Question

All the public inscriptions in the town were painted alike, in severe characters of black and white. The jail might have been the infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail, the town-hall might have been either, or both, or anything else, for anything that appeared to the contrary in the graces of their construction. Fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the immaterial. What is the main idea of this passage?

Answer 1

The main idea of this passage is that "industrialization results in standardization and monotony".

This passage is from the novel Hard Times and it is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, which was published in the year 1854. The book looks at the English society and ridicules the social and financial states of the period. It is the briefest of Dickens' novels, scarcely a fourth of the length of those composed by the author.  

Answer 2

All the public inscriptions in the town were painted alike, in severe characters of black and white. The jail might have been the infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail, the town-hall might have been either, or both, or anything else, for anything that appeared to the contrary in the graces of their construction. Fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the immaterial. The main idea of this passage is that industrialization results in standardization and monotony.