The importance of Sleary's circus people in hard times In Charles Dickens' novel "Hard Times", an alternative view of Sleary's way of life Gradgrind-Bounderby is presented by the people of Sleary Circus. Dickens shows that Sleary's people lead lives that go against everything Gradgrind stands for, and as such they are at first something of an abomination to him. They are presented as people leading free lives, unconstrained by the rigid laws and concrete facts on which Gradgrind's philosophy is based. Not just the physical freedom to roam the countryside almost at will, where Gradgrind is linked to Coketown. But also a mental freedom to fully enjoy life with all its spontaneity, its unconditional emotions, its imagination, its failures, its faults and its passions. Something Gradgrind can't figure out until late in the book. We have the feeling that their life on this world is to please others sometimes at the risk of their own lives "a pretty blonde girl.......made a will at twelve o'clock" 1, in a place where "Hands "Can we...