 Chapter Nine: Sissy's Progress
Sissy did not have an easy time of things and she continually considered running away. The belief that her father would be unable to find her was the only thing that kept her in Gradgrind's custody. Gradgrind has some pity for the girl, mainly because he questions whether any amount of education will undo the damage that has been done. Sissy tells Louisa that she is luck to have been so trained at an early age, but Louisa replies that she is not necessarily the better for it. Sissy is able to help Mrs. Gradgrind with tasks and chores and she is able to keep Louisa in a cheery mood but mistakes "seem to come natural" to her when she is in the classroom.
When Mr. M'Choakumchild is teaching National Prosperity, Proportions and Statistics, Sissy always answers incorrectly. Her responses are based more on compassion that on calculation. Louisa asks Sissy about what her life was like before and she learns that the girl's mother died when she was very young. Talking about her father, Sissy admits that he has left her‹but he has left her for her own good. He traveled as a clown but as he got older his skills weakened. Sissy worries that it was partly in embarrassment that her father left her‹and the traveling company as well.
Sissy remembers that her father loved when she would read stories to him, though these same stories she is forbidden to speak of in the Gradgrind's house. Sissy begins crying, while she is telling these stories to Louisa. Their conversation is interrupted when young Tom enters the room and announces that Bounderby has arrived, and that if Louisa will make an appearance than Bounderby will take Tom out to dinner. Sissy often asks if her father has sent her any letters but none have arrived. Again, Mr. Gradgrind is dismayed by Sissy's slow learning.
Analysis:
The characterization of Cecilia Jupe as a student who is trying to make "progress" in her relations with the Gradgrinds relies upon an allusion to the epic, Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. As this work is about a very devout character (named Christian) who tries to get to Heaven (called the Celestial City) and avoid sin (in such places as the Slough of Despond), you could say that Dickens' use of this "Progress" is intended as irony. The reference to Bunyan's work might not be obvious but once it is pointed out, the reader should consider the different types of "progress" that might exist. Dickens lived during the great "Industrial Revolution" of Great Britain and the Gradgrinds are certainly part of this revolution. Still, Dickens suggests that this economic and scientific progress should be matched with moral and artistic progress.
Without being as religiously explicit as Bunyan, Dickens tries to show that Cecilia has made moral progress in a way that the Gradgrinds have not. For example, there is the metaphor of Mr. Gradgrind's eye as a "wintry piece of fact." It is hard and dead (the archetype of winter) but Cecilia can make progress, and can grow for she is attached to images of spring, youth and life. As one of the major themes in the novel focuses on education and conversion, we might ask ourselves what the Gradgrinds (especially Louisa) could learn from Sissy and how this progress might make their lives better. Dickens contrasts Sissy's concern for others with "political economy"‹an academic subject that should answer questions in order to take care of a society and its citizens.
One of Dickens' literary qualities that does not appeal to modern readers is his overly sentimental treatment of certain characters. Hopefully, the sentimentality does not significantly obscure some of the subtle points that Dickens is making when he seems to making the same point over and over again. There are many ways in which Sissy is a contrast to the Gradgrinds, but there is the hidden detail of her father being a circus clown, basically, yet being a better father than Mr. Gradgrind. Later on in the novel, Dickens will again use the stock character of the fool in order to show true wisdom. The constant battle between "Fancy" and "Fact" is complicated by the varying degrees of honesty, truthfulness and accuracy. While Mr. Gradgrind always insists on "Fact" and we can assume Dickens to prefer "Fancy," Dickens does try to show that the preference for one or the other is a matter of choice and opinion. Regardless of which is better, both are necessary and life is miserable without the both. In terms of social commentary, Sissy's sobbing over being denied the stories she loves ("the wrong books") is an example of censorship, and yet another example of the themes of surveillance and watching that fascinate Dickens.
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