The Presentation of Diggory Venn in Thomas Hardy's "The Return of the Native"

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Discuss Hardy’s presentation of the Reddleman The character of Diggory Venn, or the Reddleman, is certainly a strange one. He seems to be without a direct purpose in the novel, and instead spends his time travelling about and trying to influence and shape the thoughts of as many people as he can. In this end, he is effective, and is the central character in terms of controlling the actions and emotions of the other characters, as he is able to manipulate them through his suggestions. In addition to this is his disconnected and un-human nature, which only further emphasises his individuality and loneliness upon the heath. One of the most striking aspects of the presentation of the Reddleman is how he is always working towards a goal of his own. However heroic or noble his actions may appear, there is always a motive behind them, however small or insignificant it may be. This is evident even from the reader’s first encounter with the mysterious figure. The action of bringing Thomasin back from the disaster of the failed wedding may seem to be a genuinely nice gesture; he is helping out a woman who is clearly is distress, and has no way of getting home that will not either result in her “illness” getting worse, or her having to rely on the “conveyance of a stranger.” Even the name of the chapter in which the reader is introduced to Venn is hinting at his character; Hardy entitled the chapter “Humanity appears upon the scene.” But the question is whether Venn is actually acting out of humanity. Of course, as we later find out, Venn still feels very attached to Thomasin, even after the long time that they have spent apart from one another. This strongly suggests that he is not acting out of compassion; after all, one key reason for the damnation of the relationship between the Reddleman and Thomasin was the result of the woman’s aunt, Mrs. Yeobright. If she had opposed

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