Stephen Blackpool

Stephen represents completely another layer of society than, for instance, Mr. Bounderby or Mr. Gradgrind. The character represents the working staff; therefore, he has no opportunity to make a living. Stephen works on Mr. Bounderby’s factory and faces all the limitations of the industrial system. Later, the plot of the story is developed in a way that Blackpool is fired by his boss. The main reason for that was the unwillingness of the factory worker to supply Mr. Bounderby with all the detail of the union which was on the way to be formed by his colleagues.

It is worth noting that Stephen was acquainted with Tom Gradgrind who was on the position in the company and, later on, robbed the Bank. It is important to know the pre-context because Tom was the one to frame Stephen in the robbery.

As to his personal life, it goes without saying that he was unhappy because Stephen’s wife left him and chose to be ‘the night butterfly’ but not his spouse. Luckily, the man found a good and highly moral woman, but he was not able to marry her due to restrictions of marriage which were taken by the society. Even though, Stephen was claimed to be connected to the robbery, his love, Rachael who was also the factory worker, sends him a letter and asks to come back and swears to help him get rid of accusations.

It is possible to suggest that Stephen was not lucky in life since it reflects in his career and personal life. However, his soul was clean because he was never jealous or malicious. The truth is that the life of a poor is much more difficult than a well-to-do person because he does not have influential acquaintances to give him a helping hand if needed.