For “the Withered Arm” I think that there are quite a lot of things that could be explained, but there are also some things that couldn’t, because it is choices that other people make. In “the Withered Arm” the son being born into a family or just a single parent at that time, would not stand much chance of survival past birth. He could also not help the fact that he was born into a poor family. He could also not help that he dies…or could he? We don’t know whether he could have or not. Other things such as, Rhoda Brook becoming pregnant and not getting married to farmer lodge is nothing they could have helped. But again she could have avoided it by not sleeping with him. And again Gertrude is another victim. She may not have been able to see what was going to happen, but there are times, where again, Rhoda brook could have made a difference. In this story it can be tracked back to either farmer lodge or Rhoda Brook.
What characters think about fate in this story isn’t too clear. There isn’t anything that says what their attitude is.
In “Old Mrs. Chundle”, the story could, possibly, have been the only story where there are parts of the story that could be put down to fate. In this many there are many coincidences that take place. Mrs. Chundle lives in her cottage, not knowing that the curate outside, will invite himself into her house, will set her death in stone. However, without knowing the consequences of his actions he steps in and asks for some lunch. He also doesn’t realise how much his relationship will affect Mrs. Chundle. I have noticed that many people mention anything about fate in any of Hardy’s stories.
In “far from the Madding Crowd” there are many instances where it could explain a lot of things. For example, it is by a force of nature or someone else’s fault by which the hay stacks set a light. Then as if by a force of fate in the form Gabriel Oak. Had he not gone to help, because of course it was his choice to go, that shapes the rest of the story. However, the whole story could have then been the dog pushing all of Gabriel’s sheep off the cliff forcing him to go and find work. There are also many, many other examples like this one.
I think that by the end of this story, Bathsheba thinks that in the words of Tony Kytes, “fate ordained that it should be you and I or nobody.”
I think that many of the characters in Hardy’s stories have been used in lots and lots of different ways. Some are them are there to simply be an object to reach a certain points.
He has also used the same template for characters in different stories. Tony Kytes, I think, is very similar to Bathsheba. Apart from the obvious differences of being male and female. Also I think that could be a very rough outline of Rhoda’s son. The other thing, is that, the any of the people left alive at the end is almost always one of the perpetrators of what has happened in the entire story. Anyone else is dead. For example, Rhoda’s son, Fanny, Farmer Boldwood and Gertrude. Talk about the injustices of the world. Must have been where they get the phrase “Nice guys finish last!” I think that Hardy writes stories as a reminder to himself, that people can make a difference. Maybe Hardy was a nice guy!
