Justified
the title “the return of the native”
The title must be appropriate and
significant, just as the signboard indicates the contents of shop. This title
certainly seems a straightforward enough-it’s all about a native returning from
somewhere, but Hardy loves its deeper meanings. He always gives titles to his
novels after a good deal of consideration. As such, his titles are really
appropriate, significant and suggestive, of the central theme or spirits of the
novel. Most of his titles are after the names of the heroes or heroines of the
novel concerned. They are ‘A Pair of
Blue Eyes’, ‘Two on a Tower’, ’Under the Greenwood Tree’, ‘and Far From the
Madding Crowed’. The title ‘The Return of the Native is also a poetical and
highly suggestive.
The story of this novel revolves
around a long absent native of Egdon Heath returning from the Paris and stirs
up the drama. The story of this returning native is kind of like a biblical
story of prodigal son but with a twist. In the story of prodigal son(Luke
15;12-35), a son loves to party and waste the money but finally partied himself
out, came back home, humbly, ask for money from the family whom he had ignored
long.
Egdon Heath
forms the tragic background of the novel “The Return of the Native”.
“The
place perfectly accordant with the man’s nature, neither ghastly, hateful, nor
ugly; neither common place, unmeaning, nor tame; but like man, slighted and enduring; and with singularly colossal and mysterious in its
swarthy monotony.”
All the
characters of this novel belong to the vicinity of the Egdon Heath, and all the
action also take place in the same heath. All those characters that have
accepted and adopted completely themselves according the condition and the
environments of the heath are happy, while those characters that have not been
able to adopted themselves completely according to the surroundings of the
heath are unhappy and came to a tragic end.
“It
had a lonely face, suggesting tragically possibilities.”
Eustacia
‘queen of night’ though a native of heath, has not been able to adopt the heath
as her own regional background and to adjust herself according to the condition
of the vicinity, with the result that she comes to a tragic end. She cries out
before her death;
“Tis my cross, my shame and will
be my death.”
The title “The Return of the Native”
is quite justified, suggestive and meaningful. Clym the hero of the novel is a
native of the Wessex countryside around the Egdon Heath. He migrated to Bud
mouth in France to work with a diamond merchant while he was quite young. Then
he went to Paris and became the manager of a big firm dealing in diamond
merchant.
He comes back home to spend his
Christmas with his mother after a long time. He has become fed up with the fast
going and artificial life of the Paris and longs to come back and settle down
peacefully in his native countryside. Earlier he had thought the life of city
is better than the life of the village. After living in Paris he has come to
see that city life is not better than the rural life. He also feels tired of
the flashy trade of diamonds and fined out that this does not suit his genius.
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