Many times during the course of the story, for instance, Clym will be shown to appear like a tiny insect moving across the face of nature. When human figures do finally appear, they seem insignificant against the backdrop of the indifferent, if not hostile, Egdon. At the very least, Egdon is shown to be inhospitable to man, even as it is almost untouched by him.

No beings appear in the novel until the second chapter and even then they are not named. But this is, of course, an indirect way of commenting on modern people and their views of the universe. Hardy himself suggests that such a 'gaunt waste' with its 'chastened sublimity' may come to represent a new ideal of beauty for modern man. It helps our reading of the novel to think of Egdon Heath as a symbol. Some critics have gone so far as to speak of the heath as one of the main characters in the novel, and in this light other critics suggest that this landscape becomes the personification of the area's ancient, pagan past, making it small wonder that one of the locals will later accuse one of the main characters, Eustacia Vye, of being a witch. It is said to be eternally waiting and 'unmoved' in its 'ancient permanence.' The 'storm its lover, and the wind its friend.' 'It a lonely face, suggesting tragical possibilities' and its characteristic vegetation gives it an 'antique brown dress.' Hardy gives animation and a personality to Egdon. It is significant that Hardy devotes the entire first chapter of his novel to a description of Egdon Heath even more significant is the way he described it. He is surprised to see her place taken by several other figures. He leaves the old man to pull off the road and rest, and while he does, the reddleman sees a figure on top of the highest point in the heath, a Celtic barrow. By the red color of his complexion, his clothes, and his van, the second man is identified as a reddleman, a seller of a red chalk substance sheep farmers used to make identifying marks on their flock.ĭuring a brief conversation, the old man discovers that the reddleman has a young woman in his van, but the reddleman will say little about her. The only evidence of activity is an old highway and an even older barrow (a heap of earth piled over ancient burial sites).Īn old man in clothes of nautical style makes his way along this highway and presently catches up with another traveler walking alongside a van. It has changed little from the way it was described in ancient times. Near twilight on a Saturday in November, Egdon Heath slowly turns dark.

Point of View of The Return of the Native.

Thomas hardy novel the return of the