'Far from the madding crowd' - Several natural catastrophes happen over the course of the novel; the dog’s driving the sheep off the cliff, the fire, the sheep’s feeding upon young clover, the storm - What role do these events play with respect

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Anuj Khamar

Several natural catastrophes happen over the course of the novel; the dog’s driving the sheep off the cliff, the fire, the sheep’s feeding upon young clover, the storm. What role do these events play with respect to the character of Gabriel?

‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ is a novel based in the fictitious rural county of Wessex. The book is based around Gabriel Oak, a hard-working, kind-hearted farmer who has become destitute, and the love of his life, Bathsheba Everdene. It goes on to explore the hardships that farmers in 19th century England faced and how these problems were over come by Gabriel. Bathsheba Everdene is introduced to us as a very attractive, pompous woman. She is also described as a flirt and is guilty of leading many men on.

Throughout the book Farmer Oak is portrayed as the stronger character and is always coming to the rescue of his ‘damsel in distress’, Bathsheba. On many occasions he proves himself to be strong minded, trustworthy and knowledgeable about farming matters.

In chapter five Gabriel’s sheep are run off a cliff by his young sheep-dog. This has made him destitute and instead of seeing hatred we are shown Gabriel’s compassion. On page 44 it says “his first feeling now was one of pity for the untimely fate of these gentle ewes and their unborn lambs”. This showed me that though Gabriel had lost all his wealth he is still kind-hearted enough to feel sorry for the gentle sheep that had just lost their lives. Another example of his kind-heartedness is when he says “Thank God I am not married: what would she have done in the poverty now coming upon me”. This quote refers to Bathsheba’s rejection of Gabriel earlier in the book. This shows he is putting the happiness of others before his own.

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Once Gabriel realizes that he has lost his wealth he does not waste time sulking but instead gets ready for the next phase of his life. It says “Stupors, however, do not last forever, and Farmer Oak recovered from his”. This shows the reader how strong-minded he is.

In chapter 6 Gabriel is passing a farm and notices that one of the hayricks are on fire. Ironically this is Bathsheba’s farm, though Gabriel did not know this at that certain point. He helps to save them though he does not know whose they are. This shows me that Gabriel is ...

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