Representation of men in Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Analyse From ‘He Was A Rich Man’ To ‘From Which To Subdue Mrs Gradgrind’. Use Your Analysis To Show How Dickens Represents Men In The Novel.
The extract introduces Mr Bounderby to the reader. He is introduced as being a proud, arrogant, factual man, displaying his dominance and is used by Dickens to represent men in the novel. This idea of Bounderby’s pride and dominance is not unexpected due to the stigmas of the era, men were generally considered to be better, more capable than women. His factual nature is also typical as it represents the theme of fact and fancy that Dickens has used throughout the book.
Firstly Dickens makes it clear that Bounderby is successful through the use of the asyndetic list ‘he was a rich man; banker, merchant, manufacturer and what not’ which shows his some of his accomplishments in life as well as how influential he was in industry. This could be interpreted to demonstrate the many pursuits that are available to men, and their dominance of the business world. Mr Gradgrind is also mentioned briefly in the extract as Bounderby’s ‘eminently practical friend’ using the motif to represent him. The multiple modifiers suggest that the nature of men is very sensible, factual and realistic.
Dickens uses the appearance of Mr Bounderby to give the audience an impression of the representation of men throughout Hard Times. The reader is introduced to Bounderby as ‘a big loud man, with a stare and metallic laugh’. This dramatic declarative uses a metaphor to show how inhuman, or emotionless/detached men and Bounderby can be, the ‘metallic laugh’ suggests a certain coldness and robotic nature. The multiple modifiers in ‘great puffed head and forehead’ indicates the intelligence of Mr Bounderby while also suggesting that he may be big headed and full of himself. This view is supported by the simile ‘a man with a pervading appearance on him of being inflated like a balloon’ showing that Bounderby is over inflated, full of wind and self