“The Withered Arm” by Thomas Hardy and “The Test” by Henry Sleaser are two brilliant short stories which show huge differences between nineteenth and twentieth century writing and social structure.

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“The Withered Arm” by Thomas Hardy and  “The Test” by Henry Sleaser are two brilliant short stories which show huge differences between nineteenth and twentieth century writing and social structure.

        

        Written in the nineteenth century and set in rural Wessex, “The Withered Arm” tells a tale about a poor middle aged woman named Rhoda Brook. Rhoda previously had a child with a rich landowner named Mr. Lodge. But because of the huge difference in class Mr. Lodge left her and never looked back. Over the next twelve years Rhoda lived her life as an outsider, simply because she was a single mother. Rhoda earned her living as a milk maid, it was here where she overheard Mr. lodge was getting married. She overhears many things about this woman “Gertrude”, and finds herself hating her before she even meets her. One night she had a nightmare about her, she ends up grabbing Gertrude’s arm and then waking up. Surprisingly when Rhoda first actually meets Gertrude she is a sweet kind person, they become friends and Gertrude reveals a mark on her arm which had been bothering her. It was in the exact same place where Rhoda had grabbed her in the nightmare, and it appeared on the same night. Rhoda didn’t tell Gertrude about the dream as she feared she would loose her new found friend. Gertrude Experimented with lots of cures, both scientific and magical. None worked and the mark got worse. She went to see a conjurer who told Gertrude it was Rhoda who inflicted the wound. Gertrude and Rhoda stopped talking, and six years later Gertrude still hadn’t got rid of the mark. During the six years Mr. lodge had grown less fond of Gertrude and her arm. Rhoda’s son had been accused of arson and was set to be hanged. Coincidently Gertrude had been told that if she rubbed her arm over a freshly hanged mans neck her blood would “turn” and she would be cured. She had no clue that the boy she rubbed her arm on was Rhoda’s son, that is until she turned around to see Rhoda and Mr. lodge standing behind her she realized who it was and died of shock.

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        In sharp contrast “the Test” is a twentieth century crime story set in urban America. Benjy Blesker, a teenage boy who had been “falsely” accused of stabbing another boy to death in a gang related brawl. His father hired a well respected lawyer named Vernon Wedge who proved to be anything but affordable yet worth every penny. Although the case starts badly, Vernon finds an Extremely sensitive test which can show if the blade had ever made contact with blood. As it was only found just in time for the last hearing it was disallowed because the defense ...

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