Symbolism in the Swamp Dwellers

Symbolism in The Swamp Dwellers from Hetaldabhi2

Major characters of Da Vinci Code

Major characters of The Da Vinci Code from Hetaldabhi2

Major themes of Things Fall Apart and character of Okonkow

Name:- Hetal Dabhi
Sem:- 4
Paper:-14 (The African Literature)



Assignment


Character of Okonkow

The protagonist of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is also considered a tragic hero. A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure.In his thirties, Okonkwo is a leader ofthe Igbo community of Umuofia. Achebe describes him as "tall and huge" with "bushy eyebrows and [a] wide nose [that gives] him a very severe look." When Okonkwo walks, his heels barely touch the ground, like he walks on springs, "as if he [is] going to pounce on somebody." Okonkwo "stammers slightly" and his breathing is heavy.Okonkwo is renowned as a wrestler, a fierce warrior, and a successful farmer of yams (a "manly" crop). He has three wives and many children who live in huts on his compound. Throughout his life, he wages a never ending battle for status; his life is dominated by the fear of weakness and failure. He is quick to anger, especially when dealing with men who are weak, lazy debtors like his father. However, Okonkwo overcompensates for his father's womanly (weak) ways, of which he is ashamed, because he does not tolerate idleness or gentleness. Even though he feels inward affection at times, he never portrays affection toward anyone. Instead, he isolates himself by exhibiting anger through violent, stubborn, irrational behavior. Okonkwo demands that his family work long hours despite their age or limited physical stamina, and he nags and beats his wives and son, Nwoye, who Okonkwo believes is womanly like his father, Unoka.Okonkwo is impulsive; he acts before he thinks. Consequently, Okonkwo offends the Igbo people and their traditions as well as the gods of his clan. Okonkwo is advised not to participate in the murder of Ikefemuna, but he actually kills Ikefemuna because he is "afraid of being thought weak." When the white man brings Christianity to Umuofia, Okonkwo is opposed to the new ways. He feels that the changes are destroying the Igbo culture, changes that require compromise and accommodation —two qualities that Okonkwo finds intolerable. Too proud and inflexible, he clings to traditional beliefs and mourns the loss of the past.When Okonkwa rashly kills a messenger from the British district office, his clansmen back away in fear; he realizes that none of them support him and that he can't save his village from the British colonists. Okonkwo is defeated. He commits suicide, a shameful and disgraceful death like his father's.

Major themes of Things Fall Apart

Introduction

For many writers, the theme of a novel is the driving force of the book during its creation. Even if the author doesn't consciously identify an intended theme, the creative process is directed by at least one controlling idea —a concept or principle or belief or purpose significant to the author. The theme —often several themes —guides the author by controlling where the story goes, what the characters do, what mood is portrayed, what style evolves, and what emotional effects the story will create in the reader.

Igbo Society Complexity

From Achebe's own statements, we know that one of his themes is thecomplexity of Igbo society before the arrival of the Europeans. To support this theme, he includes detailed Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apartdescriptions of the justice codes and the trial process, the social and family rituals, the marriage customs, food production and preparation processes, the process of shared leadership for the community, religious beliefs and practices, and the opportunities for virtually every man to climb the clan's ladder of success through his own efforts. The book may have been written more simply as a study of Okonkwo's deterioration in character in an increasingly unsympathetic and incompatible environment, but consider what would have been lost had Achebe not emphasized the theme of the complex and dynamic qualities of the Igbo in Umuofia.

Clash of Cultures

Against Achebe's theme of Igbo cultural complexity is his theme of the clash of cultures. This collision of cultures occurs at the individual and societal levels, and the cultural misunderstanding cuts both ways: Just as the uncompromising Reverend Smith views Africans as "heathens," the Igbo initially criticize the Christians and the missionaries as "foolish." For Achebe, the Africans' misperceptions of themselves and of Europeans need realignment as much as do the misperceptions of Africans by the West. Writing as an African who had been "Europeanized," Achebe wrote Things Fall Apartas "an act of atonement with [his] past, the ritual return and homage of a prodigal son." By his own act, he encourages other Africans, especially ones with Western educations, to realize that they may misperceive their native culture.

Destiny

Related to the theme of cultural clash is the issue of how much the flexibility or the rigidity of the characters (and by implication, of the British and Igbo) contribute to their destiny. Because of Okonkwo's inflexible nature, he seems destined for self-destruction, even before the arrival of the European colonizers. The arrival of a new culture only hastens Okonkwo's tragic fate.Two other characters contrast with Okonkwo in this regard: Mr. Brown, the first missionary, and Obierika, Okonkwo's good friend. Whereas Okonkwo is an unyielding man of action, the other two are more open and adaptable men of thought. Mr. Brown wins converts by first respecting the traditions and beliefs of the Igbo and subsequently allowing some accommodation in the conversion process. Like Brown, Obierika is also a reasonable and thinking person. He does not advocate the use of force to counter the colonizers and the opposition. Rather, he has an open mind about changing values and foreign culture: "Who knows what may happen tomorrow?" he comments about the arrival of foreigners. Obierika's receptive and adaptable nature may be more representative of the spirit of Umuofia than Okonkwo's unquestioning rigidity.For example, consider Umuofia's initial lack of resistance to the establishment of a new religion in its midst. With all its deep roots in tribal heritage, the community hardly takes a stand against the intruders —against new laws as well as new religion. What accounts for this lack of community opposition? Was Igbo society more receptive and adaptable than it appeared to be? The lack of strong initial resistance may also come from the fact that the Igbo society does not foster strong central leadership. This quality encourages individual initiative toward recognition and achievement but also limits timely decision-making and the authority-backed actions needed on short notice to maintain its integrity and welfare. Whatever the reason —perhaps a 

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apartcombination of these reasons —the British culture and its code of behavior, ambitious for its goals of native "enlightenment" as well as of British self-enrichment, begin to encroach upon the existing Igbo culture and its corresponding code of behavior.A factor that hastens the decline of the traditional Igbo society is their custom of marginalizing some of their people —allowing the existence of an outcast group and keeping women subservient in their household and community involvement, treating them as property, and accepting physical abuse of them somewhat lightly. When representatives of a foreign culture (beginning with Christian missionaries) enter Igbo territory and accept these marginalized people —including the twins —at their full human value, the Igbo's traditional shared leadership finds itself unable to control its whole population. The lack of a clear, sustaining center of authority in Igbo society may be the quality that decided Achebe to draw his title from the Yeats poem, "The Second Coming." The key phrase of the poems reads, "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold."Underlyingthe aforementioned cultural themes is a theme of fate, or destiny. This theme is also played at the individual and societal levels. In the story, readers are frequently reminded about this theme in references to chi, the individual's personal god as well as his ultimate capability and destiny. Okonkwo, at his best, feels that his chisupports his ambition: "When a man says yes, his chi says yes also" (Chapter 4). At his worst, Okonkwo feels that his chi has let him down: His chi "was not made for great things. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi....Here was a man whose chi said nay despite his own affirmation" (Chapter 14).At the societal level, the Igbos' lack of a unifying self-image and centralized leadership as well as their weaknessin the treatment of some of their own people —both previously discussed —suggest the inevitable fate of becoming victim to colonization by a power eager to exploit its resources.In addition to the three themes discussed in this essay, the thoughtful reader will probably be able to identify other themes in the novel: for example, the universality of human motives and emotions across cultures and time, and the need for balance between individual needs and community needs.

Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning: Web 2.0 Tools

                         



What are Web 2.0 Tools?

These tools are internet tools that allow the user to go beyond just receiving information through the web. The user is expected to interact and to create content with others. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are examples of Web 2.0 tools. Web tools can be used to enhance teaching and collaboration among teachers and students as well as increase professional collaboration between educators.

 Free Mobile Apps to Help You Learn English

• Hello English. This is my first recommendation for anyone looking to improve their English. ...
• Duolingo. If you want to learn English from scratch, then this is the app you are looking for. ...
• Lingbe. Both Duolingo and Hello English can help you learn English and improve it. ...
• Memrise. ...
• busuu. ...
• Awabe. ...
• Learn English Daily. ...
• Beelinguapp.

Learn English Daily

This app follows a simple approach to learning English by listening and speaking. The app consists of thousands of words and phrases narrated by native speakers.

You can listen to those phrases to improve your pronunciation and memorize them. It also notifies you to speak sentences every day to keep your English fluent.

                    

Beelinguapp

Beelinguapp uses audiobooks to help you learn different languages. You just have to listen to stories and novels in the language you want to learn and side by side read the text in your native language.

Audiobooks lovers will surely love this app as they can listen to audiobooks of their interest and at the same time learn a new language. There are many free audio books to hone your English skills, but some are paid.

                                   

                         

English Speaking Practice

It’s a practicing tool to help you improve your pronunciation and create confidence to have a conversation in English. The app has hundreds of recorded conversations where you can listen to native speakers and then speak and record yourself.

You can listen to yourself and a native speaker to compare and improve your pronunciation.

        

                           

Awabe

A completely free app that helps you learn over 4000 common phrases and vocabularies. The app works completely offline and there is tons of data to improve your English. The app offers translations, audio and video lessons, and a bunch of language learning games. You’ll also get daily speaking, listening, and memorizing tests that ensure your skills stay fluent.

                                 

How Literature shaped me ?

                       

What is literature ?

This is very basic question for the students of literature. While studying literature, teachers' and students are mostly concerned on the language rather then understanding, because literature is most generally made by language. In English literature, students are actually not aware with the concept of literature, but they are more interested in learning English language.

Most of the students have a basic understanding of literature that "It is the mirror of society". Mirror never reflects the real image of a person or a thing. It is a mere inverted image. However, literature reflects society in a bit different way. It can be considered as an x-ray image of society, which represents the the harsh reality and real image of society. Literature is of two kinds, first is the books and and paper one can buy from the shop and second is when a person experiences the lives hidden in the books. When a person feels the happiness and pain of different characters from the books, and its creates a different point of view of a person towards the literature.

Literature can be considered as a "Change" in us after its understanding. All can read literature but only few can feel and understand it. When we feel the conflict of Hamlet towards his life and when we understand the philosophical point of view of grave digging scene' we real understood it, that understanding changes our way of thinking. That change is not permanent but it leaves its effects in our mind. Literature contains various way of thinking in one piece of art! It has the villain like lago and the passionate hero like Othello. It contains a housewife like Mrs. Ramsay and a girl with freethinking like Lily Briscoe. It contains absurdity and nothingness like meaninglessness of Vladimir and Estragon's life and their condition. It contains Frankenstein's innocent monster and Edger Allan Poe's evilest and harmful humans. It gives us numerous ways of living life. It gives us each characters way of thinking and understanding of way they are behaving in a particular manner.

All these experiences can change us. We live thousand times in one life through literature. It attacks harshly and brutally kills our beautiful dreams( illusion) of life. Literature hurts our ego, and heals our hearts. It criticises us, and admires, but ultimately, it changes us.

No one can bind literature in any particular definition because it is made from language and as "Derrida said " Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique". 

Literature is not easy to define in language but we can feel it, understand it, and express it through emotions. Catharsis is the way of getting literature. It changes us. By each reading, we can get the different essence of each subject. As it is said that by reading literature, one can read about people, he/she could never be, and adventures he/she would never have.

How Literature Shaped me....?

Yes, Literature shapes,  I have seen the changes in me. Like, one needs to be thinking man. 

Not only thinking but makes us ready  to be more onus. Theories of existentialism makes this life more interesting to live. It teaches the importance of choice. Most importantly , it gives a new way of life by creating the better human being.

Moby Dick

                                                 

                                            Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that on the ship's previous voyage bit off Ahab's leg at the knee. Wikipedia.

Herman Melville 

                                                              

                                              Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are his magnum opus, Moby-Dick, and Typee, a romantic account of his experiences of Polynesian life. Melville was born in New York City, the third child of a merchant. Wikipedia.

• Moby Dick Summary

                                            The novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville is an epic tale of the voyage of the whaling ship the Pequod and its captain, Ahab, who relentlessly pursues the great Sperm Whale (the title character) during a journey around the world. The narrator of the novel is Ishmael, a sailor on the Pequod who undertakes the journey out of his affection for the sea.

                                             Moby Dick begins with Ishmael's arrival in New Bedford as he travels toward Nantucket. He rests at the Spouter Inn in New Bedford, where he meets Queequeg, a harpooner from New Zealand who will also sail on the Pequod. Although Queequeg appears dangerous, he and Ishmael must share a bed together and the narrator quickly grows fond of the somewhat uncivilized harpooner. Queequeg is actually the son of a High Chief who left New Zealand because of his desire to learn among Christians. The next day, Ishmael attends a church service and listens to a sermon by Father Mapple, a renowned preacher who delivers a sermon considering Jonah and the whale that concludes that the tale is a lesson to preacher Truth in the face of Falsehood.

                                           On a schooner to Nantucket, Ishmael and Queequeg come across a local bumpkin who mocks Queequeg. However, when this bumpkin is swept overboard, Queequeg saves him. In Nantucket, Queequeg and Ishmael choose between three ships for a year journey, and decide upon the Pequod. The Captain of the Pequod, Peleg, is now retired, and merely owns the boat with another Quaker, Bildad. Peleg tells them of the new captain, Ahab, and immediately describes him as a grand and ungodly man. Before leaving for their voyage, Ishmael and Queequeg come across a stranger named Elijah who predicts disaster on their journey. Before leaving on the Pequod, Elijah again predicts disaster.

                                     Ishmael and Queequeg board the Pequod, where Captain Ahab is still unseen, secluded in his own cabin. Peleg and Bildad consult with Starbuck, the first mate. He is a Quaker and a Nantucket native who is quite practical. The second mate is Stubb, a Cape Cod native with a more jovial and carefree attitude. The third is Flask, a Martha's Vineyard native with a pugnacious attitude. Melville introduces the rest of the crew, including the Indian harpooner Tashtego, the African harpooner Daggoo.

                                  Several days into the voyage, Ahab finally appears as a man seemingly made of bronze who stands on an ivory leg fashioned from whalebone. He eventually gets into a violent argument with Stubb when the second mate makes a joke at Ahab's expense, and kicks him. This leads Stubb to dream of kicking Ahab's ivory leg off, but Flask claims that the kick from Ahab is a sign of honor.

                               At last, Ahab tells the crew of the Pequod to look for a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow: Moby Dick, the legendary whale that took Ahab's leg. Starbuck tells Ahab that his obsession with Moby Dick is madness, but Ahab claims that all things are masks and there is some unknown reasoning behind that mask that man must strike through. For Ahab, Moby Dick is that mask. Ahab himself seems to recognize his own madness. Starbuck begins to worry that the ship is overmatched by the mad captain and knows that he will see an impious end to Ahab.

                            While Queequeg and Ishmael weave a sword-mat for lashing to their boat, the Pequod soon comes upon a whale and Ahab orders his crew to their boats. Ahab orders his special crew, which Ishmael compares to "phantoms," to their boats. The crew attacks a whale and Queequeg does strike it, but this is insufficient to kill it. Among the "phantoms" in the boat is Fedallah, a sinister Parsee.

                                 After passing the Cape of Good Hope, the Pequod comes across the Goney (Albatross), another ship on its voyage. Ahab asks whether they have seen Moby Dick as the ships pass one another, but Ahab cannot hear his answer. The mere passing of the ships is unorthodox behavior, for ships will generally have a 'gam,' a meeting between two ships. The Pequod does have a gam with the next ship it encounters, the Town-Ho.

                                      Ishmael interrupts his narration to tell a story that was told to him by the crew of the Town-Ho, just as he would tell it to a circle of Spanish friends after his journey on the Pequod. The story concerns the near mutiny on the Town-Ho and its eventual conflict with Moby Dick.

                                   The Pequod does vanquish the next whale that it comes across, as Stubb strikes a whale with his harpoon. However, as the crew of the Pequod attempts to bring the whale into the ship, sharks attack the carcass and Queequeg nearly loses his hand while fending them off.

                            The Pequod next comes upon the Jeroboam, a Nantucket ship afflicted with an epidemic. Stubb later tells a story about the Jeroboam and a mutiny that occurred on this ship because of a Shaker prophet, Gabriel, on board. The captain of the Jeroboam, Mayhew, warns Ahab about Moby Dick.

                                After vanquishing a Sperm Whale, Stubb next also kills a Right Whale. Although this is not on the ship's agenda, the Pequod pursues a Right Whale because of the good omens associated with having the head of a Sperm Whale and a head of a Right Whale on a ship. Stubb and Flask discuss rumors that Ahab has sold his soul to Fedallah.

                               The next ship that the Pequod meets is the Jungfrau (Virgin), a German ship in desperate need of oil. The Pequod competes with the Virgin for a large whale, and the Pequod is successful in defeating it. However, the whale carcass begins to sink as the Pequod attempts to secure it and thus the Pequod must abandon it. The Pequod next finds a large group of Sperm Whales and injures several of them, but only captures a single one.

                                Stubb concocts a plan to swindle the next ship that the Pequod meets, the French ship Bouton-de-Rose (Rosebud), of ambergris. Stubb tells them that the whales that they have vanquished are useless and could damage their ship, and when the Rosebud leaves these behind the Pequod takes them in order to gain the ambergris in one of them.

                            Several days after encountering the Rosebud, a young black man on the boat, Pippin, becomes frightened while lowering after a whale and jumps from the boat, becoming entangled in the whale line. Stubb chastises him for his cowardice and tells him that he will be left at sea if he jumps again. When Pippin (Pip) does the same thing again, Stubb remains true to his word and Pip only survives because a nearby boat saves him. Nevertheless, Pip loses his sanity from the event.

                                      The next ship that the Pequod encounters, a British ship called the Samuel Enderby, bears news of Moby Dick but its crewman Dr. Bunger warns Ahab to leave the whale alone. Later, Ahab's leg breaks and the carpenter must fix it. Ahab behaves scornfully toward the carpenter. When Starbuck learns that the casks have sprung a leak, he goes to Ahab's cabin to report the news. Ahab disagrees with Starbuck's advice on the matter, and becomes so enraged that he pulls a musket on Starbuck. Although Ahab warns Starbuck that there is but one God on Earth and one Captain on the Pequod, Starbuck tells him that he will be no danger to Ahab, for Ahab is sufficient danger to himself. Ahab does relent to Starbuck's advice.

                                 Queequeg becomes ill from fever and seems to approach death, so he asks for a canoe to serve as a coffin. The carpenter measures Queequeg for his coffin and builds it, but Queequeg returns to health, claiming that he willed his own recovery. Queequeg keeps the coffin and uses it as a sea chest.

                                  Upon reaching the Pacific Ocean, Ahab asks Perth the blacksmith to forge a harpoon to use against Moby Dick. Perth fashions a harpoon that Ahab demands be tempered with the blood of his pagan harpooners, and he howls out that he baptizes the harpoon in the name of the devil.

                       The next ship that the Pequod meets is the Bachelor, a Nantucket ship whose captain denies the existence of Moby Dick. The next day, the Pequod slays four whales, and that night Ahab dreams of hearses. He and Fedallah pledge to slay Moby Dick and survive the conflict, and Ahab boasts of his own immortality.

                       Ahab must soon decide between an easy route past the Cape of Good Hope back to Nantucket and a difficult route in pursuit of Moby Dick. Ahab easily chooses to continue his quest. The Pequod soon comes upon a typhoon on its journey in the Pacific, and while battling this storm the Pequod's compass moves out of alignment. When Starbuck learns this and goes to Ahab's cabin to tell him, he finds the old man asleep. Starbuck considers shooting Ahab with his musket, but he cannot move himself to shoot his captain after he hears Ahab cry in his sleep "Moby Dick, I clutch thy heart at last."

                               The next morning after the typhoon, Ahab corrects the problem with the compass despite the skepticism of his crew and the ship continues on its journey. Ahab learns that Pip has gone insane and offers his cabin to the poor boy. The Pequod comes upon yet another ship, the Rachel, whose captain, Gardiner, knows Ahab. He requests the Pequod's help in searching for Gardiner's son, who may be lost at sea, but Ahab flatly refuses when he learns that Moby Dick is nearby. The final ship that the Pequod meets is the Delight, a ship that has recently come upon Moby Dick and has nearly been destroyed by its encounter with the whale. Before finally finding Moby Dick, Ahab reminisces about the day nearly forty years before in which he struck his first whale, and laments the solitude of his years out on the sea. He admits that he has chased his prey as more of a demon than a man.

                      The struggle against Moby Dick lasts three days. On the first day, Ahab spies the whale himself, and the whaling boats row after it. Moby Dick attacks Ahab's boat, causing it to sink, but Ahab survives the ordeal when he reaches Stubb's boat. Despite this first failed attempt at defeating the whale, Ahab pursues him for a second day. On the second day of the chase, roughly the same defeat occurs. This time Moby Dick breaks Ahab's ivory leg, while Fedallah dies when he becomes entangled in the harpoon line and is drowned. After this second attack, Starbuck chastises Ahab, telling him that his pursuit is impious and blasphemous. Ahab declares that the chase against Moby Dick is immutably decreed, and pursues it for a third day.

                       On the third day of the attack against Moby Dick, Starbuck panics for ceding to Ahab's demands, while Ahab tells Starbuck that "some ships sail from their ports and ever afterwards are missing," seemingly admitting the futility of his mission. When Ahab and his crew reach Moby Dick, Ahab finally stabs the whale with his harpoon but the whale again tips Ahab's boat. However, the whale rams the Pequod and causes it to begin sinking. In a seemingly suicidal act, Ahab throws his harpoon at Moby Dick but becomes entangled in the line and goes down with it. Only Ishmael survives this attack, for he was fortunate to be on a whaling boat instead of on the Pequod. Eventually he is rescued by the Rachel as its captain continues his search for his missing son, only to find a different orphan.

• Critical Analysis

                            “Moby Dick is biographic of Melville in the sense that it discloses every nook and cranny of his imagination.” (Humford 41) This paper is a psychological study of Moby Dick. Moby Dick was written out of Melville’s person experiences. Moby Dick is a story of the adventures a person named Ishmael. Ishmael is a lonely, alienated individual who wants to see the “watery part of the world.” Moby Dick begins with the main character, Ishmael, introducing himself with the line “Call Me Ishmael.” (Melville 1)

                               Ishmael tells the reader about his background and creates a depressed mood for the reader. Call me Ishmael. “Some years ago-nevermind how long precisely- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.” (Melville 1) Ishmael tells the reader about his journeys through various towns such as New Bedford, Nankantuket. Eventually while in Nankantuket, Ishmael signed up for a whaling voyage on the Pequod. The Pequod was the whaling boat Ishmael sailed on where such characters as Queequeq, Starbuck, and the captain of the ship, Ahab, all journeyed together. Not long once at sea, the captain of the ship, Ahab reveals his plan to hunt down a white whale named Moby Dick. Ahab was veteran sailor, a man that had a heart of stone. Ahab had a personal grudge against Moby Dick. Moby Dick was responsible for taking off Ahab’s leg in a previous voyage. Ahab’s plan was essentially an unauthorized takeover, what the whaling company had not in mind. Ahab was very irrational and ludicrous; his plan seals the fate for himself and the crew of the Pequod. In the tragic ending of Moby Dick, all of the characters die except for Ishmael. Ishmael survived Moby Dick’s attack of the ship with the help of a coffin that his close friend Queequeq built. Ishmael of Moby Dick was a special character because he closely relates to the author’s own life. There are many symbolism’s between Ishmael of Moby Dick and Herman Melville’s own life. The name Ishmael can be traced back to the Bible. The Biblical story of Ishamel is one of a rejected outcast. This “rejected outcast” can be linked to Ishmael of Moby Dick and Herman Melville’s own life. In Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Ishmael is symbolic of the author’s own life. Herman Melville’s childhood played an important part in his life. Herman Melville’s childhood is evident throughout his writings. Herman Melville’s childhood was an unconventional one. There were many twists and turns that Herman experienced. Melville was born on August 1, 1819, in New York City, the third of eight children. His mother’s families the Gansevoorts of Albany were Dutch brewers who settled in Albany in the seventeenth century achieving the status of landed gentry.

                             “The Gansevoorts were solid, stable, eminent, prosperous people; the (Herman’s Father’s side) Melvilles were somewhat less successful materially, possessng an unpredictable. erratic, mercurial strain.” (Edinger 6) This difference between the Melville’s and Gansevoorts was the beginning of the trouble for the Melville family. Herman’s mother tried to work her way up the social ladder by moving into bigger and better homes. While borrowing money from the bank, her husband was spending more than he was earning. “It is my conclusion that Maria Melville never committed herself emotionally to her husband, but remained primarily attached to the well off Gansevoort family.” (Humford 23) Allan Melville was also attached financially to the Gansevoorts for support. There is a lot of evidence concerning Melville’s relation to his mother Maria Melville. “Apparently the older son Gansevoort who carried the mother’s maiden name was distinctly her favorite.” (Edinger 7) This was a sense of alienation the Herman Melville felt from his mother. This was one of the first symbolists to the Biblical Ishamel. The following are a few excerpts from some of Melville’s works that show evidence of his childhood. A passage from Melville’s Redburn shows that Melville was attached to his mother, “The name of the mother was the centre of all my hearts finest feelings.” (Melville 33) The following poem that Melville wrote shows his unreciprocated love for his mother. I made the junior feel his place Subserve the senior, love him too; And soothe he does, and that is his saving grace But me the meek one never can serve, Hot he, he lacks quality keen, To make the mother through the soon, An envied dame of power a social queen. (Melville 211) Herman’s father’s side originally Scots with connections in the peerage, were Boston merchants.

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy


                                                            


Thomas Hardy OM was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. Wikipedia





                                                  

Far from the Madding Crowd is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership. The novel is the first to be set in Thomas Hardy's Wessex in rural southwest England. Wikipedia

Summary

At the beginning of the novel, Bathsheba Everdene is a beautiful young woman without a fortune. She meets Gabriel Oak, a young farmer, and saves his life one evening. He asks her to marry him, but she refuses because she does not love him. Upon inheriting her uncle's prosperous farm she moves away to the town of Weatherbury.

A disaster befalls Gabriel's farm and he loses his sheep; he is forced to give up farming. He goes looking for work, and in his travels finds himself in Weatherbury. After rescuing a local farm from fire he asks the mistress if she needs a shepherd. It is Bathsheba, and she hires him. As Bathsheba learns to manage her farm she becomes acquainted with her neighbor, Mr. Boldwood, and on a whim sends him a valentine with the words "Marry me." Boldwood becomes obsessed with her and becomes her second suitor. Rich and handsome, he has been sought after by many women. Bathsheba refuses him because she does not love him, but she then agrees to reconsider her decision.

That very night, Bathsheba meets a handsome soldier, Sergeant Troy. Unbeknownst to Bathsheba, he has recently impregnated a local girl, Fanny Robin, and almost married her. Troy falls in love with Bathsheba, enraging Boldwood. Bathsheba travels to Bath to warn Troy of Boldwood's anger, and while she is there, Troy convinces her to marry him. Gabriel has remained her friend throughout and does not approve of the marriage. A few weeks after his marriage to Bathsheba, Troy sees Fanny, poor and sick; she later dies giving birth to her child. Bathsheba discovers that Troy is the father. Grief-stricken at Fanny's death and riddled with shame, Troy runs away and is thought to have drowned.

With Troy supposedly dead, Boldwood becomes more and more emphatic about Bathsheba marrying him. Troy sees Bathsheba at a fair and decides to return to her. Boldwood holds a Christmas, to which he invites Bathsheba and again proposes marriage; just after she has agreed, Troy arrives to claim her. Bathsheba screams, and Boldwood shoots Troy dead. He is sentenced to life in prison. A few months later, Bathsheba marries Gabriel, now a prosperous bailiff.

Far from the Madding Crowd Themes

Love

Love is a major theme of the novel; in fact, the plot revolves around Bathsheba trying to understand what love truly is, and what type of man is worthy of giving her love to. Each of her suitors represents a different kind of love. Boldwood offers a love that is intense, obsessive, and functions like a form of ownership; he tries to buy her love with luxurious goods and promises of sharing in his prosperity. Troy offers her a passionate, sexually charged love that is very pleasurable in the short term but quickly fades away, and is not substantiated with long-term devotion or compatibility. It is Gabriel who offers her a quiet, unassuming, but steadfast and reliable love that will endure through problems and challenges. As Bathsheba matures, she comes to realize what real love is, and that Gabriel is the best partner for her.

Independence

Bathsheba is determined to assert her independence; she knows that many people assume that because she is a woman, she needs to get married and have a husband to help her with the farm. Bathsheba rejects the idea of marrying out of social convention; when Gabriel first proposes, she makes it clear that she only wants to marry for love. Through hard work and intelligence, she is fairly successful at proving that she can successfully manage her own farm as an independent woman. However, Bathsheba’s ideal of independence is a bit of an illusion, since while she thinks she is taking care of everything, she is actually dependent on Gabriel’s help the entire time. If he had abandoned her or refused to help her during crises like the sheep getting poisoned or the storm breaking out on the night of the harvest supper, she could have been ruined.

Deceit

Deceit is an important theme since various characters create unfortunate situations through a lack of honesty. Bathsheba unleashes a long and tragic series of events through the simple and playful deception of sending Boldwood a valentine and misleading him about her feelings. Later, Troy repeatedly tricks and deceives characters around him, especially Bathsheba. He does not reveal the nature of his relationship with Fanny, and when he returns from America, he disguises his identity at the fair. The scale of deceit ranges from relatively harmless to very serious, and yet it always has negative consequences, showing that honesty and integrity are the ways to lead a happy life.

Reliability

The character who best exemplifies the theme of reliability is Gabriel. Whenever something goes wrong, he can be counted on to help out, and even though Bathsheba sometimes takes him for granted and mistreats him, he stands by her. Gabriel’s reliability is rewarded by the end of the novel in both his personal and professional life. His good reputation for his dedicated service to the Everdene farm allows him to lease Boldwood’s farm and hope for bright prospects as a farmer. Bathsheba realizes the value of his devoted love and agrees to marry him. However, Gabriel’s reliability is valuable because he is humble and giving. In contrast, Boldwood is also very consistent in his devoted love for Bathsheba, but he is demanding and insistent on trying to possess her, rather than being content to love and serve her faithfully even if she never returns his feelings.

Fate

While the novel explores the moral choices faced by various characters and the consequences of those choices, it is clear that not everything is under the control of individuals. Many of the characters seem to be ruled by fate and unable to escape from certain experiences or events. Even though Gabriel has made all the right decisions to advance his career at the start of the novel, he loses everything through a single ill-fated event. Bathsheba also experiences reversals of fate, as she goes from being financially destitute to being a wealthy heiress. Various chance encounters also bring the characters together, such as the accidental meetings of Gabriel and Bathsheba, and Bathsheba and Troy. This theme suggests that human lives play out amidst larger forces that they cannot control or predict.

Nature

Nature is a major theme in the novel, since the progress of the plot is closely tied to the passage of time, the change of seasons, and the rhythm of life on the farm. Cycles like the growing and harvesting of crops and the reproduction of the sheep structure the everyday lives of the characters and enable them to earn their livelihood. Gabriel's skill and success as a farmer stems from his ability to stay attuned to nature; other characters, like Troy, fail to appreciate nature and see it as something they can mostly ignore or exploit for profit.

Patience

Patience is shown as a virtue to be rewarded, even though it is not easy for characters to acquire. Gabriel takes a patient approach to his work, not being afraid of starting over and gradually progressing through his career. He also understands that doing farm tasks slowly and meticulously ensures they will be done well, and supports the success of the farm in the long run. He takes the same approach to his feelings for Bathsheba, remaining steadfastly loyal to her even though she sometimes takes him for granted and seems to have fallen in love with another man. Bathsheba does not naturally display as much patience since she likes to follow her impulses, but she gradually learns to appreciate a slower and more careful approach to life.

Work cite

https://www.gradesaver.com/far-from-the-madding-crowd/study-guide/themes