We are aware of some sort of relationship between Farmer Lodge and Rhoda; we are not told the nature of their relationship, but their relationship builds tension, because we know so little about it.
We find out that her and the farmer have a son; we know there is no continuing relationship between the boy and him, as he is unaware of the farmer being married. “Is father getting married then?” we see the farmer here as someone who has abandoned his responsibilities to Rhoda and their son. Although the farmer isn’t spoken of negatively there is tension built, as the consequences of his actions will inevitably manifest themselves. As in the tradition of short stories and folk tales they always do.
Rhoda has created a rivalry between herself and Gertrude, a woman she has never met. She wants the boy to compare her to Gertrude, “if she’s tall- as tall as I.” The way that Rhoda goes on about the points of comparison makes which makes her seem obsessed by the new wife, “if she’s dark or fair…if she’s ever worked for a living, or one that has always been well off”. She continuously wants to compare herself with Gertrude and even before seeing her Rhoda is jealous, the idea of Gertrude is making her bitter. Rhoda repeats herself when she looks into the fire and is “blowing at red hot ashes” she is reviving the fire as her obsession continues, this builds tension as it seems she is contemplating Gertrude fate of over the fire, which suggests again that she is evil. The chapter ends with the boy cutting a “notch with his pocketknife in the beech-backed chair.” Doing this builds tension as we aren’t aware of why he is cutting a notch in the why is he cutting a notch, is it because he is bored or because he wants it to remind him of something. We are left with a weird picture of Rhoda blowing into the fire and the boy cutting a notch into a chair this builds tension as we see the scene in the story juxtaposed with the arrival of Gertrude.
We can see the juxtaposition of characters here by the chapter titles, “a lorn milkmaid” and “the young wife” this creates tension as we can see an obvious difference between the characters. The farmer and Gertrude drive in on a “lemon coloured”; Gertrudes youth and the light yellow coloured carriage make her seem bright and innocent unlike the lonely and dark impression we have of Rhoda. Gertrude is described as “fresh in colour and …soft and evanescent.” This image of a beautiful Gertrude juxtaposed with Rhoda, makes it seem that Gertrude is destined to become like Rhoda from her present brightness and beauty to the sinister light that we see Rhoda in. Gertrude is described as “the light under a heap of rose petals” this builds tension as her beauty has bloomed from a flower with thorns, and although she is beautiful the reader is aware that there are flaws. The significance of rose petals is also that when petals are plucked from their flower they begin to rot, Gertrude has just left her home, and the reader wonders whether she will change over time. This builds tension, as it is a contradiction to Rhoda who doesn’t seem to be changing.
The boy “looked straight at the farmers wife” This chilling and penetrating stare that straight at Gertrude, builds tension as the boy is looking directly at Gertrude and staring there is tension as we don’t know what he is capable of doing. We see some feeling from the farmer towards the boy when although “annoyed at the boys presence did not order him to get out of the way.” There is no outward notice by the farmer of the boy but there is a sense of some responsibility, as he does not want to be rude to him. Here the farmer isn’t seen as a bad man, which builds up tension, as the reader knows that something bad is going to happen. Rhoda is mysteries because we are not aware why she is obsessive about certain points, such as her height “Go by Holmestoke church tomorrow morning…tell me if she is taller than I” Rhoda is blunt and unfeeling towards asking questions about Rhoda yet she continues to stress over certain points. Her asking the boy to go to church just to see Gertrudes height seems as if she is fixated on Gertrude. This builds tension, as we are not aware how this fixation will manifest itself.
The dream sequence is a terrifying experience for Rhoda, due to the intensity and malevolence of the spectre, but also it builds a great deal of tension; as we are not aware what the spectre is, a product of Rhoda Brooks mind or some sort of sub-conscience message from Gertrude. Rhoda having “contemplated so intently” on Gertrude, we see the focus of her mind to be Gertrude. Rhoda is obsessed with the image of Gertrude that she has been harbouring in her mind and realises that she could be dreaming, but tension and terror is built when she is not sure. “Her assertion that she really saw before falling asleep was not to be believed.” Her not knowing whether she was really confronted with some sort of supernatural figure or whether she was dreaming builds terror. As Rhoda is terrified that what she saw was real, and her fear that she really did see some sort of spectre, makes the description of her experience far more menacing. Tension is built here because as the reader we are not sure whether the spectre is real, and if it is real were not sure of who is responsible for it.
The description of the vision makes Rhoda seem like a passive victim as when “the pressure of Mrs Lodges person grew heavier;” Mrs Lodge is oppressing her. She is defending herself when she “seizes the confronting spectre by its obtrusive left arm”. More terror is created when the shockingly distorted features of Gertrude like her skin, “wrinkled as by age” makes it seem that the distortions were already there and that Rhoda was only projecting them. The description of the vision shows the terror that Rhoda had gone through. Hardy creates the atmosphere of terror by his use of broken and short sentences such as “Gasping out for breath, Rhoda, in a last desperate effort,” splitting the sentences like this makes it seem that Rhoda is panting for breath and in doing so makes the incubus seems real rather than part of a dream. The vision of the incubus becomes more terrifying when Rhoda says, “that was not a dream, she was really here” This builds terror and tension because there is the notion that a real spectre has visited Rhoda during the night, and we do not know who is manifesting the spectre or why it attacked Rhoda.
The next day when the boy says “what was that noise in your chimmer, mother” this is a point of real terror for Rhoda Brook as she realises that the vision of the incubus was not a dream but, that she has been visited by some sort of supernatural creature. We see her fear when we are told; “she could not explain” she is mystified and somewhat scared of this revelation. To create tension Hardy has juxtaposed this with the first time that Gertrude and Rhoda meet. “Rhoda seemed transfixed” the entrance of Gertrude in this part of the story builds both tension and terror. We don’t know what Gertrude wants or why she has come to see Rhoda, this creates tension. Rhoda has also had a vision of this woman attacking her on the previous night and now she is walking towards her for no apparent reason, her being transfixed on Gertrude shows her angst and fear at the sight of the young woman.
Gertrude wanting to go to the conjuror “in the heart of Egdon” shows that Gertrude believes that the conjuror is central to the healing of her arm, Tension is built because she asks Rhoda the would be perpetrator o accompany her. We see Rhodas anxiety towards Trendle when she says “not the conjuror? Said her thin companion turning pale” Rhodas turning pale because she realises that the conjuror would prove that she some how caused the pain in Gertrudes arm. Both Gertrudes and Rhodas anxiety build up tension. Further tension is built when we learn of Rhodas “fascination in times in becoming instrumental in throwing such light on aspects of her own character" We see Rhoda almost wanting to explore these powers that she may harbour, she wants to explore any malignant powers that she may have. Tension is built up not only because we don’t know why she wants to explore these powers, but also because it adds more angst to the conjurors visit.
The conjuror part in the short storey builds a lot of tension through the prolonging of what the reader knows will inevitably happen, the revealing of Rhoda as the cause of Gertrudes withering arm. We realise fully how terrified Rhoda is when she “shrank into herself and drew back” it shows that she is not proud that she has caused Gertrude harm. Rhoda almost seems to be victimized by the events at conjuror Trendles house, this makes Rhoda seem less evil; and creates tension because we are confused about who the evil person is Rhoda or Gertrude. Further tension and terror is created when Rhoda is told to “wait outside” and the reader knows that Rhoda will be pointed out as the person doing these things to Gertrude; but we don’t actually see what face appears in the hue “she wasn’t near enough to define the shape that it assumed”, although it is obvious to the reader that it should have been Rhoda we are not certain, this uncertainty creates tension.
Gertrude in this part of the short story ins important in creating terror, “She murmurs a reply in tones so low as to be inaudible” The image Hardy creates here is one of Gertrude being so shocked by the results that she is stricken to much as to speak, this makes the her seem less innocent and less naive as our previous which image that we have of her. This is a moment of real terror when Gertrude realises that Rhoda caused the arm to wither and Rhoda realises that Gertrude knows what she did. We see Gertrude being devious, when she says to Rhoda “was it you who first proposing coming here ….How very odd if you did” This seems to be her persecuting Rhoda for what it seems that she knows. Here we see her looking down on Rhoda and judging her. This creates terror as until now Gertrude has been a source of good and here we feel that she is changing from good too bad.
Rhoda and her son leave the dairy for “half a dozen years” the reader not knowing where she went builds tension as we don’t know why she left. In the six year elapse there is time for the farmers and Gertrudes marriage to collapse. Gertrude had also changed to an “irritable and superstitious” woman; this change shows how the terror of the arm has affected her in making her into a darker personality. We also see an aspect of 18th century society in Gertrude where people didn’t want to mix with conjurors and witches that is why Gertrude in the first instance comes “cloaked and veil” as not to be seen visiting characters such as Trendle, but later in the short story we see a change in her as later in the second attempt the conjuror “walked with her” showing that over time she has become more used to evil and superstition since her arm has started to wither; this make it easier for the reader to believe that she has become evil. This builds tension, as we don’t know what she will do to cure her arm.
We see a difference between Rhoda and Gertrude not only through the dark imagery used to describe Rhoda; we see further in the text how there are insinuations of Gertrude turning to the occult. The meeting with the hangman is one of the things that show us that she is becoming a darker personality. The hangman at Hardys time was a recluse from society, much like the conjuror, Gertrude visiting him shows that she is meddling with darker forces, this builds tension as her visit to the hangman proves how desperate she is to cure her arm. The Hanumans first reaction to Gertrude, when he says, “I don’t mind stopping a minute for one such as you” a line poised at Gertrude, shows that the hangman a representative of darkness and malice is interested in Gertrude. As a representative of darkness his interest in Gertrude, shows that she has become an object that that evil finds desirable makes her seem more part of the darkness, it also builds tension as we don’t know how far Gertrude will go to fix her arm. She seems more malevolent when she says “o- a reprieve- I hope not!” we see her wanting to see someone die; this shows her as a force of darkness. She wants the boy to die for her to be ale to cure her arm; this shows terror as we see her wilfully wanting someone to die.
At the beginning of the story there are various connotations such as Rhoda’s house and people’s attitudes towards her, and see Rhoda as a witch like figure, an evil woman jealous of Farmer Lodges new wife. Rhoda is shown as evil, but as the storey evolves it is Gertrude who is shown as the dark force driving the storey forward. Gertrude whom was a “source of light” turns in to the evil person. This happens through a series of stages all due to the withering of the arm. We are left at the end of the storey not knowing who of the two are evil. This uncertainty we are left with at the end of the story is part of the atmosphere that Hardy tries to create, one of the uncertainty between what is good and evil. Does Hardy in ‘The Withered Arm” set out to create a short story which is abundant in fear, terror and tension. Perhaps Hardy has a moral aim that no good can come from situations where evil is present, as throughout the piece there is no sign that the farmer shows any guilt for what he put Rhoda and the boy through. The demise of Gertrudes beauty may be the farmers comeuppance for abandoning Rhoda and their son
