One of the most unique techniques that Hardy employs is filling a novel with ambiguity. One example being Eustacia’s death. The only information given is that she died by drowning in the pool of water during the rain storm. What is left up to the reader to decide is, Did she jump in or accidently fall in? We know that she was suicidal when she began her journey into the Heath. – The Dan
What do you guys think? Did she jump in and take her own life or did she stumble and die accidently?
Interesting. I like you whoever you are that started this “page.” Because human life is so ambigious (I know that is a clear claim about a supposedly “ambigious” existence), Hardy really connects to the reader though his telling of the story that often leaves out details. That said, I do not think she jumped simply because she would have been in the same situation as Thomasin and not known it was there. (Neither of them could have known the gigantic “puddle” was there, after all, Thomasin lived right next to it in the Quiet Woman and if she didn’t know – as conveyed in her conversation with Diggory – there’s no way Eustacia could have.) Also drowning takes a while, hurts, and is undignified, the complete opposite of taking a pistol round to the head as she considered earlier.
seth
I agree with seth. I don’t think she jumped. The incident with the gun proved that she wasn’t able to kill herself. Trying to drown yourself is much harder than just shooting yourself in the head. (Not that I know or have experienced anything like that, but doesn’t that make sense? It would be harder to physically hold yourself under the water and drown when your normal reaction is to get air. Holding a gun to your head just requires pulling the trigger and being a little crazy in the head.)
-Kristen
I think she jumped. She’s a smart girl, and in the storm she would have heard that high-pitched pattering sound rain makes when it hits water. Also, as above mentioned, she was suicidal when she left her grandfather’s house. The last words Hardy puts into her mouth are, “I was capable of much; but I have been injured and blighted and crushed by things beyond my control!” (Hardy 323). Since she says “I was,” it sounds like she has ultimately decided to kill herself though she could not the first time. Also, since she’s so dramatic, I think she would have ignored the pain and extended duration of time drowning takes in order to make a notable final exit. As for the difficulty in drowning oneself, it would be nigh impossible to hold one’s head underneath water in something like a full sink, but the current of the river was powerful- even if she had changed her mind once she jumped she probably was not strong enough to fight it.
-Hayley W.
I think that while Eustacia was suicidal she did not kill herself. She is dramatic by nature and by drowning herself she could not be sure that people would find her and know she died instead of running away. She would want everyone to know (especially Wildeve and Clym) that they had put her through so much pain that she had to leave this world. She also is vain and would not want people to find her body swollen with water and nasty. I think she was planning on killing herself in a way that people would see her and pity her, like hanging herself since she could not shoot herself. Hanging also does not distort your features.
*Christine
My compliments to The Dan, this is an awesome page! Haha. I would have to agree with Seth, Kristen, and Christine on this one. Eustacia, the impulsive little thing she is, definitely thought of taking her own life, but the irony of all ironies is that nature takes it for her! Throughout the novel, nothing ever just happens to Eustacia. She takes matters in her own hands, as we can see in how she posed as a mummer to meet Clym (109-131), left him on her own accord (300-301), and planned the potential escape to Budmouth and Paris (309-311). However, when she resisted the forces of nature trying to keep her from leaving the heath and Clym for the last time, the inevitable end was her accidental death in the pool. Hardy’s genius allows for no less than an ironic conclusion to Eustacia Vye.
(( Brooke ))
Good points, good points. However, I still am not agreed. On the website I posted today (it’s on the main miscellaneous blog page under “we all love wikipedia”) there was a comment made about Eustacia’s suicide attempt. Since much of the town thought she was a witch, she could prove herself innocent even as she died. A superstition ran at that period in time that witches did not sink in water. (See Monty Python and the Holy Grail if you have any questions =) )This method of suicide would have given her some degree of respectability.
Furthermore she must have assumed that her body would be found, for since she was to meet Wildeve, had she not shown up, he would have gone out to look for her.
And lastly, Hardy writes, “They stood silently looking at Eustacia, who, as she lay there still in death, eclipsed all her living phases” (Hardy 342). Eustacia would not become swollen until after many days submerged in water, by which time someone would have found her. She knew she would retain her beauty, and indeed she did in far more magnificent proportions than in life.
-Hayley W.
Good end to that arguement, my dear.
I think she chose to jump as well. Imagine yourself in the same place. Dreams shattered, husband gone, the wind whipping around you, and thoughts of worthlessness flowing through your mind with the same intensity as the water at your feet. The question is who wouldn’t jump? I agree that she does crave attention, but that would only solidify her resolve. To do herself in is to be seen as the victim. Of course she wants to be seen as the poor, desperate housewife craving a life greater than that which her husband can provide. What sensitive human being condemns someone who has taken his/her own life? It is natural to look on them with sympathy, a form of attention rarely granted to Eustacia.
Brooke, your idea is awesome if you look at it from that standpoint. From my point of view though, it’s simply a fulfillment of the inevitable. To Eustacia, the heath was like a prison. The denial of her request to finally escape through Clym was the death sentence, and the water that squeezed the air from her lungs was the guillotine. The heath was ever her enemy ’til the end.
~ Jeremy Thompson **
** Mr. Awesome
I think all reasoning surrounding Eustacia’s motives and reasoning behind Jumping (or NOT jumping-chill out) are lost to us, due to the INSANITY and UNREALISTIC proportions of Eustacia’s character.
The point of Hardy’s creation of Eustacia is that she is unlike any other woman. I think the only way we can evaluate whether she jumped or not is by weighing Hardy’s comments about her. For this reason, i stand behind Haley and her evaluation of the text: “They stood silently looking at Eustacia, who, as she lay there still in death, eclipsed all her living phases” (Hardy 342).
THis reveals Hardy’s motives behind the suicidal plot twist.
Also, i decided that i agree with haley if it has anythign to do with these areas:
-literature
-philosophers
-authors
-the rationality/lack there of of any of our teachers
-movies with characters named “river”
-Janielle
I would have to say that Eustacia did not take her own life. Altough she knew the heath better than anyone else, I do not believe she was strongly willed enough to jump into the river. Furthermore, the storm was strong enough to distort anyone’s perception of reality (by that I mean Eustacia could easily have been confused about her surroundings), so that Eustacia probably did not realize that the pool was positioned there. However, with all of that said I totally understand the other side of the argument. She was extremely depressed and confused about whether or not to take Wildeve along with ther to Paris, which easily could have led her to commit suicide. Personally, however, I do not think she was strong enough to give up on her dream of going to Paris, especially not after she had sacrificed so much already to fulfill that dream.-Tiffani
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/d/df/Roy_Lichtenstein_Drowning_Girl.jpg
**replace “brad” with “wildeve”…
i think she still retained her beauty….her makeup’s not even smudged.
-janielle