The funeral took place in the winter when it was snowing. This was a deliberate choice by Elizabeth Gaskell. The snow could symbolise many different things. It represents the purity of the dead child and also frozen paralysis of Helen’s emotions. We are reminded of this paralysis later in the story when Elizabeth Gaskell uses images to make a vivid picture of Helen’s feelings. All of these styles that are used are deliberately there to entice sympathy.
The one part of the story that could possibly change the sympathetic feeling towards Helen, is when she agrees to marry William Preston although she doesn’t love him. However, some may argue that this would again, evoke a feeling of sympathy because she was sacrificing herself for the good of her son, Gregory.
At this point of the story, without any background knowledge of William Preston, it would be understandable to sympathise with him because of Helen’s decision to marry him even though she doesn’t love him. Another factor influencing her decision was the deteriorating condition of her eyesight. To make a living by sewing fine patterns would be even more difficult for someone with eyesight such as hers. By marrying William Preston, she could have afforded to never work again. If all of this is taken into consideration by the reader , the situation that Helen is in is obviously very difficult and many would agree that she made the right decision by marrying him. The reader may also feel sympathy towards her because of the difficult circumstances. Helen was obviously unhappy about this marriage because she hardly ever smiled after agreeing. This highlights the selflessness of Helen and the sacrifice that she is making.
Soon after they were wed, William Preston found out that Helen did not love him and realised the extent that she loved her son. He was very sour about this and was obviously jealous of young Gregory. At this point of the story, the reader may feel a considerable amount of sympathy for William Preston when he finds out that his wife does not love him. This feeling is guided by a use of imagery by Elizabeth Gaskell. She describes Helen’s feelings towards William Preston ‘as cold as ice’. This feeling is then contrasted when Helen’s love for Gregory is described as ‘ready love that always gushed out like a spring of fresh water’. This second image suggests that the love that she feels for Gregory is effortless. The use of the similes gives the reader a vivid picture of Helen’s feelings. William Preston is very jealous of Gregory due to this and doesn’t treat him as well as he should and so this generates sympathy for Gregory.
With all the jealousy that William Preston felt towards Gregory, came anger and one day he was unable to control his temper. Gregory, as a child got into some mischief and William Preston lost his temper with him. Helen made an excuse for him and from there, an argument developed. Due to this, Helen went into premature labour and the narrator is born. Helen dies very shortly after childbirth. We learn that she smiled for practically the first time at William Preston shortly before she died. She possibly smiled because he looked over her two children with ‘a grave sort of kindliness’. She may have been reassured that they would be safe by this.
The sentence that informs us of her death is very short. It merely says ‘In an hour, she was dead’. I think that Elizabeth Gaskell used such a short sentence to show how final her death is. Here, the reader would probably feel a lot of sympathy for Helen. Looking back over her life shows what a tragic life she led and also how selfless she was as a person.
With Helen dead, Gregory was very much on his own. There is a contrast between the treatment of the narrator and the treatment of Gregory. The narrator is spoilt by William Preston, whereas Gregory is scolded. Gregory is also neglected by his Aunt Fanny. William Preston had always blamed Gregory for his mother’s death and soon, a pattern appears to be forming. William Preston begins to use Gregory as a scapegoat. For example, William Preston would kick Gregory’s dog Lassie, Lassie would yelp and Gregory would be blamed for not training the dog correctly. This generates a lot of sympathy for Gregory because there is hardly ever a reference by Elizabeth Gaskell to him actually doing something wrong. Elizabeth Gaskell also makes references to people’s opinions of Gregory and they also generate sympathy for him. For example, he is described as ‘lumpish, loutish, awkward and ungainly’ and there is repetition of the words ‘stupid’ and ‘dull’ because he doesn’t do well at school. He is also considered to be stupid and certainly not handsome. After constantly being called dull, the narrator says that he thought ‘the dullness grew upon him’.
A sympathetic reaction is triggered when we learn that an old man named Adam is almost the first person to express a good opinion of Gregory. It seems sad that only one person believes that he is not useless.
I felt a considerable amount of sympathy for the narrator as he set out on an errand for his father across the fells and got caught up in a snow storm. Although he had ignored advice to stay on the road, he was not in a desirable situation. The sympathetic reaction is partly due to Elizabeth Gaskell cleverly conveying the narrator’s experiences during the storm through appeals to the senses, in particular, touch, sight and hearing. The thickness of the snow in the piece proves this. Elizabeth Gaskell also includes the use of repetition to guide the sympathetic feeling by describing the approaching snow as arriving ‘thicker, thicker’ ‘faster, faster’.
During the story, there seems to be a theme of sacrifices. We notice the pattern when Gregory sets out to look for the narrator. When he finds him, he gives him his coat. At this point, he speaks of reuniting with his mother. The next thing that we are told is that the narrator woke up in bed and that Gregory had died. This reminds us of Helen’s sacrifice for Gregory by marrying William Preston.
Again, at this point, by looking back over Gregory’s life, I feel a great deal of sympathy for him because he seems to have led a miserable life since his mother died.
After Gregory’s death, William Preston feels guilt because of the treatment of his stepson that he had once promised to take good care of. Because Gregory was buried at his mother’s side, William Preston decided to make a sacrifice by asking to be buried at the foot of the two of them to express his humility. This continues the theme of sacrifices.
At this point, it may be understandable to feel some sympathy towards William Preston because he seems sincerely sorry about his treatment of Gregory. However, I think the majority of people would see his previous treatment of Gregory unacceptable and would think that this was too little, too late. Taking into account, all of William Preston’s actions in the story, I find it very hard to sympathise with him. For example, the way he treated Gregory’s dog ‘Lassie’. He kicked the poor defenceless animal because it was ugly and it belonged to Gregory. He also blamed Gregory for Helen’s death which was unfair because at the time, Gregory was merely a child. William Preston constantly used Gregory as a scapegoat like this through the story. The reason that Preston felt the way he did was because Helen loved Gregory more than him. I think that this is very unfair because it was not Gregory’s fault that his mother loved him so much. The contrast between Helen’s feelings towards the two of them was shown by Elizabeth Gaskell’s use of imagery. The contrast between ‘words as cold as ice’ and ‘ready love gushing out like a fresh water spring’.
Taking all this into consideration I think that William Preston is a cold, bitter man who is also quite selfish. I find it hard to sympathise with him.
However, William Preston is quite a hard person to judge because he isn’t always portrayed as the selfish, bitter one. He helped Helen financially by marrying her, and promised to take care of Gregory. Although Gregory wasn’t treated very well after Helen’s death, William Preston still gave him a home, fed him etc. It is also understandable that he would be frustrated by the lack of love being shown to him by Helen. His sudden change of heart after Gregory’s death also gives a better impression of him. His last words also draw sympathy for him. He said ‘God, forgive me my hardness of heart towards the fatherless child!’ I think that this shows how sincere he was about his feelings of regret and how unhappy he became because of it. This could trigger a sympathetic reaction from the reader.
Because the story is written in the first person, it is easier to make a judgement of the narrator because the opinions in the story are the opinions of the narrator. This gives the reader a better understanding of him. It is easy to feel sympathetic towards the narrator from the day that he was born because he never knew his mother as she died in childbirth. However, he was his father’s favourite child and was always treated very well. When he was growing up, he sometimes followed in his father’s footsteps and mistreated Gregory but also states his regret for doing so. The fact that the narrator is critical of himself invites the reader to forgive him. For example, after admitting sometimes mistreating Gregory, he says ‘I am ashamed’. I see this as an invite to forgive. I think this has a huge influence on the amount of sympathy felt for the narrator because it gives a completely different view of him.
I wouldn’t blame the narrator at all for Gregory’s death because he had no control over Gregory’s actions. I think to blame the narrator would be very harsh.
Overall, I think that all characters can be sympathised with to a certain extent. In my opinion, Gregory is the easiest to sympathise with because of the way the story is written. It is obvious by the styles used, that Elizabeth Gaskell wants the reader to feel sympathy for Gregory. After Helen’s death, there is hardly ever any reference to Gregory, unless he is being badly treated or involved in an undesirable situation. This gives the impression that he is always involved in such things and leads an unhappy life.
Helen is another character that is easy to sympathise with. She seems to lead a very tragic life, with the death of her husband, then her daughter, the misery of her marriage with William Preston and finally she dies herself. Elizabeth Gaskell also wants the reader to sympathise with her and uses similar styles to gain the desired sympathy. Because the narrator gives opinions in the story I think he can be sympathised with to a certain extent. I think the main reason behind the feelings towards the narrator are triggered by the self criticism involved.
William Preston is definitely the hardest character to sympathise with. Although he expresses his regrets after Gregory’s death, his previous actions have to be brought into account and I think that he does more wrong than right in the story. Elizabeth Gaskell portrays him as a selfish character and I think that this is the main reason why he is hard to sympathise with.
