HARDY READING

by Rick Dietrich

I am advancing again my old argument, that we read to understand, particularly how others feel — whether we like it or not.

Case in point: I have just finished re-reading Thomas Hardy’s last novel, Jude the Obscure. It may not be the saddest book ever written, but if it isn’t, it is close. It is particularly sad, for me for this reason: the main character, Jude Fawley, falls, because the church and the university fail him. I have a stake in both those institutions, and I know they can act as they do here, choosing not to act; but I don’t like to see them do it.

Their choosing not to act means that Jude is cast out into the world. Granted, it is his family that does the first casting, for they care about him no more than they are required. But religion and education are not far behind. He is set aside by a church that does not appreciate his struggles. He is ignored by a university that doesn’t even see him.

The world into which Jude is thrown is, moreover, a bleak one. It is not one in which God is much present— if present at all! None of the characters are in the hands of God. They are left to Fate, which does not so much lead them as grind them up, much like the giant in “Jack and the Beanstalk”: “Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.”

At his end, Jude sees, in “stupid fancies,” the spirits of the dead, walking the streets of Christminster, center of religion and learning, great doctors of the university and the church, revered personifications of his youthful hopes, but now, these “theologians, the apologists, and their kin the metaphysicians, the highhanded statesmen, and others, no longer interest [him]. All has been spoilt for me,” he cries, “by the grind of stern reality.”

Wait! It is wrong to say that Fate doesn’t lead the characters of Hardy’s novel—of Hardy’s novels— though it rather pulls than beckons. It is as if the characters were on leashes; they are not free to follow as they wish. They are not free at all, in fact, in this world in which their origins push them while their destinies pull them, but through . . . what? It is possible to characterize them, as Jude himself does at one point, as pawns in a game they (the pawns) do not understand. But it is more complicated, or, at least, deeper than that. No more do the forces that move the pawns understand the game; they are without understanding— and blind to boot.

What is it like to live in a world like this, where there is no benevolent God and the institutions that pretend to represent him are indifferent? Gosh! Do we want to read Hardy to find out?

I remember “loving” this book, when I was a young man, but I don’t now recall why. When I recommended it not long ago to a reading group of which I am a partpeople of my middle age— everyone groaned; then, several scrambled to change the subject. For we have reached that age, when we wish to

Leave sorrow to the young—
the black leaves underfoot, gray sun.

For us it is

Time now to sit, to loaf among
old friends, whose sorrows,
too, are been and done—
or, yet to come.

But are not now. No one is more aware than I of the values of comfort. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving, to eating too much and falling asleep in front of the game.

Yet I sat down and read Jude again, and I read it—I chewed on it—to the bitter end, because it is important to remember, if only in imagination, what is it like to live in a world where there is no benevolent God and the institutions that wear his name don’t care. I have neighbors, and even friends, who are out there. You do, too.

SCOTLAND
July 29 – August 9, 2004

You are invited to join the 18th annual Presbyterian Tour of Scotland. Comments of previous travelers:

“You took us to so many beautiful sites! Charlotte and I have said over and over, we would never have been able to see so many places if we had not been with your group. Our memory banks have had a lot of beautiful memories added.”

Jerry & Charlotte Maxson, Midland, Mich.

. . . “the arrangements you made and the services supplied were every bit as remarkable as Abbortsford, Iona, Edinburgh Castle, Loch Ness, etc. It was great. Well done in the extreme.”

Dr. John Callaway, Frankfort, Ken.

. . . “I just want you to know that the trip was one of the very best experiences of my life.”

Joyce O’Brien, Albertville, Ala.

. . . “Thank you for organizing such a wonderful trip for us all . . . We will not forget.”

Bill & Sylvia Bridge, Midland, Mich.

. . . “Thank you for a good trip . . . everybody had a great time.”

The Rev. Stewart LaNeave, Greenville, N.C.

IRELAND
May 3-13, 2004

Starting with an evening of fun at a medieval-style banquet in a fifteenth century castle at Bunratty, plus The Cliffs of Moher, on the way to Northern Ireland and sites there before visiting Newgrange and returning to Dublin for three days. Details for both tours are available from The Rev. Fred Griffie, 308 East Clover St., Harlan, KY 40831. Telephone (606) 573-9771, fax (606) 573-2311, Email: FredGriffie at webtv.net