A PERSONAL RESPONSE TO THE WITHERED ARM"
I find the superstitions and supernatural elements depicted in Hardy's tale "The Withered Arm," typical of life in 19th century rural England. Ignorance and lack of education were rife, leaving many close knit communities believing in devils, demons, and superstitious mumbo jumbo. Anyone who was slightly different could find themselves alienated from their own kind; a large mole on the face, a strawberry mark to the cheek, would set tongues wagging. Hardy's story typifies these beliefs: The milkmaids', Rhoda's own people, believe her a witch, simply because she bore a child out of wedlock and over the years, Rhoda has come to believe this herself. She believes she is the instigator of Gertrude's affliction, the withered arm. Having dreamt of seeing the devil whom Rhoda believes is Gertrude, Rhoda truly believes it really happened, she really believes she flung the incubus from her by its left arm, when in fact it was just a nightmare brought on through resentment and humiliation. Nothing would persuade Rhoda that it didn't really happen, especially after seeing Gertrude's withered arm; Rhoda would have staked her life on Gertrude being the incubus.
Rhoda's ignorance would be typical of the time: what could not be explained could only be, either by the will of God, (Divine intervention) or the work of the devil ( The incubus).What we would consider Rhoda's worst nightmare, she would deny as being terrifyingly real, portraying everything that happened in her bedchamber as being veritable and tangible, in her mind, it was truly a visit from the incubus, the devil himself. Rhoda would elucidate this visitation by persuading herself Gertrude was evil and the withered arm is the result of trying to do evil to herself, Rhoda. ...
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Rhoda's ignorance would be typical of the time: what could not be explained could only be, either by the will of God, (Divine intervention) or the work of the devil ( The incubus).What we would consider Rhoda's worst nightmare, she would deny as being terrifyingly real, portraying everything that happened in her bedchamber as being veritable and tangible, in her mind, it was truly a visit from the incubus, the devil himself. Rhoda would elucidate this visitation by persuading herself Gertrude was evil and the withered arm is the result of trying to do evil to herself, Rhoda.
The likely story is this: Rhoda, resentment gnawing at her in finding herself passed over for a younger, prettier woman, broods for days about Lodge's new bride. Frustrated and incensed with humiliation by all the talk in the milking shed, she goes to bed and falls asleep from sheer exhaustion, after a late night sitting by the fire. In this stressful state she dreams of Gertrude Lodge. The woman in her dream is Gertrude but not the young pretty woman everyone speaks of. In Rhoda's mind she is old and wizened and, this is how she prefers to see her, and so she does, Gertrude is old and ugly. The tightness she feels in her chest is not the weight of Gertrude sitting on her, but the hatred and resentment she feels for Lodge's new wife.
When she flings the incubus away from her- which she believes to be Gertrude-she is trying to stem her emotions; to rid herself of the hate and bitterness eating away at her. In her ignorance Rhoda truly believes that the nightmare is real and that Gertrude has really appeared to her as the devil.
After meeting Gertrude in the flesh and finding her sweet and good- natured, Rhoda begins to doubt what she has seen in her bed-chamber, until she sees the withered arm. When she witnesses the finger marks on the girl's arm, she begins to wonder if, perhaps, she herself is a witch; could it possibly be she, Rhoda who was the devil incarnate? After all isn't that what her own people think; haven't they whispered it for years? This nagging doubt stays with Rhoda throughout her friendship with Gertrude; she also wonders if something is drawing them together for some unknown reason.
Gertrude is also suffering: she tries pills and potions of every kind, but nothing helps the withered arm. She feels bereft when her husband turns away from her, unable to come to terms with her affliction. Rhoda seems pleased to hear Gertrude's confession; it helps her self esteem. Although she has a natural affection towards the younger woman she can't help feeling smug at Gertrude's disclosure. When Gertrude asks Rhoda to go with her to see a conjuror the latter is none too pleased, she believes the man will see through her and know at once Gertrude's withered arm is her doing. But, feeling sorry for Gertrude, she agrees to take her.
Another aspect of Hardy's story is the description of the living conditions of the lower classes. Making a living from the land was a hard and thankless life. The justice system of the day was hard, un-yielding and most unfair. Hangings were common in the lower classes and many an innocent went to the gallows, solely on the recommendations of the visiting magistrate. One had little chance of a fair trial if one were of peasant stock and couldn't pay for a good brief. It is believable that in that era Rhoda's son could be found guilty and sentenced to hang, simply for being present when a rick was fired.
Hardy's style is typical of his time, writers often wrote "flowery" prose. He uses words like "peeled limb" for the branch of a tree and, "the discussion waxed so warm." I believe that he means became heated. "The town was thronged,"(full) "Multitudinous, (A great many) are other examples. Often, his writing is lyrical and at others, worded more like a play. His descriptive ability pulls us into the environment of the story, this is done with precision. The use of dialect depicts a rural setting, we know by the language they speak they are from peasant stock and mostly living in poverty. When describing characters and places; one can almost believe there is a Casterbridge, an Egdon Heath and an Anglebury.
Hardy characters, I feel, were real people whom he knew, he changed their names to form new characters for his books, which were always about what made people the way they were.
I think Hardy is telling us that jealousy and dis-satisfaction with their (the villagers) hard, mundane lives is a breeding ground for superstition, and hostility to anyone different to themselves.
CHRYSTINA HEWITT
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