Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Ashlee writes:
            The novel Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy contains 374 pages. It takes place in England during the late 1800’s. The main character is a farmer named Gabriel Oak. He’s twenty eight years old, a bachelor, lives with his dog in a little hut and works every day. He is easy going, properly dressed, mature, mannered, arrives to church every Sunday and is a good man.

             Going into the first big event in the book is when Gabriel meets Bathsheba for the first time. It all started when he closed the shades on the side of his hut leaving no ventilation while a fire was burning. He becomes unconscious and when he wakes up his head is on the lap of a pretty woman. She saves him by splashing the last pail of milk she’ll have for the rest of the season to wake him. Gabriel introduces himself and asks for the kind woman’s name but she won’t tell him and leaves with her identity being a mystery. Since they are distant neighbors Gabriel goes to the house in which the mysterious woman visits. He finds another woman there who is her aunt. Gabriel soon finds out the woman’s name is Bathsheba Everdene, a bachelorette. Gabriel falls in love with Bathsheba for she saved his life and feels a connection with her now. He asks Bathsheba’s aunt, Ms. Hurst, for Bathsheba’s hand in marriage but she tells him that Bathsheba has been courted by many men and for her to chose him would be highly unlikely. Feeling turned down he leaves to go home. On his journey, Bathsheba comes by on a horse to tell him that her aunt was lying and to ignore what she said. Gabriel then asks Bathsheba to marry him but she clarifies that even though she is a bachelorette, she doesn’t want a husband. She doesn’t want a man to tell her what to do and to own her so she tells Gabriel that she’s not interested in marrying him. He accepts her decision with hesitation and does not give up on her.

            Gabriel’s herding dog leads his sheep over a cliff leaving him with nothing so he decides to pack up and move on. On his journey he tumbles into Weatherbury where Bathsheba has, prior to Gabriel’s knowledge, moved to. He sees her again and asks for a job and she asks him to be a shepherd. Even though Gabriel is trying to win Bathsheba’s heart, there is also another suitor, her neighbor Mr. Boldwood.

            Up until this point of half way through the book, it seems that the main events that will take place during this novel with be between Gabriel, Bathsheba and her suitors. This first half has shown the development of characters as well as the beginning of conflicts. I soon hope to find out if Gabriel will prevail in winning Bathsheba’s hand in marriage, don’t you?