Farmer Lodge ignores Gertrude and her needs because of her withered arm:
“Half a dozen years passed away, and Mr and Mrs Lodge’s married experience sank into prosiness, and worse.” (Page 19)
She needed his help and support but still he ignored her. This is cruel as he marries her and then ignores her. It is wrong. Hardy portrays him to be bitter and heartless and therefore he receives no sympathy what so ever.
At the end, Farmer Lodge’s character changes, he tries to make up for his previous behaviour and how he ignored his son by setting up a reformatory for boys:
“he went away to Port-Bredy, at the other end of the county, living there in solitary lodgings till his death two years later of painless decline.” (Page 33)
Hardy uses strong words such as “painless decline” which gives atmosphere about the solitude he lived in. It is clear that Farmer Lodge wants to make up for his previous behaviour by setting up the reformatory and giving a “small annuity” to Rhoda.
I believe Farmer Lodge deserves the least sympathy and Hardy achieves this by using the least number of techniques to elicit sympathy.
Hardy invents Gertrude to be a caring woman; an example is when she bought new boots for Rhoda’s son even though she did not know him, showing her generosity. She doesn’t really receive any sympathy while Rhoda was in the story as everything in her life was happy and Rhoda had all our sympathy.
Hardy describes Gertrude’s painful six years in such a way that we can not help but to feel sorry for her:
“beauty was contorted and disfigured in the left limb; moreover, she had bought him no child, which rendered it likely that he would be he last of a family who had occupied that valley for some two hundred years.” (Page 19)
We can surmise that it is Gertrude’s fault that they can not conceive as Farmer Lodge had had a child before. She has pressure on her to give birth and gets our sympathy as Rhoda is no longer in the picture. Hardy enters an unbearable situation where you can not help feeling sorry for her. He also talks about her change in behaviour and character:
“The once blithe-hearted and enlightened Gertrude was changing into an irritable, superstitious woman,” (Page19)
She is desperate. She will do anything to get rid of the withered arm. Her life was fine before this arm came about. Her beauty and her friends have gone. She will do anything.
A powerful line that gives all our sympathy to Gertrude is when she shows her desperation:
“If only I could be again be as I was when he first saw me!” (Page 20)
We feel so sorry for her. She has not done anything wrong in her life to deserve the curse she had got. Hardy made Gertrude dictate her feelings which is a real heart softener as we show compassion and consideration towards Gertrude’s terrible situation. It was her desperation and distress that pushed Gertrude to go to the extremes she did.
The character that was constantly surrounded with sympathy and sorrow was Rhoda:
“where a thin fading woman of thirty milked somewhat apart from the rest.” (Page 1)
All out sympathy goes to her as there is no one else to feel it for. Rhoda wants to know what Gertrude looks like:
“Yes . . . You can give her a look, and tell me what she’s like, if you do se her.” (Page 2)
She wants to know what Gertrude looks like and if Gertrude looks like her but she is completely opposite. Hardy gives many reasons to feel sorry for Rhoda so she is flattered with compassion.
Rhoda’s house is made up of “mud-walls” and “there in the thatch above the rafter showed like a bone protruding through the skin.” Gertrude’s and Farmer Lodge’s house is a large “white house of ample dimensions”. Rhoda has been placed by Hardy in a sad situation while Farmer Lodge and Gertrude are well off so even more of our sympathy goes to Rhoda and her son.
Rhoda thinks about Gertrude so much that she has a dream about her:
“thrust forward its left hand mockingly, so as to make the wedding-ring glitter in Rhoda’s eyes.” (Page 8)
Rhoda was extremely jealous of Gertrude and thought of her all the time to the extent that she actually dreamt of her. Hardy shows Rhoda’s obsession with Gertrude and therefore gives sympathy to Rhoda as in the situation she becomes distressed and confused.
After Rhoda met Gertrude and had a conversation they soon became friends:
“everything like resentment at the unconscious usurpation had quite passed away from the elder’s mind.” (Page 13)
Rhoda had the courage to be friends even though she is jealous. Gertrude is her ex lover’s new wife but Rhoda still makes friends with her. We understand the situation Hardy has cleverly put her in so we give Rhoda more sympathy for her bravery.
When Gertrude comes out of Conjuror Trendle’s house, she believes that Rhoda did the evil deed. Rhoda has take Gertrude to conjuror even though she did not want to. Even though it seems that Rhoda did the bad deed we seem to think that Gertrude is the one being bitter. Hardy has swamped Rhoda’s character with sympathy throughout the story therefore her cruel deed does not appear so bad to the audience. Rumours were then spread of Rhoda being a witch so she left the village with her son:
“she and her boy disappeared from the neighbourhood of Holmstoke.” (Page 18)
Rhoda left with our entire compassion one her so when she re-enters the story with another reason for her sympathy the effect is overwhelming:
“‘Hussy – to come between us and our child now!’ cried Rhoda. ‘This is the meaning of what Satan showed me in the vision!’ (Page 31-2)
Gertrude is touching with her deceased son’s body, the only one love Rhoda had in her life. She stands just as she was in Rhoda’s dream. Her left hand held out mocking Rhoda. She then lives in solitude by herself milking her cows in a “monotonous” way. In this way Hardy creates more feelings of sympathy towards Rhoda and so he does throughout the story.
Thomas Hardy elicits sympathy in specific way. He either gives sympathy by making us feel sorry for someone or takes sympathy away form someone do another character seems to have more consideration. He also uses strong language to emphasis his points. He furthermore shows sorrow on a character such as when Gertrude wishes Farmer Lodge would treat her like before. He uses each technique many times changing who we feel most sympathy for multiple times.
