Sowing.

Sowing is the title for Book One of Hard Times. According to Merriam Webster's Dictionary, sowing has two distinct definitions: to plant seed for growth (especially scattering)and to set something in motion. Through my understanding and application of these definitions, I believe that sowing can be said to be a representation of all the introduced events/happenings in this first portion of the novel. We are introduced to the theme of Realism vs. Romanticism (as learned through our activities performed in our Humanities class). Mr. Gradgrind symbolizes this motive "FACTS, facts, facts" into his students' minds while the sweet, innocent Sissy Jupe can be said to depict fancy and imagination. Readers are introduced to the living and working conditions of the working class with a particular individual named Stephen Blackpool, who is categorized as "The Hands," the lowest of the working class and the upper class including the rather deprived,bland children of Gradgrind, Louisa and Tom. We are brought to know Mr. Josiah Bounderby--a wealthy, arrogant industrialist who owns several factories and a bank--along with his past of a youth and his determination to wealth. Along with this particular section, two marriages are depicted where they are very unhappy because it seems like the couples are badly matched. For example, Stephen knows that his heart will always and forever be for his beloved friend Rachael but, he must stay with his bedridden, alcoholic wife (who tries to commit suicide but fails to do so because of Rachael) because simply of his class/authority/money. On the other hand, Louisa is yet again deprived of her exposure to what true love actually is when her father composes a "business proposal" between her and Mr. Bounderby (who is 30 years older than she). At the end of Book One, we see Louisa and Mr. Bounderby's marry and travel to Lyons, an area of operating factories.
Think of Hard Times as an English pasture of openland. In the first book, we are simply shown all the information, characters, and conflicts by the "sowing" of Dickens' portrayl of these aspects to the reader. At the start of the new book, Book Two is titled Reaping. Reaping, in other words, is harveting of these "crops" of information. What do you believe will become of Book Two? Will we be introduced to a climatic point in the novel, due to the mixture of all this information/characters/events? Predict what will come about of these marriages described above. Will Louisa and Stephen be able to find a way out of their deprivation to their true emotions or will they be trapped from the demands of the Industrial Revolution?