‘The most positively portrayed characters are those closest to the Earth,’ Discuss this statement when considering the characters of Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene.

... GCSE English Literature June 2009 Pre 1914 Novel: Thomas Hardy Far From the Madding Crowd (1874) 'The most positively portrayed characters are those closest to the Earth,' Discuss this statement when considering the characters of Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene. Thomas Hardy's novel, 'Far From the Madding Crowd' links to nature and the earth through its characters throughout the plot. Hardy's story is set in the fictional county of 'Wessex', a rural community set away from the mist of the industrial revolution. It is very true that both Bathsheba Everdene and Gabriel Oak are both positively portrayed characters when they are closest to the Earth. In the first chapter, we are introduced to the protagonists of the novel. Firstly, Gabriel Oak, a man whose smile is 'like the rays in a rudimentary sketch of the rising sun.' In his 'smile,' Hardy makes use of a comparison to the 'sun'; this links

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