The story begins, “William, as you may know….” which substantiates the informal link that I fore-mentioned. Hardy then begins to describe the effect that William has upon characters in the story, showing that there are feelings of an ‘unusual presence’ surrounding him, “..you could feel when he came near ‘ee; and if he was in the house or anywhere behind your back without your seeing him, there seemed to be something clammy in the air, as if a cellar door were open by your elbow”. These properties of William are very much ‘real’ in our normal day-to-day lives, as we all appear to experience such events. A good example would be of the supernatural kind, where certain authorities in the subject argue that feelings of such moist air and coldness, which force your hair to stand on end, are general properties of a spirit nearby. Having these present in the story creates a first-rate feeling of authenticity.
We then discover that the ringing bells at the church “went very heavy all of a sudden”. This is a premonition of the imminent shadow of tragedy which is about to fall upon the story. Another notable use of informality comes when Hardy uses the words “as I say”. This is something that appears in every day conversation when a person may feel partially distracted. Usually, the conversation will be restarted with sentences like “as I was saying” or to acknowledge the fact that you have repeated yourself, we would pronounce “As I say”. This helps the reader to believe that it is a “true” story by allowing the reader to feel directly involved as there is a feeling of ‘commonness’ to the story, and the reader would find it much easier to understand and to identify with.
Hardy then begins to set the scene for what we are about to approach in the story. He refers to two members of the village as “Mr and Mrs Hardcome”. This demonstrates that the reader knows of the particular individuals mentioned. Informality of this kind is shown once again when Hardy informs us that Mrs Privett is out and that “she met Jim Weedle’s daughter Nancy”. This again could be interpreted as a form of name dropping to support the reliability of the information source. In human nature we use names to allow people to refer to certain places and people quickly, and to allow visualisation of other people and places. Even many, many years ago, names were given to even early man, in the form of grunts or dog-like barks. Names are an important aspect of our lives, so therefore they are an important aspect of the story. Which as referred to above, as an important point of life, language and culture, they help to introduce a convincing portion of believability. To even greater extend this level of authenticity, Hardy includes information that informs us of basic facts about the surroundings or settings of certain places. For example, we learn that William’s house only has one room to pass through to leave the house from the stairs: “…this being the only way from the staircase to the outside of the house”. Such information helps to generate more validity in Hardy’s favour as the reader, is slowly becoming aware of the surroundings, which creates a feeling of satisfaction with the area described in the story, therefore the reader will accept it for what it is.
Hardy then describes how William comes down the stairs, puts his boots on and passes his wife to leave the house. We then discover that William did not actually leave his bedroom as Betty Privett approaches the stairs and enters the bedroom. “To her great surprise, and I might say alarm, on reaching the foot of the stairs his boots were standing there as they always stood…” and “going up to their chamber she found him in bed sleeping as sound as a rock”. There is a small element of confusion which is created here, because immediately after, as the story continues, there is no explanation offered for this event. The reader, puzzled as to what actually happened with William, is left feeling bewildered, therefore the feeling is very real, which must imply that the story is more towards a true ghost story. Tension builds as Hardy writes about the events short after the night the peculiar act occurred. A ghostly image is depicted upon William as Hardy describes him waking the very next morning, “..never once waking till the clock struck five, and he rose up”. The phrase ‘rose up’ impersonates a ghost, and is used to add to William’s ghostly aura. This is because we refer to ghosts as beings that rise upwards.
A certain Nancy, another character who we are assume to be familiar with then describes to both the reader and Betty Privett the legend which surrounds the town at Midsummer Night. Parenthesis is included again by Hardy to satisfactory effect to explain the legend of the Midsummer Night almost personally to the reader, this creates a very genuine feel to it. “(You may not remember; sir, having gone off to foreign parts so young, that on Midsummer Night it is believed hereabout that the faint shapes……)” Also, the inclusion of village folklore as this, assists Hardy in creating another believable aspect of the story. Legends and folklore are still believed by many people in today’s world, therefore to be included in the story helps to add another layer of authenticity. We also know that Thomas Hardy learned about folklore and many stories and legends held within by his aging grandma as a child. This helps to further make the story seem more like a true ghost story.
An important point to be made is of the superstitious element contained in the next part of the story. We see that while mowing, William and John Chiles become tired and decide to rest. It is then that John “looked towards his fellow-mower he saw one of those great white miller’s-souls as we call ‘em – that is to say, a miller-moth – come from William’s open mouth as he slept”. This presents a visual image of William’s soul leaving his body. We then see John, as all human beings, trying to create a reason for the miller-moth leaving William using logic. He puts it down to working in the mill for several years. Trying to use common sense to sort out any paranormal activity is what most people do when faced with tough situations that they cannot understand or handle, so this allows the story to progress as a “true” ghost story.
Tragedy ensues when the reader discovers that William has died. But the true tragedy of the story is unfolded as we realize that Philip Hookhorn had seen William at a spring at the time when he supposedly died, not only that, but the past misfortune that William had encountered becomes apparent. “…for years before that time, William’s little son – his only child – had been drowned in that spring, while at play there”. This ends the story on a distressing and depressing note. A point that I feel relevant is that life itself is a tragedy. I believe that this story reflects this, and makes it all-the-more like a “true” ghost story as opposed to a fantasy.
