Types of Obscurity in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure and ...

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Types of Obscurity in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure and Maurice Blanchot's …here. Even the writings of Henry James and James Joyce have smacks ofthis unmistakable side.On the linguistic level, the excerpts already given show unequivocallythat Hardy capitalizes on the direct statement whether through thedialogues or the authorial comments or interpolations. Conversely,Blacnchot makes much use of the indirect interior monologue whichgives much freedom and space for his discursive statements andimpressions where the objective and subjective are inextricablyintermingled. The fact of the matter is that these explorations,insinuations and visions constitute the main issue of the novel and theonly possible answer or explanation for Thomas's obscurity. The rich andsuggestive language of Thomas the Obscure intensifies the poetic side ofthe book and drives the serious reader to search for the unstated levels ofThomas's obscurity. A further example of this particular point is helpfulas it once again brings to mind how Blanchot has his own distinct way indealing with his protagonist's obscurity. Anne's ecstasy is representedhere as she borders the experience of death. This ontological experienceis presented in a highly poetic way that the demarcation lines betweenprose and verse nearly diminish,In the perspective of a strange horizon, Anne, like somethingwhich could not be represented, no longer a human being, among themayflies and the falling suns, with the agonizing atoms, doomedspecies uncoupled illness, ascended the course of waters where obsceneorigins floundered.(p.83)In both novels, there is an overwhelming sense of frustration andspiritual estrangement. Although Jude in Hardy's novel is a typicalcountry young man, endowed with a great will to achieve some of hisdreams, he ends up as a crushed, weary man that has to accept the factthat some marriages can be a humiliating experience that wouldeventually unman the individual and strip him of his virile pride. Incontrast, Thomas's agony is typically existential and has got nothing to dowith the community obligations. It is related to the failure of man to graspwhat anxieties and inflictions that befall him and under which hecontinuously smarts. The burden prevalent throughout the pages of thisshort novel is beyond the individual's grasp and realization. As a matter146
Damascus University Journal, Vol.28 No.1, 2012Sabbar S. Sultanof fact, Thomas is the author's mouthpiece and surrogate in commentingon man's shaky position in a world that has gone topsy-turvy due to manycatastrophic forces. Indeed such forces have dashed all man's hopes of abetter life and new potentialities. Hence is the ceaseless pursuit of theinaccessible and the disillusionment of any real intimacy with otherfellow men.ConclusionSeen as a whole, the two novels betray polar views concerning theircentral issue, that is, the 'obscurity' of their main characters. As alreadyshown, Jude's obscurity has been caused and exacerbated by the twists ofhis fate, a point that engages the center of Hardy's thinking. Jude hasexerted a gigantic effort to get rid of his vulgarity and backwardnesswhich are the inevitable outcome of a very crippling milieu. However, allthese efforts are doomed to fail and he has to recognize his obscurity as apoint that will accompany him throughout the remaining years of his life.In contrast, Thomas's position is more sophisticated and stimulating forthe simple fact that it is the product of a mind that has shifted the interestfrom the metaphysical to the physical, from the outside to the inside,from the object to the subject. Here man is the master of his will. He hasattained his own freedom by his own efforts. This new position has itsown set of challenges and demands. Thomas's obscurity is moreconvincing even though the actual size of the book is closer to the novellarather than the full-fledged novel. The readers of this novel are usuallythe elitist and specialized as the problem the book tackles is differentfrom the mainstream of the interests of fiction. Though brief andcompressed, lacking many constituents of the traditional novel, Thomasthe Obscure, has the prerogative of suggesting more than what is states. Itis the incarnation of the art of understatement par excellence. In short,Blanchot gives us a world where things are capable of being interpretedfrom more than one perspective. Hence the richness and suggestivenessof this text which contrasts vividly with Hardy's where all things serve apreconceived and invariable image. Thomas's obscurity, given theabovementioned account, serves a thematic or rather philosophical turn, apoint Hardy's work fails to represent.147
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