[Hardy-l] Father Time

[Jackie Wilkinson]

I find him strange, will, in that he is never referred to by a name only as
Jude's boy or Arabella's boy or as Father Time, a metaphoric figure. He is
described as 'Age masquerading as juvenility' or as 'the tragic mask of
Melpomene', as if he were a 'thing', an object such as a mask is, with all
the symbolic implications that masks have; and if a person has no name it
may be interpreted that he has no existence. Furthermore, he is almost
ignored even by the narrator him/herself. If one takes as an example Sue and
Jude's visit to Stoke Barehills fair there are moments when there is really
only Sue and Jude, it is as if he is there but not there. Arguably he is
there as a 'character' but not as a participant in the action. His
contribution, for example at Remembrance Day in Christminster, is always
negative as if he is a symbolic denial of the events. In theatrical terms it
is as if he is a character who never takes part in the play but merely sits
on the sidelines, he is referred to but his presence only seems to confirm
his absence. Jude, Sue, Arabella speak 'of ' him but rarely to him. It is as
if even his name is a metaphorical reference not an indication of true being
at all. I do not find him like any other character in Hardy's novels. His
presence/absence in the novel reminds me constantly of the theatre of
cruelty, even of Pinter or Becket or particularly Ionesco. I realise I sound
to be thrashing around in the dark somewhat here and I just wondered if
other people have similar - or even completely different - perceptions.
Jacky
-----Original Message-----
From: hardy-l-bounces at coyote.csusm.edu
[mailto:hardy-l-bounces at coyote.csusm.edu] On Behalf Of Will Stevens
Sent: 05 August 2007 15:01
To: hardy-l at coyote.csusm.edu
Subject: RE: [Hardy-l] Father Time

It would be interesting to know why you see him as a symbol/metaphor, rather
than as a character. Or, rather, why he's _more_ a symbol/metaphor than many
other characters in Hardy, for like many novelists of his time, Hardy quite
often makes his characters, to some extent at least, personify abstract
qualities. (Think of Gabriel Oak, whose very name is a give-away - or,
indeed, Jude or Sue themselves.)

I'd suggest that what's striking is that Hardy should, in 1895, introduce
such a child into one of his books. Compare him with the children in Kenneth
Grahame's 'The Golden Age' (1895) or E Nesbit's 'The Treasure Seekers'
(1899)! 'Father Time' is certainly a very strange child, but many of Hardy's
adult characters are very strange too.

Will





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