The Great Gatsby Response To Thomas Hardy

Quote 1: “…that there behind the blue narcotic haze was potentially the ‘tragic mischief’ of her drama--one who stood fair to be the blood-red ray in the spectrum of her young life” (Hardy 52). Hardy uses this quote to introduce the reader into his idea of fatalism. The quote uses “blood-red” foreshadowing to the disturbing death of Alec and “tragic mischief” to summarize that Tess’s life will not be simple and easy. In other terms, this quote is a bracing sentence to the misfortune and depression that will surround Tess throughout her life. This passage surprises me after reading the full book. I did not catch the foreshadowing the first time, but looking back, I recognize the hints that Hardy left for the reader. Agreement can be made,

Being mentally older than her mother she did not regard Mrs. Durbeyfield’s matrimonial hopes for her in a serious aspect for a moment. The light-minded woman had been discovering good matches for her daughter almost from the year of her birth” (Hardy 59-60).
I chose this passage because it emphasizes how doomed to this faith Tess was. Her mother was no help due to the fact that she never explained to Tess how different the outside world is compared to the simple, innocent life she led in the Durbeyfield home. Mrs. Durbeyfield also wanted Tess to marry Alec and almost forces her to be around him. When Tess finally decides to live with him, out of weakness, it’s like Mrs. Durbeyfield’s request was more like a statement made by faith.
When I read this passage, it made me feel sympathetic for Tess since she never got to fulfill her dream of being a teacher. She instead sacrificed everything she knew and had to take care of her family after accidentally killing the family horse. The passage also sparks the question, if Tess was to stay at the Durbeyfield house and refuse to go to the d’Urberville’s, would she have still ended up hunted down for