Feeling Sympathy for Gertrude and Rhoda in The Withered Arm, by Thomas Hardy
The Withered arm is typical of Hardy's novellas, as it is a tragedy.
It involves two main characters, Rhoda and Gertrude. Rhoda and
Gertrude both have their own different problems that the must face.
Rhoda and Gertrude become friends after they first meet. Rhoda had an
illegitimate child to farmer lodge who marries Gertrude. Before Rhoda
and Gertrude meet Rhoda does not know what Gertrude is like so is
bitter about the idea of her marrying farmer lodge who hardy hints
Rhoda is still in love with.
Rhoda is described to be old before her age and works as a milkmaid.
She receives no help in the upbringing of the boy she had with farmer
lodge so she works hard to care for him. The other milkmaids talk
about her and they start to talk about the subject of farmer lodges
new wife. This part makes you feel some sympathy for Rhoda as she is
being talked about when she is still there. Because of the times Rhoda
was not at all respected for bringing up a child on her own but
instead she was treated as a social outcast. No one seemed to blame
farmer Lodge for what had happened. The other milkmaids will think
nothing of talking about her business when she is there. This makes
you feel sympathy for Rhoda because in this day and age the farther
would be forced to help at least financially with the upbringing of
his son and Rhoda would be respected for her hard work in bringing up
a child on her own.
Rhoda is curious about the new wife and sends her son of to "check her
out", as it would be. She wants to know what his new wife is like.
Hardy gives the impression that Rhoda is jealous of the new wife or a
least angry that he is taking a new...
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...ge says that he is
away on holiday. You feel sorry at her desperation as she is only
doing this so farmer lodge will like her for her physical beauty but
she does not seem to mind.
The body that she touches happens to be Rhoda's son and farmer Lodge
is with her. You feel sorry for both the women equally as much at the
end of the story but for different reasons. Rhoda has had her whole
life taken away from her however little it was and Gertrude has now
died as a result of trying to improve her physical beauty.
In conclusion I think that you can not feel more sympathy towards
either woman as they are both in the same boat and it is because of
each other that they had so much grief and hardship. If they had
nether met or had anything to do with each other then they would not
have been like they were. It was all a matter of situation and
circumstances.
The speaker's relationship with her husband had to go over a few changes. At first, she did not want anything to do with her husband, she was still fourteen years old consequently feeling unready on handling such a big responsibility, but she had no other choice but to stay with him as she was a part of an arranged marriage. Later on, the speaker accepts her relationship with her husband and
The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado are two stories written by Edgar Allen Poe in the 18th century. Both of these stories are primarily focused on the mysterious and dark ways of the narrator. Since these stories were written by the same author, they tend to have several similarities such as the mood and narrative, but they also have a few differences. For instance, the characteristics of both narrators are different, but both stories portray the same idea of the narrator being obsessive over a certain thing.
The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with their grief differently, there is one common denominator: the reaction of one affects all.
Her husband and her were apart a lot, so that even if they had been in a good relationship the time apart would have still caused problems “I believe in out of sight out of mind, rather than, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
'Young Goodman Brown,' by Hawthorne, and 'The Tell Tale Heart,' by Poe, offer readers the chance to embark on figurative and literal journeys, through our minds and our hearts. Hawthorne is interested in developing a sense of guilt in his story, an allegory warning against losing one's faith. The point of view and the shift in point of view are symbolic of the darkening, increasingly isolated heart of the main character, Goodman Brown, an everyman figure in an everyman tale. Poe, however, is concerned with capturing a sense of dread in his work, taking a look at the motivations behind the perverseness of human nature. Identifying and understanding the point of view is essential, since it affects a reader's relationship to the protagonist, but also offers perspective in situations where characters are blinded and deceived by their own faults. The main character of Poe?s story embarks on an emotional roller coaster, experiencing everything from terror to triumph. Both authors offer an interpretation of humans as sinful, through the use of foreshadowing, repetition, symbolism and, most importantly, point of view. Hawthorne teaches the reader an explicit moral lesson through the third person omniscient point of view, whereas Poe sidesteps morality in favor of thoroughly developing his characters in the first person point of view.
her, she has his children, and he wishes her dead, so he could have custody.
The “Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and serves as a testament to Poe’s ability to convey mental disability in an entertaining way. The story revolves around the unnamed narrator and old man, and the narrator’s desire to kill the old man for reasons that seem unexplainable and insane. After taking a more critical approach, it is evident that Poe’s story is a psychological tale of inner turmoil.
She questions, “What I am to you now that you are no / longer what you used to be to me? / Who are we to each other now …” (Sutphen 1-3). She remembers the good times, but she is uncertain about what he is feeling. She wants to know, and she needs to know. According to Shawn Lewis, “Divorce people often fantasy hiring a hit-man one moment, and discussing a reconciliation in the next moment. They sometimes become recluses, and frequently spend sleepless nights contemplating whether life will be worth living the next morning.” In other words, the doubts are consuming her. There are unanswered questions, which leaves the woman confused about her feelings. Likewise, the reader can relate to the woman because she is having anxiety waiting for answers. On the other hand, the reader are left wondering how her partner felt towards
"Now this is the point. Your fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me"(42 Backpack Literature). Reading such words can create a wide imagination about what the character is truly like. The narrator in the story has an indirect personality where as you read you find out more and more about him.The narrator in Edger Allan Poe's "The Tell- Tale Heart" seems like he makes himself completely insane but as readers we are never told of any psychological problems, if any, that he may have.The characterization by Poe of the narrator crease a puzzle which makes the story interesting. I would characterize the narrator as being secretive, insane and nervous.
She proclaims her husbands love throughout the story, I feel, in an attempt to bind the disconnection she feels with her husband.
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart" is a short story about how a murderer's conscience overtakes him and whether the narrator is insane or if he suffers from over acuteness of the senses. Poe suggests the narrator is insane by the narrator's claims of sanity, the narrator's actions bring out the narrative irony of the story, and the narrator is insane according to the definition of insanity as it applies to "The Tell Tale Heart".
Edgar Allan Poe was a man who unfortunately was born into a life full of morbidity and grief. The stories and poems that he created reflect the experience he has with agonizing situations, in which Poe’s dark side developed; his evil reasoning and twisted mentality allowed Poe to develop extremely vivid and enthralling stories and works. Due to not only his family members but also his wifes to passing from tuberculosis, morbidity and grief is present in almost every work that Poe created. From major works such as “the Raven”, “Black Cat”, “Annabel Lee”, and the Tell- Tale Heart, Poe utilized themes such as death, premature burials, body decompositions, mourning, and morbidity to enhance his point an the image he attempted to convey.
In “The Tell Tale Heart” Edgar Allan Poe builds up suspense by guiding us through the darkness that dwells inside his character’s heart and mind. Poe masterfully demonstrates the theme of guilt and its relationship to the narrator’s madness. In this classic gothic tale, guilt is not simply present in the insistently beating heart. It insinuates itself earlier in the story through the old man’s eye and slowly takes over the theme without remorse. Through his writing, Poe directly attributes the narrator’s guilt to his inability to admit his illness and offers his obsession with imaginary events - The eye’s ability to see inside his soul and the sound of a beating heart- as plausible causes for the madness that plagues him. After reading the story, the audience is left wondering whether the guilt created the madness, or vice versa.
with her. He also shows that he wants them to have a relaxing time as