What was Thomas Hardy trying to show through his characters in The
Withered Arm?
In this essay I will write about what Thomas Hardy was trying to show
through his characters in 'The Withered Arm'. The characters I will
write about are Rhoda Brook, Gertrude Lodge, the boy and Farmer Lodge.
I will write about these characters because they were the main
characters in the story.
The short story 'The Withered Arm' is written by Thomas Hardy. 'The
Withered Arm' is a lady called Rhoda Brook who was partners with
Farmer Lodge and they had a child together, which Farmer Lodge leaves
Rhoda to bring up on her own. Later Farmer Lodge weds to Gertrude
Lodge. Rhoda Brook becomes jealous because Farmer Lodges' new wife was
younger and more attractive than her and also angry because Farmer
Lodge was not interested in the son that they had together. Rhoda has
a dream that Gertrude Lodge came to her house and that she had thrown
her to the ground by her arm and had permanently left finger marks in
her arm. After she becomes good friends with Gertrude, Rhoda finds out
that she dreamt actually came true. When Gertrude finds out who cursed
her by a wizard she is shocked and her friendship with Rhoda Brook
begins to seriously deteriorate and the story continues with Gertrude
Lodges' quest to heal her arm.
The first three chapters are mainly focused on the character Rhoda
whoyou realise is emotionally isolated. As the paragraphs continue
Rhoda doesn't join in and there you see how lonely and different she
is from the rest.
"He hadn't spoke to Rhoda Brook for years"
This shows that Farmer Lodge never cared for Rhoda Brook and had
showed no feelings towards her, which would make emotionally hurt.
Also how she doesn't ...
... middle of paper ...
... to his child, the boy. Also he doesn't stand by his wife,
Gertrude when she is dieing. Or help Rhoda look after the boy. But his
loneliness shows in the last chapter. He is shown by Hardy to suffer
by ignoring his son, by stopping his love for his wife and not helping
his ex. He loses everything he has and dies a lonely old man. Hardy
leaves us the reader to realise the death of his son had an effect on
him because he leaves his "property to a reformatory for boys". This
showed the death of his son had an effect on him.
Through all the main characters Thomas Hardy was showing loneliness
and suffering. Each character became lonelier through the chapters and
were shown to all be friendless. Thomas Hardy may have written in this
manner because he may experienced that during his life. I think that
because he wrote many stories about the place he grew up in.
it being for a few fleeting words. It may not be much, but in the final words of the book,
In this way the novel ends on the course of despair that it began in
In Sherwood Anderson's "Hands", the protagonist, Wing Biddlebaum is portrayed as the towns' mystery who lives alone in a small house, and although he has been living in Winesburg Ohio for twenty years Wing "did not think of himself as in any way part of the life of the town" (213). Wing cannot express himself entirely. The reason for this is his hands. He is afraid of them and tries to keep them hidden from society and from himself. In this touching story the unjust allegations of a small community have stripped Wing Biddlebaum of his identity and have forced him to become a prisoner unto himself.
...her and son is what ultimately makes the story so gripping with audiences and readers alike because of the subsequent evolution in the nature of their relationship as the story progresses. With each telling and retelling of Edward Bloom’s stories, the reader and William both gain a little more insight in the enigma who is Edward Bloom. Despite the resentment and anger that dominates William’s feelings for his father, his ability to strive to make peace and make sense of his mystifying father, who has always eluded his own comprehension, is significant to anyone who has ever felt disconnect with a dying family member.
... a prayer for the dead. Meanwhile Uncle Andrew takes Rufus for a walk and tells him about the “magnificent butterfly” that settled on Jay's coffin just as it was lowered into the grave before flying off high into the sky – an episode that Andrew believes “miraculous.” Andrews then reviles Father Jackson, who has refused to read the full burial service, since Jay has never been baptized. Rufus struggles to understand the hostility that Andrew feels toward the church even as he loves Christians such as Mary and Hannah. Rufus wants to ask for some clarification, but instead he and Andrew walk silently home. Thus Agee ends the novel on a note of unresolved conflict. As he grows up, it is suggested, Rufus will continue to suffer from the same divisions of faith and social milieu that are involved in his parents' relationship, and he will develop into the contemplative artist who already, at the age of six, has shown such sensitivity to human motives and the language in which they are conveyed. Written toward the end of his life, A Death in the Family may be considered Agee's attempt to understand the origins of, and to come to terms with, the self-division that plagued his existence.
the end of the novel when Finny dies, he feels like a part of him dies and that it’s his own funeral
...self to find a job and survive on his own, which came to be very hard for him to do. He probably could have stayed at home with his parents and be taken care of for a few more years had he not done so. I think the author put forth these themes clearly and effectively.
While it may seem that society’s restrictions continually halt the way one progresses in life, the ability to defy the odds and overcome them truly defines a person’s courage. This fact is evident in the novel, All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, where an orphan named Werner is continuously forced to participate in cruel Nazi practices because his enrollment in the Hitler Youth is the only way he is able to get the proper education to become an engineer. Similarly, in Keeping the Faith, directed by Edward Norton, a local rabbi named Jake is restricted from publically dating his childhood best friend, Anna because of the fact that she is not Jewish. First off, characters originally alter their views and behaviour due to their circumstances,
...and through an unfolding of events display to the reader how their childhoods and families past actions unquestionably, leads to their stance at the end of the novel.
provides further proof of the father’s antipathy and impatience with his son which could have resulted
In the first two lines we are given the stage in which the dead man’s story is to be told.
...e call as being the son’s death, but in this case are the parents the victims of misshapenness throughout the day? There is no true evidence that the last phone call was indeed from the hospital a mistaken phone call once again. What makes the story particularly interesting is through this misguidance and places of signs and symbols throughout the story, the reader is challenged to decode the ending to the mysterious phone call and look for answers. The struggle the mother and father had to face to bring up their mentally unstable son makes the story particularly unique. The characters of the story make them relatable people because they have such strong emotion towards their son and the reader can feel comfortable and at ease with the couple as if the mother and father of the story are the reader’s parents.
With the son’s fear amongst the possibility of death being near McCarthy focuses deeply in the father’s frustration as well. “If only my heart were stone” are words McCarthy uses this as a way illustrate the emotional worries the characters had. ( McCarthy pg.11). Overall, the journey of isolation affected the boy just as the man both outward and innerly. The boys’ journey through the road made him weak and without a chance of any hope. McCarthy states, “Ever is a long time. But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all” (McCarthy pg. 28). The years of journey had got the best of both, where they no longer had much expectation for
... and their love for their sons, no matter what kind of love it may be. The father-son relationship is enhanced in these works by the absence of mothers, who had either passed on or were not very essential to the plot of the work. Through these works, the importance of a father-son relationship can truly be shown.
The one of the main themes in the epilogue, and in the entire novel is