Compare And Contrast The Novels ?Dear Nobody? And ?Tess Of The D?urbervilles? Essay, Research Paper
????????? The two
novels in question, ?Dear Nobody? and ?Tess of the D?urbervilles? (hereafter
referred to as ?Tess?), raise surprisingly similar issues for books written in
such different times and among such varying attitudes. However, the period
difference does highlight some major contrasts, most relevantly, the censorship
that would have taken place, had Hardy alluded to any details concerning sex or
seduction. In both books, the situations and moral messages reflect the
author?s opinions and ideas on ethical subjects such as premarital sex,
pregnancy, single motherhood, and above all, the trials and tribulations of
love.????????? Obviously, the two heroines, Tess
Durbeyfield and Helen Garton, were born into very diverse circumstances: Helen
came from modern day family, with every opportunity to do whatever she wants to
in life available to her. Tess, by contrast, was brought up in a poor, country
family from the 1890?s. This simple but vital contrast, is highlighted, perhaps
inadvertently, by Hardy?s colloquial use of old, country dialect in the
characters? speech, such as, during Tess? conversation with her brother
Abraham, ?Bain?t you glad that we?ve become gentlefolk,
Tess?? ?Not particular glad?, and in Mrs. Durbeyfield?s
proud announcement to?? her husband,
?I?ve got miself a projick?. For Tess, there was nowhere really for her to go.
She couldn?t have had a career to speak of, only to become a farmer?s wife, nor
could she have moved away from her village and family without a husband, as
that would have been seen as inappropriate. It would have been presumed that
Tess? life would have become very much like her mother?s: she would have
married, become a mother, and lived as a housewife. ? ???????? However, neither of the girls
fulfilled the fate that was expected of them for the same reason: they both
partake in pre-marital sex leading to the conception of a child. So, for Tess,
as her future depended mainly on finding a good and loving husband, Alec?s
actions towards her effectively ruined Tess? life.? The circumstances in which the sex evolved, however, could not
have been more different, and the authors use different descriptive techniques
accordingly.??????? ?Helen and
her boyfriend, Chris, both consent willingly to intercourse. They
were very much in love, with a lot of trust in their relationship, and Doherty
portrays that with her simple but beautiful description, ?Helen and I touched
each other where we had never touched each other before and made love.?? Her language does however contain a hint of
sadness, ?a pale and watery moonlight cast the room into white ghostliness,?
which indicates some of the problems and misery that lie ahead as implications
of sex.??????? Tess? relationship contained no love
on her behalf, and although Alec hints at his love for her frequently, he never
actually declares it, merely implies it by scolding her for not loving him,
?don?t you love me ever so little now?? There
is deception in their relationship. Alex deliberately misleads Tess into
thinking they are related by calling her ?Coz?. Tess is also very wary of him,
perhaps even scared: ?I don?t want anybody to kiss me, sir!? Hardy portrays
this fear with his eerie and confusing descriptions, leaving the reader unsure
as to exactly what has happened, ?everything else was blackness alike, and upon
her eyelashes lingered tears.????????? Hardy avoids details of the tragic
rape, by using metaphors, for several reasons. Firstly, he wants to leave some
details to the readers? imagination, thus not dispelling the air of mystery
that he created with his narrative. Secondly, he wishes to protect the dignity
of Tess, with whom, during the writing of the book, Hardy seems to have fallen
in love, so that she remains pure and unsullied in the eye of the reader.
Finally, the simplest, yet probably the most influencing reason is that if the
author had included graphic descriptions, it is not beyond the realms of
possibility that the book would have been banned.???????? The heroine?s reactions to pregnancy
are almost impossible to contrast, as we know little of Tess during her
confinement, only that her own family feel that she has sullied their name,
which is ironic, as it is clear that her mother?s intentions were for her to be
with Alec. Due to Doherty?s original style of narration, however, with Helen?s
letters to her unborn child, ?Dear Nobody?, and Chris? account, the reader
experiences the feelings of the people involved first hand.???????? Helen?s initial reaction after
suspecting that she might be pregnant, is anger and coldness towards Chris:
?You don?t own me you know, just because of what we did together?, she seems to
undergo a complete personality change, making Chris? life miserable. In the
same way, Tess is angry and cool towards Alec the morning after: ?How can you
dare to use such words??, as he refers to his love for her. ???????? Similarly, both Chris and Alec react
in the same way, wishing to provide for their partners, as Alec says, ?I am
ready to pay to the uttermost farthing.? Helen
and Tess both refuse this help however, but for different reasons. Tess
refuses because she wants nothing to do with Alec: ?I have said I will not take
anything more from you, and I will not.? She is also very proud and stubborn,
so once she realised that Alec has not only lied to her but also abused her,
she would rather die than take anything from him. Helen refuses, however, out
of her love for Chris, not wanting to ruin his chance in life.???????? Helen seems to become very depressed
during her pregnancy, denying it to start with, then resorting to drastic
measures, trying to kill the baby by throwing herself off her horse: ?My arms
and legs flung about, loose and useless. The base of my spine buffeted the
saddle. My ribs felt as if they had burst apart. The only thing in my mind was
Chris.? This senseless but touching act of devotion to Chris is emphasised by
Doherty?s portrayal of her terror, and the first person account of Helen?s
thoughts at the time. This action also brought about the first person?s
guessing of her pregnancy, which she had been keeping secret until then.???????? All that Hardy says of Tess?
behaviour during her pregnancy, is that she goes into a long period of
seclusion, which is not surprising, considering the attention an unmarried,
pregnant woman would have drawn in that period of time. It appears that the
only time she ventures out is to go to church, at which Tess feels
uncomfortable and conspicuous, as if everyone there is laughing at her.
Although not during pregnancy, it is apparent after the birth that Tess also
wanted to rid herself of the baby, ?she wishes the baby and her too were in the
churchyard?. However, when faced with the reality of losing their babies, both
girls undergo a dramatic change of heart, Helen before the birth and Tess just
after.???????? Helen, following her first crazy
attempt at losing the baby, then tried a more conventional method: abortion. It
was when at the abortion clinic, that Helen was forced to rethink her, up until
then, firm decision: ??.and when I was lying there, in all that silence, I felt
as if I had become two people.? Helen seemed to bond with her baby there and
then, as is apparent from her ?Dear Nobody? letters. Their content before and
after the episode of the abortion clinic changes dramatically: before, she
wrote as if? ?Nobody? was the enemy,
something to struggle against. Afterwards, however, it seems as if they have
joined forces, Helen and ?Nobody? against the world. Doherty uses the irony of
this sad statement to portray not only her dire situation, but also the
confusion both ?girl-mothers? were feeling.??????? For Tess, however, it is not until
after the baby?s birth that she realizes that she loves it. On the night
of? ?Sorrow?s? illness, Tess becomes
distraught at the thought of losing him, ?O merciful God, have pity, have pity
on my poor baby.?, and more importantly to her, because of what Christians
believed at that time, that her baby might die unchristened, and therefore be
destined to spend the rest of eternity ?in limbo? between heaven and hell.??????? This is one period during the novel
where Hardy questions the morality of society, and the influence it has over
people like Tess: ?Alone on a desert island
would she have been wretched at what had happened to her? Not greatly.? Hardy
criticises the hypocrisy of the people around Tess, pointing out that although
they are perfectly happy to entertain themselves with gossip about her, and use
her as a ?moral warning,? feeling themselves to be superior to her, they can
also condemn a new born baby to becoming ?an offence against society? just
because of the way in which it was conceived, and then deem to call themselves
moral and just.??????? This area is also one in which the two
author?s style differ majorly. Hardy?s
omniscient narration allows him to imprint on the reader his own questions and
outrages, the reader hearing his thoughts expressed almost as a soliloquy,
?But, might some say, where was Tess? guardian angel??, whereas Doherty uses
Chris and Helen as puppets, to say what she wants to say through them, in a
form easier to identify with.????????? Another significant difference between
the girls was the fact that Helen had people she could talk to about her
situation. She had the obvious option of her best friend, Bronwyn, on whom she
seemed to rely quite heavily during the tough times. Although she didn?t
necessarily always want him, Chris was always there for her if she needed him,
as was her mother, even though it may have been difficult for both of them to
talk about it, she would have been there to support Helen had anything bad
happened. She also had Jill, who although was an adult, had a good attitude
towards the situation, and helped Helen a great deal. ? ????????? Tess on the other hand, had none of
this support to fall back on. Her mother was much more distant from her than
Helen?s mother, to such an extent that they hardly spoke. Tess? father was so
ashamed that he wouldn?t even let the priest in to baptise the child as it was
dying. She also had no close friends that she could tell all her problems to.
It appeared in fact that she only had her religion to rely on, but it seemed
that God wasn?t listening to her either. In the end, she had no one, which
certainly must have made her ordeal so much worse.?? ??????? Almost as important as the reaction of
the main characters to their troubles, is the reaction of the people around
them. Both Helen and Tess were hurt and disappointed by their mothers?
reaction, which was one of anger and disgust. Helen?s mother scolded her for
having sex, ?after all I?ve told you?, whereas Tess reprimanded her mother for
the opposite reason, ?if only you?d have told me.? In both cases, mother and
daughter outwardly tried to shift the blame onto each other, although all of
them almost certainly blamed themselves inside. ???????? In both novels, the general reaction
from people not close to the girls is one of interest, as Doherty says, ?They
regarded [her] as somewhat of a curiosity?, and as Hardy says, ?she was the
most interesting personage in the village to many.? The crowds of schoolgirls
around Helen were content to sit back and snigger at Helen?s trouble, none
attempting to hide what they thought of her. The workers around Tess seemed to
admire her courage, even though they still did this behind her back, as they
didn?t appear to want Tess to know that they didn?t think badly of her. They
would rather Tess suffered, thinking that everyone hated her, than give the
impression that they condoned her actions.???
??????? Just as their mother?s reactions
differ, so do their final relationships with them. Hardy attributes much of the
blame for Tess? ruin to her mother portraying Tess? reluctance to go to Alec
overpowered by her mother?s persuasion. It is therefore not surprising that
Hardy chooses to leave their relationship broken until Tess? unfortunate death,
when it was too late to resolve, thus making her mother seem even more hateful
in the reader?s eye.??????? Helen and her mother, however, after
the initial coldness between them, grow closer towards the end of the book,
after Mrs. Garton reveals to Helen that she herself was illegitimate, and
therefore knew the hardships involved. Conversely,
she realized that in today?s society, it matters very little if a baby is born
out of wedlock, being a far more accepted common occurrence rather than an
ostracised sinful deed. Doherty does this to show that single mother?s these
days can survive, as long as they have support from their families.??????? ?Dear Nobody? also ends happily in the
fact that Helen and Chris, although not becoming a couple again, do share the
birth of Amy, and are both a part of her life. On the contrary, Tess, as well
as ruining her short-term life as he rapes her, Alec is also the reason for her
ultimate demise, as she is hanged for his murder.??????? In conclusion, coming from different
eras, one might not expect Hardy and Doherty?s main moral messages to be the
same. Most are however, and the two writers are in agreement as they say that
both mother could have and would have survived with a baby in their worlds, had
it not been for the attitudes of the people close to them. Indeed, Helen does
survive, with Amy becoming ?a fine thread being drawn through a garment,
mending tears.? Hardy
also makes it clear that Tess would have had a wonderful new life with Angel,
had his timing been different. So, although both pointing out the sometimes
terrible consequences of having a baby without a husband, neither writer
condemns it.? Rather they condemn
society for exacerbating the inevitable struggle of being a single mother. ???????? ???????? ???????? ????????
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