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The Self-Made Man is a strong symbol in this novel. Dickens embodies the perspective in Josiah Bounderby as he boastfully claims throughout the story about his rise from poverty and igrnorance to wealth and power. However, Dickens destroys the elegance and optimism of this perspective when he announces through Bounderby's mother the lies behind his story. This represents the falsity behind the paradigm that has engulfed our society. The idea of honest work and perseverence as a means to reach wealth and power is as true as Bounderby's claims of his childhood. Dickens is revealing the absurdity of believing in fair play as in reality those that are rich and powerful are those that lie and deceive. |
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