“He lighted a candle, set out his little tea-board, got hot
water from below, and brought out in small portions of tea and sugar, a loaf,
and some butter, from the nearest shop. The bread was new and crusty, the
butter fresh, and the sugar lump” (Dickens 153).
Dickens uses the satirical technique of incongruity in his novel Hard Times to show that the impoverished in Coketown are better off than most. This is specifically shown when Stephen invites Mrs. Pegler over for some tea. He sets her out a wide spread with “new and crusty” bread, “fresh” butter, and a sugar “lump” (Dickens 153). New, crusty, and fresh give the reader a sense that the bread and butter were recently bought, when if Stephen was as bad off as Dickens want us to believe he would not have been able to purchase them after just getting laid off. Also sugar lumps were very expensive for the time, in fact the most expensive form of sugar. Because Stephen is of such a low class he should not be able to afford such a luxury. This incongruity is used by Dickens in this passage to show that things in Coketown are not as bad as they appear. Despite the fact that Stephen is of lower class he is still able to afford expensive things, this shows the bright side to being in an industrial town, even the lower class, the worst of the worst, are doing better than most would believe. Overall this only adds more into the conflict of whether or not industry is good or bad, a concept that Dickens uses satire to develop throughout his novel. On top of this it also illustrates the kindness that is present in the lower class that is not there in the higher class. Stephen, despite having just been laid off is willing to lay out his best spread in order to accomadate Mrs. Pegler, while Bounderby does not offer Stephen anything when he calls him in to discuss the union, and eventually fire him in the prior chapter.
Dickens uses the satirical technique of incongruity in his novel Hard Times to show that the impoverished in Coketown are better off than most. This is specifically shown when Stephen invites Mrs. Pegler over for some tea. He sets her out a wide spread with “new and crusty” bread, “fresh” butter, and a sugar “lump” (Dickens 153). New, crusty, and fresh give the reader a sense that the bread and butter were recently bought, when if Stephen was as bad off as Dickens want us to believe he would not have been able to purchase them after just getting laid off. Also sugar lumps were very expensive for the time, in fact the most expensive form of sugar. Because Stephen is of such a low class he should not be able to afford such a luxury. This incongruity is used by Dickens in this passage to show that things in Coketown are not as bad as they appear. Despite the fact that Stephen is of lower class he is still able to afford expensive things, this shows the bright side to being in an industrial town, even the lower class, the worst of the worst, are doing better than most would believe. Overall this only adds more into the conflict of whether or not industry is good or bad, a concept that Dickens uses satire to develop throughout his novel. On top of this it also illustrates the kindness that is present in the lower class that is not there in the higher class. Stephen, despite having just been laid off is willing to lay out his best spread in order to accomadate Mrs. Pegler, while Bounderby does not offer Stephen anything when he calls him in to discuss the union, and eventually fire him in the prior chapter.
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