy as can while the lower class suffers greatly.
Stephen overall is honorable in the fact that he stayed with his wife and tried to help her while he worked. He is also hardworking because he works long hours in a hot and overall horrible weaving factory. Finally he is a fighter in the sense he does not give up on life and finds his new love Rachael and tries to do all he can for them to be together.
Garrett Klokman(again)
I forgot to add quotes so..in chapter evleven Stephen is frantically trying to find a way to divorce his wife from Bounderby. This was a perfect example of class struggle because all Stephen wants to do is marry the girl he loves but cant because it costs too much money. A great quote that captures this sorrow is "Why then sir," said Stephen, turning white, and motioning with that right hand of his, as if he gave everything to the four winds,"tis a muddle"(73).
Garrett Klokman(one last time)
Stephen is honorable becuase he does all he can to save his marriage and help his wife. He keeps working like a dog while she drinks and pawns thier furniture off. A great quote for this is "I were very patient wi' her. I tried to wean her fra 't ower and ower again. I tried this, i tried that, i tried t' other. I ha' gone home, many's time, and found all vanished..."(70). This shows his distress over th situation as well as how hard he tried. This quote also ephesizes how the lower class are unhappy as well as how Dickenson uses Stephens speech to show the class distinction.
I am Rachel Kapelner
Haven and Garret are right, Stephen Blackpool's life is depressing. I also agree that he is beaten down. Dickens uses him to represent "The Hands". They are the workers at the factory. Blackpool admits that he is not the best Hand, but he is a good, hardworking weaver.
Blackpool’s home life is a different situation. He is trapped in an estranged marriage. To make matters worse, he has found Rachael. She is used by Dickens to amplify Blackpool's situation. She is the girl that he wants to spend the rest of his life with but cannot.
Despite the fact he wants to leave his current wife even though, as Bounderby says "for better or worse" (73). He is just tired of dealing with her bad decisions. "I must be ridden o' her. I cannot bear t' nommore. I ha' lived under t' so long that I ha' had'n the pity and comforting words o' th' best lass living or dead" (71-72). He is tired of taking care of his wife and she is not deserving of his care. He is worn down by having to deal with her for so many years.
I would also agree with Haven in saying the Blackpool is optimistic. He sees beauty in Rachael, even in some of the most desolate circumstances. When Rachael stops his wife from drinking the poison he says "Thou art an Angel. Bless thee, bless thee!" (86). He sees that she is special, even perfect, even though that she is poor. Dickens uses this to contrast the rich and the poor. He shows the differences between Blackpool and Bounderby when they are talking. Blackpool is honest and humble where Bounderby is conceited. This, and Blackpool seeing the beauty in Rachael, shows the reader that the poor are the most trustworthy of the social classes. This is represented by Blackpool's character.
Kelsey Mullin (like Haven, this is also who I am)
So I feel like a lot of what I am going to say has already been talked about by Haven, Garrett, and Rachel BUT I really enjoyed reading about Stephen Blackpool so I guess I'll give it a go. From the first pages in which Steven is introduced as a character, he seems intriguing. Dickens writes of Steven's tough life by saying, "There seemed, however, to have been a misadventure or mistake in Stephen's case, whereby somebody else had become possessed of his roses, and he has become possessed of the same somebody else's throns in addition to his own" (62). Immediately, as a reader, I felt bad for Stephen and pitied the hardships that he has had to deal with in his life. The mood that Dickens is able to create through the characterization of Stephen is one of sorrow and heartbreak. We learn later in the novel that Stephen works full time to provide for himself and his wife, who he despises. Stephen literally cannot catch a break. Except for the fact that he has found a woman whom he is truly and deeply in love with, pretty much everything else in his life is a mess. And even with Rachael (the woman he loves) he cannot be with her because of his drunken wife. Though Stephen does not appear to be a particularly intellectual character, because of his heavy dialect which makes it a project to figure out what he is saying, Dickens shows later that there is a deeper side to Stephen. In the last part of the First Book that Stephen is in, we can see that Stephen has a very romantic side, which allows him to keep up hope that one day he will be united with Rachael. He says, "I will try t' look t' th' time, and so I will try t' trust t' th' time, when thou and me at last shall walk together far awa', beyond the deep gulf..." (86-87). This further characterization of Stephen gives us insight into another side of him that we, as readers, had not yet seen.
Stephen also has his own scenery that accompanies his story, which is a dingy setting in comparison to Mr. Gradgrind for instance. I feel like Stephen is a very deep character and we will continue to gain more insight into his life, his future, and the real person that he is as the book progresses.
Allison Molinaro
Even though only four people went before me they pretty much summed up exactly what I think about Stephen Blackpool. I think that Dickens used this character to show the difference between the social classes, like the others said, in the beginning of the book the upper class is mostly talked about. When stephen is introduced I realized that the lower classes do suffer a lot and even though Bounderby talks about how terrible his childhood was, "Not that a ditch was new to me, for I was born in a ditch"(15) this doesnt even compare to Stephens life now. When he is introduced Dickens makes the reader feel extremly sad for him and the fact that he is in love with Rachael but cant marry her becuase of his drunk wife makes matters worse. Stephen is portrayed as hard-working and caring which contrasts Bounderby.
Hopefully things will turn out better for stephen as the book goes on becuase he is one of the only characters that deserves the best and he would not take it for granted.
I agree entirely with Haven's observation that Dickens used Stephen Blackpool to show how life for the lower classes was terrible. All other characters discussed so far in the story are either in the upper class, or like Sissy Jupe, have been influenced by the upper class. Stephen Blackpool, however, is a character who has no ties to the upper class and is almost broken by his miserable life. Dickens says, "It is said that every life has its roses and thorns; there seemed, however, to have been a misadventure or mistake in Stephen's case, whereby somebody else had become possessed of his roses, and he had become possessed of the same somebody else's thorns in addition to his own" ( p. 62). This quote in the story accurately depicts how Stephen's life is almost unfairly difficult. His drunken wife continues to burden him and yet he is unable to leave her because he is, in Bounderby's opinion, too poor to obtain a divorce. His only desire is to marry his love, Rachael, but he cannot. Blackpool is a symbol of the poor condition of the lower class and fulfills that role as a character in Hard Times.
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