In Charles Dickens's literary satire, Hard Times, geometry, particularly that of squares and circles, serves an important thematic function. The “man of hard facts,” Thomas Gradgrind, has a “square forefinger,” “a square front wall,” and a “square coat, square legs, square shoulders.” (11) The same schoolroom in which Gradgrind teaches is described as a “simple, bare, monotonous vault” (11) – again evoking a square – on an inclined plane, with rows of children filling the room. In contrast, Sleary's circus, from which Sissy Jupe comes, suggests a continuous and perfect circle, which never changes. Even when the reader visits the carefree and lively circus a decade after Sissy first attended Gradgrind's model school, the same clowns who perform in the circus and Sissy herself are still present. Therefore, Dickens uses the geometry of shapes to demonstrate the differences in lifestyle between the harsh and "square" Gradgrind and the lively and "circular" Sissy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In geometry, a circle is a figure without starting or ending points and can be rotated any way and still look the same. Sissy, who grew up on the circus ring, represents imagination, independence and, above all, resistance. At the beginning of Hard Times, the dark-eyed, dark-haired girl is not very smart, but content; he expresses his creativity—not his ability to recite facts—through his dreams of a carpet that "was very nice and pleasant" (16). Referencing his circus roots, Dickens reminds the reader that "happy Sissy's happy children [loved] her" even after a decade has passed in the novel (292). Compared to Gradgrind's children and model students, Sissy is probably the most stable character in the novel, for the incessant pulse of circus life has ultimately molded her into an individual of perfect and eternal love; Dickens reinforces this by continually referring to the circular appearance of the ring. As others change around Sissy, she offers guidance, as she does to Gradgrind's daughter Louisa, even when she admits that she hates Sissy, responding, "'I always loved you and I always wanted you to know it'" (224 ). The perfection and continuity of a circle suits the personality of the reliable Sissy Jupe. In contrast, Thomas Gradgrind has become emotionally hardened by his mantra: “Stick to the facts, sir!” (11) Like the square to which Dickens so often compares it, it is rigid, sharp, and box-like for holding facts and knowledge. Gradgrind has no support or sympathy for his daughter Louisa, or for any other human being: all he essentially wants to accomplish is to fill “the inclined plane of small vessels placed from time to time [in his school]” with “imperial liters of made… until they were full to the brim” (12). However, the appearance of Sissy Jupe immediately begins to melt the corners of his box-shaped heart. Early in the novel, Dickens uses the word "square" to describe Gradgrind and his family at least ten times, but as the novel progresses and Sissy begins to take an active role in his life, the reader notices the word less and less . Gradgrind begins to regain his redemption from callousness by letting Sissy stay in his model school and home very early in the novel. At the end of Hard Times, Sissy's influence on his family affected him deeply; allows Louisa to return home after her disastrous marriage fails, but, more importantly, learns to ask for kindness and realizes her failure as a teacher.