Humans in nature want validation from their parental figures as it helps strengthen one’s confidence and helps them feel important. But what happens when a child does not receive that love and care but rather an anxiety inducing pressure from the parent to be what they want the child to be? In this excerpt, Thomas Hardy uses key literary components such as tone, imagery, and pathos to describe Michael Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane’s interesting and complex relationship. Hardy starts off by using certain diction to build the rigid tone of the passage. He uses these words to help describe that Elizabeth-Jane has just unexpectedly reunited with her father. From here he starts to set the tone with dialogue and setting. The lines, “Good God, are …show more content…
Hardy uses words such as “constrained,” “shame,” “sadness,” etc to subtly express the oppression that Elizabeth is going through. This evokes a empathetic reaction from the reader as it relies on prompting the reader to relate and sympathize with what Elizabeth is going through. Hardy also has built up at this point the unhealthy expectations that Michael places on his daughter. He goes even further with this by having the father say, “Good God, why dostn’t leave off thanking that girl as if she were a goddess born! Don’t I pay her a dozen pound a year to do things for ‘ee?” This causes a terrified Elizabeth to shrink: “so visibly at the exclamation that he became sorry a few minutes after, and said that he did not mean to be rough.” This interaction demonstrates how vulnerable Elizabeth is to her father since she clearly does not want to disappoint him. It also shows how even though their relationship can be considered abnormal, Michael realizes what he’s been doing to Elizabeth and ends up apologizing to her. This helps appeal to the reader’s emotions as it prompts the reader to root for a healthier and strong bond between the girl and her