As most of y’all know, Diggory most reminds me of Rambo. And I’m hoping that everyone knows who Rambo is. But just in case y’all don’t, here is a video to help you visualize what I mean when I say Diggory is Rambo. Remember that part in the book when Diggory is by Clym’s house at night and sees Wildeve coming to see Eustacia? Well he had that shot gun and everything and was running in and our of trees staying hidden and scaring Wildeve off. That part was intense.
I couldn’t decide which one illustrates my point better so I put both here. Certain parts of each one, I think, parallel Diggory better than other part.
But If you don’t understand what I’m getting at, one last character that Diggory reminds me of is Mel Gibson in the Patriot. Especially the scene that him and his sons ambush the party holding his other son captive.
Also, I wanted to post about what I brought up during the discussion. It was the point that certain characters have different degrees of ease when traveling through the heath. Some always end up getting caught by the heath and tripped up when others are able to move through the heath unhindered. For example, when Eustacia and Wildeve are returning from the dance.. “On this account the irregularities of the path were not visible, and Wildeve occasionally stumbled; whilst Eustacia found it necessary to preform some graceful feats of balancing whenever a small tuft of heather or root of furze protruded itself through the grass of the narrow track and entangled her feet.” Then later Hardy says about Diggory, “But Venn went on without much inconvenience to himself.” And it also says that he was “scampering”. He was able to travel the heath easily. This seems to parallel the moral standings of the characters. While Wildeve and Eustacia are out together secretly the heath hinders them. They are not able to Go through the heath because of the “evilness” in them. While Venn, virtuously embodying goodness and selflessness–a stark contrast to the other main character, is “allowed” by the heath to pass unhindered.
Hey Stephen, your theory about the moral upstanding of Diggory Venn allowing him to traverse the heath in ease is a good idea, but in one case, it does not exactly meet your qualifications. Remember the end of the story, right before Diggory found Clym, Wildeve, and Eustacia in the pool? Well Thomasin gets lost in the heath while looking for Wildeve and Eustacia because her baby “somewhat impeded Thomasin’s view forward and distracted her mind” (331). Of course she finds Diggory’s van and they carry on in the search, but my point is that Thomasin was morally upright. It doesn’t follow that she would get lost for immoral character. I think an alternative idea is that Thomasin has trouble crossing the heath in this case because she was “distracted” with both her baby and natural anxiety in anticipation for the worst. Diggory, on the other hand, always has a clear purpose and focus in his actions, like pursuing Thomasin up until the very end and winning back Clym and Thomasin’s inheritance from Wildeve.
(( Brooke ))
I see where you are going with that Brooke, but I think what your saying is a little different to what I was referring to. I was trying to highlight the fact that people had trouble traveling through the heath more in line with being hindered by the heath itself. Getting lost in the heath was more Thomasin’s fault, just like you said, because of anxiety and the baby. She may have been lost but she had an semi-easy time traveling. On another note, I think that Thomasin, although mostly upright, did have some minor traits that could carry over into a little hindrance in traveling. Diggory, to me at least, seemed like the only one with pure motives throughout the book.
-Stephen
Here is just a broad characterization of Diggory Venn that I found on Sparknotes.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/returnofnative/terms/char_2.html
-Kristen
This is another blog I found about Diggory Venn. The site also has an illustration of Diggory.
http://thesuccessblog.blogspot.com/2004/08/reddleman.html
-Kristen
As most of y’all know, Diggory most reminds me of Rambo. And I’m hoping that everyone knows who Rambo is. But just in case y’all don’t, here is a video to help you visualize what I mean when I say Diggory is Rambo. Remember that part in the book when Diggory is by Clym’s house at night and sees Wildeve coming to see Eustacia? Well he had that shot gun and everything and was running in and our of trees staying hidden and scaring Wildeve off. That part was intense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2z7wmtALSY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHBkdRuXovU
I couldn’t decide which one illustrates my point better so I put both here. Certain parts of each one, I think, parallel Diggory better than other part.
But If you don’t understand what I’m getting at, one last character that Diggory reminds me of is Mel Gibson in the Patriot. Especially the scene that him and his sons ambush the party holding his other son captive.
-Stephen
I didn’t really know what reddle was, so I looked it up….
Ruddle:
n. Red ocherous iron ore, used in dyeing and marking.
(v. Reddle)
-Kristen
Also, I wanted to post about what I brought up during the discussion. It was the point that certain characters have different degrees of ease when traveling through the heath. Some always end up getting caught by the heath and tripped up when others are able to move through the heath unhindered. For example, when Eustacia and Wildeve are returning from the dance.. “On this account the irregularities of the path were not visible, and Wildeve occasionally stumbled; whilst Eustacia found it necessary to preform some graceful feats of balancing whenever a small tuft of heather or root of furze protruded itself through the grass of the narrow track and entangled her feet.” Then later Hardy says about Diggory, “But Venn went on without much inconvenience to himself.” And it also says that he was “scampering”. He was able to travel the heath easily. This seems to parallel the moral standings of the characters. While Wildeve and Eustacia are out together secretly the heath hinders them. They are not able to Go through the heath because of the “evilness” in them. While Venn, virtuously embodying goodness and selflessness–a stark contrast to the other main character, is “allowed” by the heath to pass unhindered.
Feel free to critique my thoughts.
-Stephen
Hey Stephen, your theory about the moral upstanding of Diggory Venn allowing him to traverse the heath in ease is a good idea, but in one case, it does not exactly meet your qualifications. Remember the end of the story, right before Diggory found Clym, Wildeve, and Eustacia in the pool? Well Thomasin gets lost in the heath while looking for Wildeve and Eustacia because her baby “somewhat impeded Thomasin’s view forward and distracted her mind” (331). Of course she finds Diggory’s van and they carry on in the search, but my point is that Thomasin was morally upright. It doesn’t follow that she would get lost for immoral character. I think an alternative idea is that Thomasin has trouble crossing the heath in this case because she was “distracted” with both her baby and natural anxiety in anticipation for the worst. Diggory, on the other hand, always has a clear purpose and focus in his actions, like pursuing Thomasin up until the very end and winning back Clym and Thomasin’s inheritance from Wildeve.
(( Brooke ))
I see where you are going with that Brooke, but I think what your saying is a little different to what I was referring to. I was trying to highlight the fact that people had trouble traveling through the heath more in line with being hindered by the heath itself. Getting lost in the heath was more Thomasin’s fault, just like you said, because of anxiety and the baby. She may have been lost but she had an semi-easy time traveling. On another note, I think that Thomasin, although mostly upright, did have some minor traits that could carry over into a little hindrance in traveling. Diggory, to me at least, seemed like the only one with pure motives throughout the book.
-Stephen