Mrs. Pegler

This lady is a bit mysterious character of the book since no one knows about her real existence. Mrs. Pegler is the mother of Mr. Bounderby, a well-known businessman in his region. Though she was the most caring and loving mother, her son despised her and ordered not to interfere in his life and deeds. He felt ashamed because of having the mother, not of the noble origin. Although that is not the only reason, her son wanted to make a name for himself as of a self-made personality, businessman; he wanted to tart up people’s first impression of him.

Mrs. Pegler is hurt by such an immoral decision of her son, but she does not feel any emotion to revenge on him. Instead of it, she spends hours near her son’s factory pleasing herself with her son’s success and nobility. Her true connection to Mr. Bounderby is revealed by his housekeeper Mrs. Sparsit who had a nose for secret deeds, though she disclosed the secret accidentally.

There are a lot of families reflected in the book of Dicken’s ‘Hard Times,’ but this story is the most touching and unusual. For instance, if we take into consideration Mr. Gradgrind and his attitude to his five children, we may clearly understand that he does not cherish such warm emotions towards them. He takes care only for their well-being forgetting to utter words of love and support. Mrs, Pegler is a completely different character who tries to find some way his son’s heart, but he does not respond to her attempts. Therefore, the lady is frustrated and left alone. Ch. Dicken’s emphasizes how strong can be the love of parent’s and how different families are in terms of upbringing children. Developing the character of Mrs. Pegler, the author showed the ambiguity of the world.