Thomas Hardy feels that Edgon Heath, the setting of the novel The Return of theNative is a powerful, scary, dark and dreary place.
He uses various techniquesto express this attitude. Some of the techniques he used to convey this thoughtare diction, imagery, syntax, and tone. The diction he choose was specific andconcrete, presenting an actual place that was depressing. The words he usedattempted to present a specific, concrete perception of things. Such as when hewrites, “approaching the time of twilight and the vast tract of unenclosed ildknown as Egdon Heath embrowned itself moment by moment”.
This presents aspecific place, time and a specific insight which leaves with the thought of adarkening, scary place. Imagery played a very important role in Hardingsportrayal of the heath as a powerful, scary, live place. The imagery develops alight and dark imagery. The heath, earth is the dark and gloomy image, while thesurrounding nature is light and good. He refers to the heaths color as,”embrowned itself moment by moment,” and says that the “hollow stretch ofwhitish cloud shutting over the sky.
” He refers to the heath as dark on manyoccasions, he says the “earth with the darkest vegetation. . . In such contrastthe heath wore the appearance of an installment of night. .
. darkness had to agreat extent arrived hereon. . .
the heath exhaling darkness. ” These referencesof the heath as dark, give us a gloomy, somber feel of the heath. Harding alsouses metaphors to make us aware of the power and life that Edgon Heath has. Asin when he says “the face of the heath by its mere complexion added half anhour to evening.
. . the place became full of a watchful intentness now: for whenother things sank brooding to a sleep the heath appeared slowly to awake andlisten. ” These metaphors and personifications allow us to see that the heathis more than a hunk of dirt, it has a life and energy. Syntax is also used toenhance the power of the heath. Harding uses a combination of medium length andlong and involved length sentences.
These lengths enhance the feeling of powerthat Harding wants to express, because they are lengthy and have a body. Theyarent short and quick, each sentence says what it has to say and delivers it. These sentence exemplifies the strength and ability that the heath has. Thesentence length is effective because each sentence allows Harding to go intodetail about a specific detail about the heath, such as the power and strengthit has. Harding also used more than 6 compound sentences in the description ofthe heath.
This is so he can elaborate on a specific characteristic of theheath, as in “The face of the heath by its mere complexion added half an hourto evening: it could in like manner retard the dawn, sadden noon, anticipate thefrowning of storms scarcely generated, and intensify the opacity of a moonlessnight to a cause of shaking and dread. . . . ” Harding also used it to compare theheath as in, “Looking upwards, a furze- cutter would have been inclined tocontinue work; looking down, he would have decided to finish his faggot and gohome.
The tone of the description of the heath is morose, somber and gloomy. Inthe description, Harding only describes the heath as dark and scary. He choosesto illustrate these things and gives the story a morose feeling. His somber andgloomy tone is reflected in his attitude toward the heath. The tone makes theheath appear seem scarier and more powerful. Thomas Hardy delivers a powerfuland firm attitude towards Edgon Heath.
He feels that it is a dark, scary andliving place. He uses and combines various literary techniques in order toachieve his goal of convey his feelings towards the heath to his readers.
