Role of Chance and Fate in The Return of The Native

Role of Chance and Fate/Coincidence in The
Return of the Native :

Chances and coincidences play a vital role in all the novels of Hardy. In the
work of no other novelist do chances and coincidences exercise such a
conspicuous influence on the course of events. The unexpected often happens
and always it is the undesirable and unwanted. Such chance events are heavy
blows aimed at the head of Hardy's protagonists and they send them to their
doom.
While a character is certainly responsible to a large extent, chances and

coincidences often operate as the deciding factor. Hardy believed that there
is some malignant power that controls the universe, and which is out to thwart
and defeat men in their plans. It is especially hostile to them who try to assert
themselves and have their own way. He couldn’t believe in a benevolent
Providence; events were too plainly ironical so they must have been contrived
by a supernatural power. He found it difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile
the idea of a beneficent and benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient deity
with the fact of omnipresent evil and the persistent tendency of circumstances
toward unhappiness.
Hardy shows a persistent and bitter preoccupation with the sorrow of

life. We certainly cannot deny the littleness and sordidness of human life. He
attributes the tragedy to an “Unsympathetic First Cause”. The Return of the
Native shows man as the helpless plaything of invisible powers, ruthless and
indifferent. The characters have no such thing as free will.
The whole plot of The Return of the Native is tinged with fateful incidents
and accidents.
1- Johnny Nunsuch has overheard the conversation between Eustacia and

Wildeve. Johnny then meets the reddleman Diggory Venn purely by chance.
The reddleman learns from the boy the emotional attachment of Eustacia with
Wildeve. The reddleman decides to serve Thomasin’s interests by dissuading
Eustacia from Wildeve. But he is scolded by her and feeling dejected and
failed, goes to Mrs. Yeobright to renew his offer of marriage to Thomasin. Mrs.
Yeobright uses this offer to threaten Wildeve to marry Thomasin. This whole
series of events are caused by chance and fate only started by Johnny, the
boy.
2- Just as Eustacia’s affection for Wildeve begins to wane, an exciting

prospect, Clym Yeobright, diamond merchant in Paris, returns to Egdon. His
visit prompts Eustacia to facilitate a meeting between them, which eventually
results in a mutual attraction. Eustacia makes her disinterest known to
Wildeve who finally marries Thomasin. Eustacia is disappointed to discover
that Clym has rejected his cosmopolitan lifestyle, however, hopeful that she
can change his mind, agrees to marry him. Mrs. Yeobright disapproves both
these marriages.
3- By a sheer accident, Christian Cantle who is carrying Mrs. Yeobright’s

money meets a group of village folk who take him to a raffle where, by a sheer
stroke of luck, he wins a prize and encouraged by his good fortune plays a
game of dice with Wildeve. Cantle first loses his own money and later stakes
Mrs. Yeobright’s and loses the entire amount. The reddleman appears and
invites Wildeve for another bout. This time luck favors the reddleman and he
wins all the money from Wildeve. He delivers the whole money to Thomasin,
not aware of the fact, that half the money was to be handed to Clym. Mrs.
Yeobright fails to receive any acknowledgement from Clym and becomes
dejected.
4- That Clym becomes semi-blind when he was hoping to launch his

educational project, is a sheer accident which leads to disastrous results. Clym
is compelled to become a furze-cutter. The humble occupation chosen by Clym
is regarded by Eustacia as humiliating. When Wildeve asks her if her marriage
has proved a misfortune for her, her reply is “The marriage is not a
misfortune in itself. It is simply the accident which has happened
since that has been the cause of my ruin.”
5- When Eustacia goes to a village festival in order to relieve the tedium of

her life, she meets Wildeve purely by chance and this leads to their dancing
together. She contemptuously describes herself as a furze cutter’s wife. Later
he escorts her on her homeward journey, but slips away at the sight of Clym.
6- Again it is purely by chance that Wildeve visits Eustacia at home exactly at

the moment Mrs. Yeobright knocks at the door; she has come hoping for a
reconciliation with the couple. Eustacia, however, in her confusion and fear at
being discovered with Wildeve, does not allow Mrs. Yeobright to enter the
house: heart-broken and feeling rejected by her son, she succumbs to heat
and snakebite on the walk home, and dies.
7-It is by sheer chance that Wildeve becomes the recipient of a legacy which
makes him rich, and this leads to the renewal of Eustacia’s love for him.
8-It is just a chance that Johnny repeats the dying words of Mrs. Yeobright,
exactly at the moment that Clym reaches the cottage. Thus he comes to know
the role played by Eustacia in Mrs Yeobright's death. This leads to the
separation of Clym and Eustacia after a violent quarrel.
9- It is just a chance that Clym's letter of reconciliation does not reach

Eustacia in time.
10- It is by chance the Charley, in order to please the despondent Eustacia,

thinks of lighting a bonfire. She had nothing to do with bonfire. Wildeve seeing
the fire comes to Eustacia and she plans to fly away from the Heath.
11- Finally, it so happens that on the night of Eustacia’s escape, the weather
assumes a menacing aspect. The night becomes dreadful because of rain and
storm.Eustacia seems to drown herself and Wildeve dies in the rescue
attempt. Thus Eustacia laments over her fortune in the words:
“How I have tried and tried to be a splendid woman, and how

destiny has been against me. I do not deserve my lot…I have been
injured and blighted and crushed by things beyond my control.”
Conclusion: Hardy certainly makes his story implausible by his excessive use
of chance and coincidence. He is intent to show that the stars in their courses
fight against the aspiring. The Return of the Native is certainly marred by an
exorbitant use of this device. Rightly does a critic say, “The plot of the novel
lacks the terrific and terrifying logic of cause and effect that marks
the plots of the greatest tragedies.”

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Role of Chance and Fate/Coincidence in The

Return of the Native :

While a character is certainly responsible to a large extent, chances and

Hardy shows a persistent and bitter preoccupation with the sorrow of

1- Johnny Nunsuch has overheard the conversation between Eustacia and

2- Just as Eustacia’s affection for Wildeve begins to wane, an exciting

3- By a sheer accident, Christian Cantle who is carrying Mrs. Yeobright’s

4- That Clym becomes semi-blind when he was hoping to launch his

5- When Eustacia goes to a village festival in order to relieve the tedium of

6- Again it is purely by chance that Wildeve visits Eustacia at home exactly at

9- It is just a chance that Clym's letter of reconciliation does not reach

10- It is by chance the Charley, in order to please the despondent Eustacia,

“How I have tried and tried to be a splendid woman, and how

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