Part 1 of Essay
“The business of the poet and novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things, and the grandeur underlying the sorriest.” Thomas Hardy said this upon completion of the novel . Thomas Henchard, the main character in his novel, becomes the example to illustrate this idea. Henchard is at one point ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... to teach ye a lesson. March on; never mind your britches’” (169)! Even though Abel does deserve a punishment, he is a grown man and such punishments like those fall into the category of cruel and unusual. A simple deduction in his pay would have been suitable, Henchard however decides to humilate him. Hardy is showing that, even in the most powerful people, human flaws make people do the worst of things. Hardy further shows this in Henchard’s relationship with Donald Farfrae. Farfrae is a young S ....