Very Different Characters Essay, Research Paper
Far From
the Madding Crowd Compare the
Characters Gabriel Oak and Francis TroyIn my essay I am going to compare Gabriel Oak and
Francis Troy.? I will consider their
relationships with Fanny and Bathsheba, and their skill as farmers. Francis Troy and Gabriel Oak
are two very different characters.?
Francis Troy is outgoing, flirtatious and very handsome.? While Gabriel Oak is simple, shy and not
ugly, but pleasant looking. ????? I
prefer Gabriel to Troy because although Troy is dashing and charming, you can
tell that there is something odd about him.?
Thomas Hardy says in the book, " And Troys deformities lay deep
down from a womans vision, whilst his embellishments were upon the very
surface; thus contrasting with homely Oak, whose defects were patent to the
blindest, and whose virtues were as metals in a mine."? He was very unfair to Fanny when she made
the mistake of going to the wrong church when they were due to get married.
When she apologised he did not care.?
This was the girl he was going to marry and he left her, just because
she was half an hour late for the wedding.?
That was a big mistake he made.? ?????? Also,
when Fanny came to visit Troy at the barracks she hit the window hoping someone
would open it.? Someone opened the
window and said, Who’s there."? She
asked if it was Sergeant Troy who was there and he said, "Yes."? Troy said, "What girl are you,"
because of all the prostitutes that loiter around the barracks as they got a
great deal of attention he thought it was another prostitute wanting some quick
cash by having sexual intercourse with him, and he obviously had given them
some money before. Then Fanny said, "Yes, so am I.? And Frank, when will it be?" ??????????? "What?"? Then fanny said,???????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????
"That you promised."?
Troy went on to say,???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????"I
don’t quite recollect."? He had
basically forgotten the promise that he made to Fanny when he last saw her.? That they would marry, some day.? He made it thinking that he would never see
her again because he got her pregnant and it was disgraceful if you were
pregnant and not married.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
He also treated Bathsheba very badly when he lost interest in her and
started to lose all her money on the races.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
He was also very unkind to Farmer Boldwood.? Farmer Boldwood gave Troy money for the wedding when no one knew
that they were married already, Troy led him along being very nice to him then
saying, very abruptly, that he was already married to her.? This broke Farmer Boldwoods heart even
more.? He was using Bathsheba because
when Troy saw Fanny again he cared for her much more and wanted to help her but
didn’t want Bathsheba to know that he knew her so she told her to meet her the
next day and he never turned up.? Troy was
always drinking heavily and when he and Bathsheba had a celebration of their
wedding, at the end of the night he told all the women to go to bed while the
men stayed and drank themselves stupid.?
While they were getting drunk there was a storm brewing and the ricks
were left uncovered so if it rained all the hay would have got wet and she
would of lost a lot of money.? Troy
didn’t even care about the storm because he was to drunk to even think, so it
was left to Gabriel to save the day, once again by covering the ricks with
tarpaulin.? You can tell how grateful
she was to Gabriel after the storm by her saying," Gabriel, you are kinder
than I deserve!? I will stay and help
you yet."??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????? Troy
was in some ways a lovely man.? Every
year he woul
him.? He was a great swordsman and he
lured Bathsheba in with his fancy sword work.?
In the novel, Troy says to Bathsheba when showing off how skilled he was
with a sword, "They are rather deathy.?
Now I’ll be more interesting, and let you see some loose play-giving all
the cuts and points, infantry and cavalry, quicker than lightning, and as
promiscuously – with just enough rule to relegate instinct and yet not to
fetter it.? You are my antagonist, with
this difference from real warfare, that I shall miss you every time by one
hairs breadth, or perhaps two.? Mind you
don’t flinch, whatever you do."?
That was his type of flirting.?
He is showing off that he can only miss Bathsheba by a hairs
breadth.? This makes her feel threatened
and makes Troy feel in control over her.?
This shows he is very chauvinistic by wanting to be in control. Although
that he was charming he never let people know what he was really like. ??????
Gabriel was a very pleasant man; he was always so kind to Bathsheba and
was always there for her when she needed him.?
He was a very patient man.? When
Boldwood and Troy were queuing up to marry Bathsheba he just let it
happen.? He didn’t do anything in a rage
of anger.? Even though, deep down he
wanted to marry her.? He was always
there for anyone if they didn’t have anyone else to turn to.? He was a very modest man, when he asked
Bathsheba to marry him.? He admitted he
was a simple man.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
He was going to leave the farm because he had an argument with
Bathsheba, but when he got a note saying from Bathsheba saying, "Don’t
desert me," he can’t ignore her as his feelings got in the way of his
principles.? She would lose all her
money if her sheep had not have been cured.?
This shows that he would do anything for Bathsheba. ?The sheep got into a field with clover in it
and if the sheep ate too much clover they would bloat up and if they were not
relieved of that pressure they could have died. ??????
Gabriel was kind because when he saw Fanny in Weatherbury on the
streets, he gave her a shilling, even though he did not know her, but she
looked in a bad way so he spared the change for her.? She was very grateful for this offering and accepted it.? In the novel Gabriel says, " Since you
are not very well off, perhaps you would accept this trifle from me.? It is only a shilling, but it is all I have
to spare."? Gabriel helped Farmer
Boldwood with the running of his farm.?
He had to work in two farms which was quite demanding but he managed
because he didn’t want to upset anyone which shows how caring he is.? On the day of Fanny Robin’s funeral when the
man who was suppose to bring the coffin to the church stopped off at a pub and
got completely intoxicated with alcohol.?
Gabriel Oak caught him and had to take the coffin to the church.? He saw on the coffin the words
written," Fanny Robin and Child."?
Gabriel realised that the child’s father was Sergeant Troy, he was very
annoyed by this.? But still he rubbed
out the bit saying, "Child" on it, because he didn’t want Bathsheba
to get hurt, that is all he cared about.?
Even though it meant by doing this that that he would be lying to her
and maybe squandering the only chance he had to break her and Troy up.? This shows that Gabriel is a caring man who
does not want to hurt people’s feelings.?
This tells us that Troy is a man who does not care who he sleeps with
and only has relationships with woman he is physically attracted to. ??????
Gabriel was a much better Farmer than Troy, mainly because Gabriel’s job
was a farmer and Troy was a soldier. Troy had done more farming when he was a
young boy.?? ?This concludes that Gabriel Oak is a far more pleasant man than
Francis Troy and that Gabriel is more of a down to earth type of person than
Francis.? Troy is more of a exciting,
bouncy type of personality which sounds good but not when you don’t have your
heart in the right place. Gabriel is kinder to Bathsheba than Troy is to her
and is generally nicer to everyone else than Troy.? Gabriel is not two faced like Troy is.