Dickens - empty vessels

[venus79]

Can anybody tell me which Dickens character said children were empty vessels to be filled, and which book it was in? Thanks

[Quizmonkey]

The teacher Mr Gradgrind at the beginning of Hard Times.

[saxy_jag]

It is from Hard Times, but no-one actually says it. It forms part of the author's narrative.

The speaker and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim.

Also, Mr Gradgrind is not a schoolteacher. He's a wealthy businessman and benefactor to the school.

[Quizmonkey]

Sorry about that - but to be fair he does do a lot of 'educating' in the book. Long time since my O-levels!

[saxy_jag]

Lol! Doesn't he just. Doesn't get him anywhere though. Actually your answer is a fairly common misconception - you're not the first to come back with it.

The schoolmaster, by the way, is Mr M'Choakumchild. Hmmm. Sounds like good advice. ;-)

[venus79]

Thank you!

[crokepark]

Hard Times - Charles Dickens

I have found 8 summaries for you to look at, via the links below.

http://www.antistudy.com/search.php?title=Hard +times

http://www.freebooknotes.com/book.php3?id=170

http://bryan.myweb.uga.edu/papers/hardtime.htm l

http://dickensfordummies.homestead.com/BookLin ks.html

Alphabetical list of more than 400 Dickens' characters:

http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/charact ers.html