Why are facts necessary in life? Explain murdering the innocents.

The opposition between "fancy" and "fact" is illustrated from the earliest pages of the novel. Clearly, the Gradgrind school opposes fancy, imaginative literature and "wondering." Instead, they encourage the pursuit of "hard fact" and statistics through scientific investigation and logical deduction. But the Gradgrinds are so merciless and thorough in their education that they manage to kill the souls of their pupils. Sissy Jupe and the members of Sleary's circus company stand as a contrast, arguing that "the people must be amused." Life cannot be exclusively devoted to labor.