Who is Bitzer in Hard Times?
The timeline of Bitzer's character begins in chapter 2 of Hard Times, which is titled "Murdering the Innocents." He is a young boy going to school at Gradgrind's academy. From the very start, Bitzer embodies the philosophies that Gradgrind pushes forth. Some of these philosophies advocate in favor of viewing life factually, without emotion, and without sympathy. These human emotions could be perceived as weaknesses in a time period where social classes were shifting, due to the Industrial Revolution, and everybody was fending for themselves, trying to move up the social ladder.
Bitzer not only behaves in the manners described above but his physical appearance denotes that there is something in his genetic makeup that implies a lack of soul, that he is devoid of humanity and cannot even compare physically to the average young human.
Chapter 2 illustrates that Bitzer was
so light-eyed and light-haired that the self-same...
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rays appeared to draw out of him what little colour he ever possessed. His cold eyes would hardly have been eyes, but for the short ends of lashes which, by bringing them into immediate contrast with something paler than themselves, expressed their form.
Bitzer's look is further described as unnatural and inhuman. All of this aims to characterize Bitzer somewhat as a scary sociopath, even as a child.
His skin was so unwholesomely deficient in the natural tinge, that he looked as though, if he were cut, he would bleed white.
As an adult, Bitzer displays the same behaviors he did as a child. He is deceitful, cunning, and selfish, and he is fixated on getting Tom Gradgrind fired from his job. As the light porter of the bank, he brings all the gossip to Mrs. Sparsit, and he is as acidic as he is heartless.
In book 2, chapter 1, Bitzer's actions describe him best:
His mind was so exactly regulated, that he had no affections or passions. All his proceedings were the result of the nicest and coldest calculation.
Therefore, Bitzer is a cold, cunning individual trying to move up the social ladder by deceiving and betraying others. He embodies the philosophical mindset of the model school of Gradgrind, and he has not changed these behaviors since early on in his childhood.
Can you provide a character analysis of Bitzer from Hard Times?
Although Bitzer isn't one of the main characters in Charles Dickens' Hard Times, there is certainly enough information available in the novel to warrant a nice character sketch. Very simply Bitzer is a student at Gradgrind's school (along with Tom, Louisa, and Sissy) who often degrades other classmates by spouting his factual definitions and grows to be quite a miscreant. He later becomes employed by Bounderby's bank as a clerk in order to spy on the employees there (and to keep watch at night for thieves and burglars). Bitzer is selfish at heart in that he sees the accumulation of his own interests as the only way to succeed. He is most appreciative of the lessons he learns about being blatantly practical. His selfish nature is perhaps best exhibited when he unsuccessfully apprehends Tom as a thief and then attempts to bring Tom back to Coketown so that he, Bitzer himself, will be promoted to Tom's position at the bank. Luckily, Bitzer is diverted by Sleary and Tom does escape. Always cynical, Bitzer famously comments that he does have a heart, but only because "circulation could not be carried on without one."