The word "native" in the title holds a touch of irony. "Native" was a term given to those inhabitants of a geographic region in which the British government wanted to invade and colonize. It was used in a derogatory and condescending manner to reinforce the dominance of British power throughout the world. For example, this is where the term "Native Americans" comes from.
What various meanings for the word "native" can you derive? Knowing two of Hardy's main themes from the Jessica Teisch article, what could he mean by using it in this novel's title?
4 comments:
native, could also mean rural, which was one of hardy's main focuses in his novels
I can see Hardy trying to expose some hypocritical values through the character of Mrs. Yeobright. She is a woman with wants of a high social status and having high standards and it means alot to her. (This can be seen with the situation between Thomasin and Damon with Mrs. Y getting so involved). It is hypocritical because she is a native like everyone else and that is considered to be a derogatory term for all of them, yet she is trying to set herself higher than all of the other natives.
by watching the character of Mrs. Yeobright. you can see that this is a a hypocritical because she is such a belief of high standards, however considards herself a native, like everyone else. So how can she view herself higher then everyone, but conder herself something that everyone considers them to be? it is kind of ironic!!!!
Some definitions of native are:
-being the place or environment in which a person was born or a thing came into being
-belonging to a person by birth or to a thing by nature
-of indigenous origin, growth, or production
These tie in with the theme of rural life; a main focus of Hardy, in which people grew up, live, consider themselves from, a native of the area.
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