We then start to become less compassionate, as Rhoda is starting to become jealous and obsessed, as she keeps questioning, “is she ladylike…young…tall?”. We pity her as her son keeps saying how pretty and perfect she is, which is very disheartening for her.
Rhoda is pleased when she finds out that she is taller than Gertrude, “she is not tall, she is rather short…ah!”. She feels that it is a small triumph and that she has something better than this young, angelic woman. She has heard so much about Gertrude, that she can produce a perfect vision of her, highlighting her growing obsession and we continue to pity her.
She starts having nightmares about Gertrude, ‘the young wife, with features shockingly disturbed, and wrinkled by age, was sitting upon her chest as she lay’. This use of vivid description creates sympathy as it proves that she cannot stop thinking about Gertrude and it says that Gertrude shook her wedding-ring at Rhoda in the nightmare, as if to reinforce that Rhoda never had the legitimacy of being wed.
Next morning, Gertrude and Rhoda meet and Gertrude brings some boots for Rhoda’s son. We sympathise with Rhoda as she is unable to provide for her son. Gertrude shows Rhoda “faint marks of an unhealthy colour, as if produced by a rough grasp”. Gertrude carries on to name the exact night and time when it had happened to her and when Rhoda had had the nightmare, unsettling Rhoda significantly. She believes that she can hurt people by the power of thought.
The reader is now encouraged to feel sympathy for Gertrude, whose arm “pains me dreadfully sometimes”. We feel sympathetic, as she has done nothing wrong and has partly been punished. The reader also feels sorry for Rhoda, as she did not mean to do it and did not know she could.
Superstition was a key part in society at the time and Gertrude said that “it is as is some witch, or the devil himself…has blasted the flesh”. This is important as witchcraft was heavily believed in and would be a dangerous link for Rhoda to have.
We feel empathy for Gertrude, as she feels that her husband “dislikes me-no, loves me less”, showing that Farmer Lodge thinks tremendously of beauty and finds it very important. Rhoda was beautiful before.
Our sympathy for Rhoda increases when faces a difficult decision. Gertrude asks her to take her to Conjuror Trendle. Rhoda is scared that her involvement will be uncovered and that she will lose her only friend. However, she is a true friend and decides to help, despite the consequences.
In Chapter 5, Hardy creates a sinister mood, using pathetic fallacy, ‘thick clouds made the atmosphere dark…and the wind howled dismally’; enhancing the fact that something big is about to happen that will split their friendship immediately and cause pain for both.
The reader feels sympathy for both Rhoda and Gertrude now, as neither truly know the outcome of the visit. The conjuror says very promptly and simply, “’Tis the work of an enemy”, a particular shock for Gertrude, as she did not think anyone particularly disliked her, although she has an even bigger shock instore later.
Gertrude is surprised by the statement from the conjuror and enquires as to who it is. After seeing, she ‘appeared exceedingly pale’; a particularly effective way of creating sympathy, as she believed that Rhoda was a true friend and now believes that she did it purposely, which is not entirely true.
Gertrude cannot think past it, increasing our sympathy; “how very odd, if you did!” in answer to the question of who proposed going there. She changes significantly after finding out who it was, although Rhoda starts to feel honest with herself, which is a relief to her.
We feel tremendous compassion for Rhoda, as ‘in the spring she and her boy disappeared from the neighbourhood’; a big step as it was unusual for anyone to move from the village where they were born. Rhoda must have been desperate to make this decision, although she held out for a long time, showing her strength. It leaves the reader wondering why she didn’t leave earlier, as it was awkward and dangerous for her, because everyone regarded her as a witch, which could have led to terrible consequences.
Hardy removes Rhoda at this point, when the reader feels increased sympathy for her; this is maintained even though she is absent. The action in chapters 6, 7 and 8 makes us feel decreased sympathy for Gertrude and we start to pity her.
Our compassion for Gertrude is starting to fade, as she is ‘changing into an irritable, superstitious woman’, with a closet ‘lined with bottles, packets and ointment-pots of every description’ enhancing her change in character, as once she wasn’t superstitious, but she is now. She is also becoming obsessed. Hardy creates a juxta-positioning of characters, as our sympathy is now with Rhoda and not Gertrude, because Gertrude is starting to become insensitive and self-centred.
For a short while our compassion for Gertrude increases, as she says she has had ‘six years of marriage and only a few years of love’. This makes us feel sorry for her, as she should have had six years of love and marriage. She may not love him, but is still obedient to him, to try and regain his love, so answers his requests and commands.
When Gertrude is paranoid, we feel less sympathy for her. She returns to Conjuror Trendle, who tells her to “touch with the limb the neck of a man who’s been hanged…before he’s cold”. This emphasizes her impatience to become perfect once again, as it is not a pleasant deed at all.
Gertrude considers the act and decides to go ahead with it. She will do anything to regain her beauty and the reader pities her.
Our compassion for Gertrude falls considerably when she prays “O Lord, hang some guilty or innocent person soon!” showing that she has become obsessed and desperate and is willing for anyone to die just so she may be able to cure her arm – she has become self-centred and thoughtless.
Gertrude persists with researching when the next hanging is happening and is successful and ‘fortune, obdurate hitherto, showed her unexpected favour’. Our consideration for Gertrude carries on decreasing, as her change in personality is once more highlighted; “O–a reprieve–I hope not!”, showing that she has lost all morality and humanity and has become selfish.
Hardy describes her as the ‘persistent woman’. This impersonal language causes us to distance ourselves from Gertrude.
Rhoda is reintroduced into the story at a crucial point. Just as Gertrude touches the dead man, Rhoda and Farmer Lodge come in and we find out that ‘the dead young man was Rhoda’s son’. This immediately increases our compassion for Rhoda, as Gertrude wanted this man to die, even when she was told that he was suspected to be innocent; she had lost all morality, so does not deserve any sympathy. Rhoda, however, has lost everything and we feel great sympathy for her.
Gertrude dies 3 days after the hanging, when our sympathy for her is at it’s lowest and her husband died 2 years later, although after giving his money to ‘a reformatory for boys’, showing that he felt guilty about only acknowledging his son after his death and felt he had to do something about it.
At the end, Rhoda has nothing to live for, as she has lost her son, hope and also ‘her form became bent’, meaning that the one thing that she had, height, she has now lost. This is the point in the story when we feel our most sympathetic for her.
I found the short story, ‘The Withered Arm’, very enjoyable to read and think that the techniques used by Hardy to create sympathy for Rhoda Brooks are very effective. I think the idea of juxta-positioning of characters is very interesting and enhanced our overall view of Rhoda.
