How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? Thomas Hardy has an extremely clever way of obtaining sympathy for a character. Hardy has specific ways to elicit sympathy by varying the level of sympathy he gives to character. He either gives sympathy to someone or takes it away from a character so more sorrow seems to be on another. He also uses powerful language to strengthen his points and finally he shows sorrow from a character’s point of view. He uses these techniques on the three main characters (Rhoda, Farmer Lodge and Gertrude) exceptionally well. We first see Farmer Lodge in his gig while bringing his new wife Gertrude to Holmstoke. He sees his son but completely ignores him: “One of the neighbourhood. I think he lives with his mother a mile or two off.” (Page 4) Gertrude asks Farmer Lodge who the boy is but he totally disregards his son and does not even acknowledge the child. He does not even tell his new wife that the child is his son. We give him no sympathy for this cruel act as he should have at least greeted the youngster. In comparison, Farmer Lodge’s son looks up to him: “Mr Lodge, he seemed pleased, and his waistcoat stuck out, and his great golden seals hung like a lord’s” (Page 70) It seems his son wants to get to know his father and holds him in high regard as his description of Farmer Lodge is rather flattering. Hardy has made Farmer Lodge seem unfeeling and not caring about his son. This is another reason not to feel sorry for Farmer Lodge. Farmer Lodge ignores Gertrude and her needs because of her withered arm: “Half a dozen years passed away, and Mr and Mrs Lodge’s married experience sank into prosiness, and worse.” (Page 19) She needed his help and support but still he ignored her. This is cruel as he marries her and then ignores her. It is wrong. Hardy portrays him to be bitter and heartless and therefore he receives no sympathy what so ever. At the end, Farmer Lodge’s character changes, he tries to make up for his previous behaviour and how he ignored his son by setting up a reformatory for boys: “he went away to Port-Bredy, at the other end of the county, living there in solitary lodgings till his death two years later of painless decline.” (Page 33) Hardy uses strong words such as “painless decline” which gives atmosphere about the solitude he lived in. It is clear that Farmer Lodge wants to make up for his previous behaviour by setting up the reformatory and giving a “small annuity” to Rhoda.
Rabbi Saunders tries his hardest to have his son’s soul be ready for taking over the task of leading the Jewish people. The reason that a person must have a strong soul is so that they can handle the burden that Danny’s followers will heap onto him. Rabbi Saunders believes that only speaking to his son in Talmud discussions will enhance his sons soul. That is why Reb Saunders raises his child in silence. It is understandable to raise a son in the way Reb Saunders did, because Danny was destined for such great things. All Reb Saunders wants is that hi...
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.
especially incapable of trusting people who didn't libe the same life, like his son. He is very cold-hearted
One of the most important qualities of a good parent is consideration towards a child. This quality enables the parent to create a sense of safety and understanding in his or her parent-child relationship. However, when a parent forcefully imposes his will on an already uncomfortable child, he can gradually break the bond that they share. In The Return, Ivan’s father does just that - he forcefully imposes his will upon his son to call him father. This scene plays out in a car, where Ivan keeps on complaining about small disturbances. In the end, Ivan’s father forces him to submit by acknowledging him as father instead of some random person. This may seem like a petty argument, but the fact that the father doesn’t consider Ivan’s own feelings indicates the qualities of subpar parenting. Although it is true that a parent always wants his or her child to acknowledge him or her as a parent, it still is frowned upon to suddenly force a child to acknowledge, especially when that child still doesn’t have any positive feelings towards his or her new guardian yet.
In a normal father-son relationship, the father protects and gives advice to the son, and the son is dependent and reliant on the father. Eliezer and his father demonstrate this relationship to extremes throughout the beginning of their time in the camp. Eliezer reveals his childlike dependency upon entering the camp. Eliezer displays this dependency during first selection by stating, “The baton is pointed to the left. I first wanted to see where they would send my father.
. . .” implies the narrator can only see through so much of the door, his sight is restricted to only his father. This allows for a very strong description of his father in the moment. The narrators’ father was walking towards his bedroom with his back to his wife. He had clearly dismissed his wife’s’ argument until she cruelly remarked “Well, I hope you 'll be satisfied when they come home knocked up and you 'll have had your way.” (Alistair Macleod 229). Without stopping, revealing how shocked he was to hear this, he turns around. He is mid stride, but so taken back that he spins to face her. The offence that he feels is a result of his opinion that it would be best for his children to find a better way of life than his own. His children have an opportunity for a much more fulfilling life and he wants nothing more than for them to pursue it. This would seemingly be a goodtime for him to explain to his wife the way he feels; instead he holds it in, knowing that she would not understand. By turning back around without saying a word the only statement he makes is that he is mad. In this moment he is described as looking old and hard worked, though very
Old age is like a reversion to childishness and he too beckons the mother, who is absent.
to go after his dreams. He hopes that his son will not fear life, himself,
The father has a hard time following rule five, "Help others." The Biblical reasoning for this rule is, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" (King James Version, Luke 6.31). The child continuously wishes to help all people that don’t seem to be bad guys. At one point the man and his son find a man that was struck by lightning the child questions, “Cant we help him? Papa?” (McCarthy 25). The father doesn’t want to give him any help. This conflict is exemplified when the child and father run into a man named "Ely." The man seems weary of the man as shown when it is said, "He looked up the road and down. If this is an ambush he goes first, he said." (McCarthy 83). The child follows the rules better than the man as shown whe...
Each of Jane Austen’s characters in her novel, Pride and Prejudice, experiences a significant character development. Whether the change occurs by self-realization or through the assistance of another character varies from each individual character. For Austen’s leading man, Mr. Darcy, his character improvement is documented through his two marriage proposals to Elizabeth Bennet and her subsequent first rejection of his proposal. His first proposal demonstrates his extreme arrogance, elitism, and blindness to his many flaws. While his latter proposal shows not only the recognition of his deficiencies, but the overall improvement in his mentality. Mr. Darcy’s two proposals, though having the same intended end result, are completely different
The son's rite of passage to manhood, his acceptance as the role of host and peacemaker and unifier, is a shocking one to both speaker and reader. To unite his comrades, he comments "We could easily kill a two-year-old" and the tone of the poem changes finally to one of heartlessness at the blunt brutality of the statement. The mother realizes then that the young boys, the future "Generals" who will soon live as men do "playing war", are far from innocent. Her rite of passage is a complete and sad transition from the mother of a child that she has some control over to the parent of a independent man, who will make his own choices and fight his own battles.
Through self-centered and narcissistic characters, Emily Bronte’s classic novel, “Wuthering Heights” illustrates a deliberate and poetic understanding of what greed is. Encouraged by love, fear, and revenge, Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff, and Linton Heathcliff all commit a sin called selfishness.
his intentions are to receive justification that he is truly loved by having his daughters
It seems as if he is talking to a little child. And he says that as he is giving her money, which makes their interaction seem almost of a grown grandparent giving money t...
the form of an inquiry touching the "likeness" of the Son to His Father and