Thomas Hardy's short story, 'the withered arm'.

Authors Avatar

Sam Parish 10f1

The withered arm and dear nobody

Thomas Hardy’s short story, ‘the withered arm’, written in the late nineteenth century is ver different from Dear Nobody in that it talks about the same issues, but how these issues are dealt with – and what problems arise from them, differently.

        The Withered arm is about a lady called Rhoda Brook, who is considered to be a witch because she had a child out of wedlock. -And there was a certain stigma attached to that during that time period. Dear Nobody (which was written in the late twentieth century) is about a teenage girl who becomes pregnant and has to make an important decision as to whether to keep her unborn child or not.

        The withered arm portrays the typical rural life living on or nearby a farm, working hard to earn a living, and been generally very close with your family, whereas Dear Nobody is set in the urban town of Sheffield.

        The stories also bare some similarities, For e.g., they both arouse controversy with the pregnancy out of wedlock/teenage pregnancy situations, one, totally unaccepted during its time period, and the other, still not approved of. Both stories have secrets not to be told. E.g., Gertrude isn’t to know about Rhoda and Jamie being Farmer Lodge’s ex-wife and son. Helen didn’t know her mother was a ‘bastard’.

        Both stories open in very different ways – though they both do this in an attempt to engage their readers. Dear nobody opens in a very intimate way. Firstly, it is written in the first person, this makes the story seem much more intimate to the reader. We straightaway understand something of Chris’ feelings, in Dear Nobody. For e.g., he talks about not wanting to leave for university. As the setting is in his bedroom, you will immediately feel very involved in the story as a bedroom is very personal to a person, and you are inside it with him, sharing it. Chris receives a parcel full of letters in it. They are very personal to him, yet he shares them with the reader. Chris talks about his girlfriend, he states” once, me and her were the most important things in our world”, this shows that he and his girlfriend are probably no longer together. This immediately makes the reader want to read on and find out answers to questions such as “ Why aren’t they together anymore?” “Who are the letters from?” The story of Dear nobody closes with the tow main characters (Helen and Chris), miles away from eachother. Chris in a university room in Newcastle and Helen at home with the baby.

Join now!

        The withered arm begins on a farm, where some milkmaids are talking about Rhoda Brook. This is impersonal, unlike Dear nobody. The withered arm is written in the second person. From the beginning paragraph, you are under the impression Rhoda is an outcast. The other milkmaids are talking about her – saying things they maybe don’t want her to hear. Th milkmaids don’t talk in detail about Rhoda but do make you suspicious of her – this makes you want to read on.

        In Dear nobody, the first scene where Chris is reading the letters sets you up for the ...

This is a preview of the whole essay