Hard Times

Why it is important for Hard Times to start in classroom of facts and end in circus of fancy?

In the Novel 'The Hard Times ' by Thomas Hardy, all over there is a theme of fact vs fancy represented by several characters. Why is it so?

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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.

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