The novel opens with a statement by gradgrind of his educational views. What he wants he tells a new school master is facts. He instructs the new school master to teach his class of boys and girls nothing but facts because facts alone are wanted in life. Gradgrind was a man who put emphasis only on facts. Dickens has attributed a comic appearance to Mr gradgrind To satire on the materialistic concepts prevalent in the Victorian society.gradgrind grand has a four head which looks like a square wall with his eyebrows serving as its base his eyes are like to da case overshadowed by the squire wall of the forehead his mouth is wide thin and hard set his voice is in flexible dry and dictatorial.he is the man who keep sarule appear for skills and multiplication table always in his pocket ready to weigh and measure any human being and tell you exactly what he comes to. The very name gradgrind suggest harshness in flexibility of a grindstone. He even addresses the students by roll call like girl number 20 and ask her the definition of a horse in which the girl number 20 fails because gradgrind wanted the answer in facts. The initial chapters also show how gradgrind has strictly brought up his children in accordance with his theory of education he considered them as role models. Even the house called stone lodge which great grand has built for himself and his family is the “matter of fact home a calculated balanced and proved house.”
Gradgrind does not even allow his children to indulge in any fancies even or them never “to wonder”. Grandgrind has the ambition to become a member of parliament. In a satirical tone the author tells us that gradgrind was “now making and arithmetical figure in parliament” and his ambition is fulfilled. Gradgrind used to judge and measure everything using statistics. This is very much evident when he fixes the marriage of his daughter louisa with Mr bounderby.to him the disparity between the ages of lewisia and Mr bounderby the woul be bride groom being 50 and the would be bride only 20 is no serious matter. Everything can be concluded that emotions and feelings and sentiments have no role to play in the lifestyle of gradgrind and stone lodge. His attitudes toward his wife also show the same lack of feeling when his wife dies he is in London and he comes back from their returning thither immediately after burrying her in a business like matter.
Even though gradgrind poses Utilitarian mind set but at bottom he is essentially a kind hearted man because he takes the responsibility of cecilia jupewhen she is deserted by her own father and recognise a certain married srishti girl has and he always used to treat her with sympathy and kindness.
The main twist and changes comes in Mr gradgrind when there is failure in the marriage of Louisa. Seeing Lewis are in a state of education and heart broken he realises the blunder he has been committingsystem according to which he ran his school. Drat grind the matter of the robbery at bounderby’s Bank.Tom’s irresponsible way of life resulting in the bank robbery is another proof of the defective educational theory that get grind has been implementing with such vigour. At the end gradgrind tries to show his every essential humanity and the anxiety of father when he does everything to protect Tom against the legal consequences of his crime.however he proved himself to be a man of integrity also because he duly publishes the fact of Stephen innocence and his own son’s responsibility for the bank robbery.exigencies of circumstances such he now makes his facts and figures subservient to faith hope and charityhe now makes his facts and figures subservient to faith hope and charity and no longer grinds this divine virtues in his dusty mills.by the time the novel ends we have developed an attitude of respect towards this great here and now decrypt old man.