Wednesday, October 1, 2014
The Son's Veto by Thomas Hardy
Welcome to your first blog post! In the comments section below, post your brief literary analysis on our virtual classroom. Keep you analysis to less than one page on a word document, then copy and paste the final product when it is complete. We have our thesis statements, and we have our support. Now compose an interesting analysis to share with the class. Have fun and be a risk-taker! Try to analyze the story in an original and thought provoking manner.
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According to Thomas Hardy, author of "The Son's Veto," written in the early 1890s, says that in the 19th and 20th century people would always marry out of practicality or interest rather than love, men would choose their wives based on their abilities and education; whatever was best for the family's social image. For them it didn't matter if the person was the love of their life of not, what mattered was how they were graded rendering to their level of class and how they were seen socially by others, marrying someone lower than them; would be considered as social suicide, they would be judged and disrespected by everyone around them, which was something unimaginable, this was too important for them to even consider it. In this short story the author describes Sophy as a helpless parlour-maid and constantly sympathizes her, expressing her misery throughout the story, he talks about how she would braid her hair every night but it would be all "demolished regularly at bedtime, after a single day of performance, seemed a reckless waste of successful fabrication" on page one, she is a defenselessness and innocent character. Sophy has a child that goes to a public school; she looses her first husband when she’s about nineteen years old. She works as a servant for a forty year old men who comes from a good family but has no children, since in this society she can't do any better due to her financial problems and her poor education. Sam Hobson a gardener of her acquaintance asked for her hand in marriage, so she goes to the parson and he asks her “Well – do you want to marry?” and her answer is “Not much. But it would be a home for me” on page three. Her respond shows that there is no love in this agreement, it is completely out of interest, and so she could provide a better lifestyle for her and her son. Mr. Taycott, a rich and respected man gets interested in Sophy, after she tells him about the gardener and that she doesn’t want to leave just yet. On page three, he starts to see Sophy more than just a maid, “he had been conscious of her soft presence in the room. What a kitten-like, flexuous, tender creature she was!” He thinks that the parlour-maid would be a great wife, since “ she was the only one of the servants with whom, he came into immediate and continuous relation” The author tells his readers that Mr. Tycott wouldn’t know what to do without her, she was very useful around the house, even if she was poor and didn’t have a great schooling when she was younger, this shows that he relays on her and that he needs her not because he loves her but because her abilities are valuable. Another reason to support my statement was the part where she twits her foot and she cant stand for a very long time. Sophy thought that she had to go because she was told that she couldn’t walk much or stand a long time which meant she wouldn’t be much use in the house anymore. But Mr. Tycott says “No, Sophy; lame or not lame, I cannot let you go. You must never leave me again!” This once again demonstrates that the parson varies upon Sophy, he would be lost and alone, the house would be a mess, since he cannot do any households alone and that it would all be a disaster. So he asks her to marry him, the servant agrees; the author once again tells us “Sophy did not exactly love him. But she had a respect for him, which almost amounted to veneration. Even if she had wished to get away from him she hardly dared refuse a personage so reverend and august in her eyes, and she assented forthwith to be his wife” It explains and proves that Sophy doesn’t have as much power and authority as the forty year old man so she cannot refuse. In conclusion even though Mr. Tycott knew that this was “social suicide” for him to marry a less educated woman compared to him, he saw all her skills and benefits of espousing a maid that he didn’t care about the rest; these are all the reasons why I believe that in the past people would marry out of practicality rather than love.
- Sarah Farinha 9A
According to Thomas Hardy in his short story “The Son’s Veto”, he states that there are two classes , the prosperous that chose to pursue the route to power and chose themselves over empathy and there's the impoverished ones that are selfless.
You may ask how empathy towards individuals have changed over the years? One may think that “rich people are just better and don't care for those who aren't as lucky.” Well, to be honest that statement is half correct because an editor named CHRIS BENDEREV , on www.npr.com , talks about in one of his topics titled “When power goes to your head it may shut your heart out.” Empathy is a big step in humanity and we are losing most of it as more diversity come in like religion, race, and more social classes. Back in the 1890’s when there were only two classes, the prosperous and impoverished, just like in the short story “The Sons Veto”. The son ,Randolph , wants to be one the most powerful men in England, the only problem is that his mother, Sophy, is less educated then him and his late father. Sophy was raised in a small, yet somewhat one of the better villages where her education wasn't as great as her son has now. Randolph is more educated and now is around the age to understand and correct his mothers spellings. In the continuing part of the story towards the end, the son admits to his mother that he is ashamed of her, he also vetoed her mother to be happy with Sam Hubson, a gardener in Gaymead village. It seems during these times, marriage wasn't about love, rather it was about practicality. The son vetoed his own mother out without showing empathy at all and said she has to die alone so that he can be one of the most powerful men in England. Sophy, doing anything for Randolph, dies alone at the end just to see her son happy. Not a lot has changed in the social classes, the prosperous still don’t see much of the impoverished. Having money and being more powerful is like a drug and most prosperous people are overdosed with this power. They see nothing but other rich people and money and ways to become more powerful. In a New York Times newspaper article by Daniel Goleman “Rich People just Care LESS”, the author states that some studies show that wealthy people can’t really communicate with each other or even middle or impoverished classes. middle classes understand both sides and impoverished understand a little of the wealthy, when the wealthy doesn't understand any. Less powerful are more understanding ,communicative , help society and each other than the wealthy are. If the wealthy needs something they get it done with money or by just hiring people. But when the middle and poor need help, they talk and ask for neighbors and others for help.Logic wise the middle class and poor are more social and powerful than the wealthy , but the wealthy is stinger in economy (which is the main thing that rules our lives.)
In conclusion , not much has changed in the world. People seem to show a little more empathy towards each other because of the power. In "The Son’s Veto", it was a little more harsh than our world today but it is somewhat closer to what societies still are. So why not try to make a change and show people empathy is a stronger than wealth or power?
9.B Sue H.
According to Thomas Hardy, author of The Son’s Veto, 19th century clean cut class divisions formed by many factors including historical events that distinguished the rich and the poor, clearly had an impact on they way people perceive their love and desires, both negatively and positively depending on many factors.
Social class and love are two major recurring elements in The Son’s Veto, two that strongly clash. An individual will look for someone who seems capable and adequate of starting a family or building upon a relationship, fulfilling their needs based on their own class.
The Son’s Veto begins by describing a woman named Sophy, in a wheelchair, accompanied by her son, Randolph. The boy irritably corrects his mother when she says something using poor grammar, “ ‘Has, dear mother - not have !’ exclaimed the public-school boy, with an impatient fastidiousness that was almost harsh.” (2) Sophy adopts the correction without resisting. This description reflects the son’s harshness towards Sophy because illiteracy and poor grammar demonstrates that she is of a lower class, and the son attempts to make good impressions towards others, and cannot show his love towards her.
Sophy does domestic work for a living; she works for a man named Mr. Twycott. Sam Hobson, a man of a similar class of Sophy’s, was romantically attracted to Sophy. Sophy announces to Mr. Twycott that she will be marrying Sam and leaving, even though she is not enthusiastic about marrying at this stage of her life, and is simply for practicality, as mentioned when Mr. Twycott asks if she wants to marry; “‘Not much. But it would be a home for me.’”(3). Conclusively, she doesn’t leave. Mr. Twycott falls ill, and Sophy takes care of him. One day, Sophy slips on the stairs and twists her foot, putting her in a wheelchair. Eventually, Mr. Twycott asks Sophy to marry him, only for reasons of practicality. Sophy is lower class whilst Mr. Twycott is of a high class. Nevertheless, Mr. Twycott still marries her because Sophy knows his needs, and can meet them, not in a romantic way, but practically. Mr. Twycott is quite manipulative towards Sophy, marrying for the benefits, not love. It is backed up in the text - “Mr Twycott knew perfectly well that he had committed social suicide by this step, despite Sophy’s spotless character…” (4) It suggests that he would not have married Sophy if she didn’t meet his practical needs. Gender roles in the 19th century were apparent, and this story reflects how men could’ve nonchalantly married a woman for all his needs.
After some time, Sophy becomes a widow. Sam Hobson appears once again, and asks Sophy to marry him. She is filled with joy, yet sorrow. It suggests that Sophy felt more certain about marrying Mr. Twycott because of his hierarchy - she’d be financially stable and of a higher class, whereas with Sam Hobson, who was of a lower class, she might’ve gone through more turmoil. Sophy announces to her son that she would wed once more, and he says that he “hoped his stepfather would be a gentleman” (9). With hesitation, Sophy replies; “‘Not what you call a gentleman.’… ‘He’ll be as much as I was before I knew your father.’” (9) The son bitterly screams “‘I am ashamed of you! It will ruin me! A miserable boor!…It will degrade me in the eyes of all the gentlemen of England!’” (10) The son is quite manipulative and egotistic, showing his true colors. He knows that it will drag his social class down. It’s this instance where social class impacts love the greatest; the son doesn’t show love towards his mother, because he’s more involved social class, and believes if Sophy married Sam, he would be “degraded in the eyes of all the gentlemen of England.” (10) Class, in the son’s eyes, should determine whether you love someone or not. Sophy doesn’t marry Sam, and is left feeling bitter, and lives a blue life. Overall, as the story reflects, 19th century social class had a major impact on the way love was perceived, as it either made it easier to love, or put a barrier in the way.
How Does the Class Affect the Marriage Between People In Society?
In the short story “The Son’s Veto” by Thomas Hardy written in the year of 1894, social class or financial class does affect marriage severely since society implies that humankind must marry a person the same class otherwise you will not gain up the so-called “Social Ladder” and you therefore also won’t “fit” in the current society.
One quote said by Randolph which is Sophy’s son from The Son’s Veto supports my statement which is: “I am ashamed of you! It will ruin me! A miserable boor! A chur! A clown! It will degrade me in the eyes of all the gentlemen of England!” Randolph is miserably ashamed of his own mother Sophy wanting to marry a middle classed man named Sam. Randolph desires his mother to marry a rich man with fairly high social status in society. This fact represents that he doesn’t care about his mother’s feelings at all. Randolph does not want his own mother to make him appear bad in the face of other people within the society. Randolph didn’t want to look at Sophy’s point of view only at himself. Randolph in general is careless and selfish towards his own mother; he simply cares about himself. The second quote said that shows financial class affects marriage and love is this quote said once again by Randolph: “Has, dear mother- not have! Exclaimed the public-school boy, with an impatient fastidiousness that was almost harsh. Surely you know that by this time!” This quote represents that Randolph a higher classed man is in control of her own mother Sophy which is a lower classed woman. That makes the reader sense sympathy for Sophy which is what the writer, Thomas Hardy is trying to do. Sophy doesn’t have friends or is loved that much because of her “poor background and low class” and the fact that she is a maid. Randolph in fact also controls his own mother by choosing who she is required to marry, which genuinely means she can’t choose who the marry herself. This also represents that higher class people control and judge lower classed people in the society. As I said before, Sophy wanted to marry middle classed man named Sam which Randolph wasn’t happy about. The last quote I found was: “They promenaded under lurid July sun, this pair, so wide apart, yet so near, and Sophy saw the large proportion of boys like her own, in their broad white collars and dwarf hats, and all around the rows of great coaches sat the proud fathers and mothers; but never a poor mother like her. If Randolph had not appertained to these, had not centered all his interest in them, had not cared exclusively for the class they belonged to, how happy things have been!” This quote represents that if Randolph didn’t care about class people belonged to, life would’ve been way better. One part of the quote that shows that class affects marriage is when it says: “And all around the rows of great coaches sat the proud fathers and mothers; but never a poor mother like her.” It means the mothers and fathers of the high classed kids are proud and the lower classed mother of a higher classed son isn’t proud. Thomas Hardy here is trying to make the reader feel sympathy for Sophy like through the whole entire story.
In conclusion, “The Sons Veto” shows that class does affect marriage in society. Class chooses who should love and marry. Higher classed people judges and controls lower classed people.
Erden Karso 9B
Power and class in “The Son’s Veto”
In the short story “The Son’s Veto” by Thomas Hardy, the author implies that in all communities, there exists an unfair distribution of power, where the person with the highest class, highest education, or highest income will have more social power than someone who is not as rich as they.
In the beginning of the story, we can already assume that Sophy’s son has a certain power over her, because of the way he talks to her. He is obviously more educated since he corrected his mother’s grammar in a fairly disrespectful way; “has dear mother, not have! Surely you know that by this time!” The author even specifies that he speaks with an ‘impatient fastidiousness that was almost harsh’, as if he was ashamed of her. Sophy doesn’t say anything about her sons rude behavior; maybe because she feels inferior to him, or embarrassed of her poor education. From this short scene, we can see that Thomas Hardy is saying that because Sophy’s son is more educated than her, he has power of her, allowing him to correct Sophy’s grammar in a way that makes her feel ashamed and embarrassed.
Near the end of the story, Sophy asked her son if he would be okay with it if she married a man who is just like Sophy, with poor education and not much money. This is already unusual, because a mother shouldn’t have to ask for her son’s blessing to marry a man she truly wants to be with. In addition to this, the son doesn’t let his mother marry this man, because he is poor, and it would ruin his reputation as a high-class gentleman if his mother married somebody from the lower-class range. On page 55, her son says “I am ashamed of you! It will ruin me! A miserable boor! A churl! A clown! It will degrade me in the eyes of all the gentlemen of England!” This is incredibly selfish of the son to say to his mother, but once again, his mother doesn’t comment on it.
Sophy listens to her son, and doesn’t marry the man, even though she truly wanted to. This is a clear example of when class means power, because even though Sophy is his mother, her son has the power to say no to and make decisions for her, only because he has a higher education, and he is said to be of higher class, which gives him the power to tell his mom what to do and what not to do, for his own well-being, instead of making sure his mom is happy.
-Emilia Pauwels
According to the short story "The Son's Veto" by Thomas Hardy, people always worry about how the society views their choice of marriage, allowing them to be manipulated into doing undesired things.
The 19th century is simply a time period where people did not do things to please themselves, but to please others; in this case, marriage. The story gives us a clear image of the kind of lifestyle a high and low class would have. The wealthy, only care about things that are beneficial to them; Mr. Twycott only asked Sophy to marry him because she was capable of doing housework very well and could help him, as she was previously a maid. Also, her son manipulates her into doing whatever helps him transfer from a low class to a high class, in order to be a gentleman of England. The people of a low class like Sophy, show less concern towards what they want and make decisions according to what others desire.
The title of the story itself, shows us how the son's word has a strong impact on his mother's decisions. We also understand that the son, Randolph, only wishes to be a wealthy and titled man and does not want his mother to interfere or come in the way of what he desires. However, the mother, Sophy, only wants what is best for her son and acts in ways that please him. Her husband, Mr. Twycott, was a wealthy man who was capable of helping Randolph accomplish all of his wishes; therefore, after his death, Sophy and her son slowly drifted apart.
When the gardener, Sam Hobson, asked Sophy's hand in marriage, she instantly thought about what her son would think, rather than if she loves him or not. Although, asking for his opinion was not the best option. When she proposed the idea of marriage, he immediately asked if the man was a gentleman, "not what you call a gentleman," (Page 9) she replied. That was all he had to hear before he decided that the marriage was not going to happen. "I am ashamed of you! It will ruin me! A miserable boor! A churl! A clown! It will degrade me in the eyes of all the gentlemen of England!" (page 10) he announced, knowing that the marriage would cause the society to view him as a person of a lower class. At this point, it did not matter if she loved the man or not, she was manipulated into thinking that her son was right.
In conclusion, Randolph, only wanted to get what he desired and did not care about what Sophy wanted; whereas, Sophy, did not care about what she desired, but what her son did. This way, the son had complete control over his mother and all the decisions she made. The mother on the other hand, put her son before herself and easily agreed to everything she was told by him, causing her to be manipulated into doing whatever he wished.
-Rita Mitri 9A
Manipulation with education
By: Strahinja Ilic 9B
In the words of the author of “The Son’s Veto”, Thomas Hardy, manipulation is a skill, which people in the 19th century as well as today learnt from when they were educated or as many people say, manipulated in order for them to later do the same in a never ending cycle so that society can be controlled without it even knowing.
The story presents the theme of manipulation through education slightly during the opening of the story but the theme shines when the son shows his true colors as an adult controlling every action of his mother. This exact sentence is analogous to the one shown in the short story, perfectly supporting the point of manipulation, and it goes “She was left in no control over anything”. From that point on in the story, the theme becomes increasingly visible, showing how the son is swiftly losing his sympathy from when he was a child and not educated as much, as shown in this excerpt “Somehow, her boy, with his aristocratic school-knowledge, his grammars and his aversions, was losing those wide infantine sympathies”. This excerpt not only shows that he was losing his sympathies with no reason but majorly due to his increased knowledge he possessed and the ideas that the knowledge he has and has received made him think of the world and some of the people in it, including his mother. This only makes the case of manipulation being a result of education stronger since this indicates that throughout education people can have some ideas that are false, planted in their brains. However, manipulation is exceled in the son at this specific time when he is in university because at that age people are deciding upon their opinions and train of thought so it’s the perfect time for the government and system to plant and create opinions upon which the people should choose only what the system desires them to do, so that they can be controlled and the previously mentioned system doesn’t collapse or gets changed. Basically the idea is to set up a base, on which the people not knowingly follow, just like the son in the story. Among the many ideas that are going through the minds of people of the son’s age and other people is concerning their social status and reputation. That part of the mindset of people is also tampered with especially among people with higher-class education. In that class, in the 19th century and sometimes today it’s not allowed for a high-class person to rendezvous with low-class people since it might endanger their social status and reputation. This is sadly shown when the son scrutinizes his mother and offends her in numerous ways because of her own status and her wish to marry another person of her status which would ruin him in his word because that was not accepted at the time. The quote goes as follows “ I am ashamed of you! It will ruin me! A miserable boar! A churl! A clown! It will degrade me in the eyes of all the gentlemen of England! “. After this point in the story, the author himself expresses how the education the son has made him insensitive, as you can see here “ His education had by this time sufficiently ousted his humanity to keep him quite firm…” The final straw in displaying the horrific power of manipulation through education came when the mother decided to not marry the man she loved because of the terrible words of her son and his dead serious look at her innocent face. Because of that power he had over her with the help of manipulation the mother was sentenced to die alone and miserable for the son to be satisfied.
This whole story just shows how education helps in creating some of the monsters that live in our world just with the power and skill they get with it. Moreover, it presents how some people have to suffer in the hands of those people and finally, the control that governments and systems have over people that they even don’t know of.
According to the short story, “The Son’s Veto”, written by Thomas Hardy during the late 19th Century, social class determined who you were going to get married with. This affected the futures, and perceptions of people who were involved with the marriage.
In this story we can see how one marriage can affect multiple peoples’ lives and perceptions. The main example would be how it affected Sophys life. She was a simple working woman before making the crucial decision to marry Mr.Twycott purely because of his social class. She had turned down a man who she could love for a man who was doing better financially and living a wealthier life, not meaning happier. After Mr.Twycotts death she had no one but her son, which she could hardly consider as a son, saying, “I almost fancy when I am miserable sometimes that he is not really mine, but one I hold in trust for my late husband”. This shows how disconnected she was from the family of the man that she was marrying. She had said this to a dear friend, Sam, the former gardener at Mr.Twycott’s house. She had spent a full day with him and realized how much happy and how much more meaning her life would have if she just would just marry Sam. This want is also later denied for Sophy by her son, Randolph. Randolph was an undergraduate and was going to one of the best public schools in London. He judges purely from social class and does everything to survive in the higher ranks of society. He was much like his father, always worrying about who he and his family spent their time with, worrying that other people would judge him. When Sophy, his mother, offered up the idea of marrying Sam, man who had big dreams to do something that could offer more than what he was doing at that moment in time, he cried and later on backlashed at Sophy saying “I am ashamed of you! It will ruin me! A miserable boor! A churl! A clown! It will degrade me in the eyes of all the gentleman of England!”. She and Sam continued seeing each other secretly. Sophy mentioned this again a few times but, in Randolph’s opinion he owed it to his father not to let this happen. Randolph was blinded by what education and the high class had done to him that he would not show any care for his mother’s happiness. He was soon old enough to leave the house and Sophy still was by herself in her house, wondering “Why mayn’t I say to Sam that I’ll marry him?”. Four years later Sophy ends her life wondering the same thing over and over again. Sam finds out about the news in Fruiters shop. This shows the power of social class. Sophy only married Mr.Twycott because of his class in the public, thinking that that would be the better life for her and would keep her happy in the long run. She did not marry Sam, a man that she purely loved, and that could truly be happy with, because of her own sons fear of being judged, humiliated and dishonored by the other high class people of England, which he had spent many years with during school which turned him into a man exactly like his father. Sophy chose class over marriage. Randolph chose class over his mother’s happiness. This show’s much class affected people’s perceptions and future’s. This story gets you to wonder, what if Sophy never married Mr.Twycott? What if she went against her son? It also makes you think, “Does this still go on in our society today?”
-Ben Welch 9B
As implied in “The Son’s Veto” by author Thomas Hardy, class has a considerable impact on the power dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Individuals react differently to each other depending on their corresponding classes. The higher class someone was, the more influence, or power, they would have over their lower class counterparts. This was especially distinct in the 19th century when a person would be on the extreme of the spectrum; either the elite upper class or the menial lower class.
In Hardy’s writing, this theme is exhibited through the character of “Sophy”, who started off as a “parlour maid in the parson’s house,” (Hardy 47); essentially a symbol of the working class. She is proposed to by Sam (a farmer) and responds by saying, “How can you be so fast! I’ve never even said I liked ‘ee,” (Hardy 48). This displays how because they are of the same (lower) class, they have the equal power in their relationship, and she has the right to be skeptical of his advances. Yet, when the pastor- Mr. Twycott- proposes to her not much later, her answer is; “she hardly dared refuse a parsonage so reverend and august in her eyes, and she assented forthwith to be his wife,” (Hardy 49). She reacts completely differently to the same proposition because it is put forth by a man who holds a higher class than she, who is not her peer, but her superior, and therefore he maintains power over her. He is dominant. However, as can be observed in the previous quote, it is not that he has forced himself upon her- she herself sees him as someone more dignified, or noble than her. Even when Twycott passes away, “she was left with no control over anything that had been her husband’s,” (Hardy 50) in spite of the fact that she was his wife. Again, she has no power in this situation.
A similar situation transpires between Sophy and her son, who is of a higher social standing than her, having being raised in an upper-class household and educated with other children of high society. The typical power dynamic between parent and offspring is that the parent assumes the authoritative role, while the child is the subordinate. However, as a consequence of her son’s “higher class”, he has the power in their relationship. He in fact corrects and disciplines her- “’Has, dear mother – not have!’ exclaimed the public- school boy…. His mother hastily adopted the correction,” This unusual balance of power between them is again made apparent when Sophy – being a widow- reveals her intentions to remarry (to Sam, the initially jilted farmer). The son is distraught as he is afraid that because Sam is low-class, his own reputation, his own power, and his own class will be diminished if his mother remarries. This causes an outburst, in which he says, “I am ashamed of you! It will ruin me…. It will degrade me in the eyes of all the gentlemen of England!” (Hardy 55). Sophy claims she will “struggle against it,” indicating that her son has the influence to wholly control her life and future. Once more, she identifies someone as more high class than her, and discerns that they should have power over her.
Though relationships outside the immediate family are not the focal point of this story, one reference is made to her lower class being a hindrance to establishing friendships. Even though she had been married for fourteen years, her grammar was seemingly not up to par, “which did not beget a respect for her among the few acquaintances she made,” (Hardy 49). Respect requires a particular degree of power, yet, because of her obvious association with the lower class, she is unable to gain this power, and by extension, is unable to form a lasting relationship.
In conclusion, class does unarguably influence power, from how we perceive others (Sophy sees the vicar as someone she so powerful that she cannot refuse him) to how we perceive ourselves (Sophy does not believe she has the authority to cross her son).
According to Thomas Hardy, in the story of, “The Son’s Veto” he suggests class took over the power of love because the way high class society interacted with the lower class society and the fact that they didn’t show any respect to them forced the lower classes to disregard true love in favor of money and social climbing because they want to be like the upper class and gain respect.
The story begins describing a woman’s hair, which would regularly be demolished at bedtime, her name was Sophy. She is described in the second paragraph as a “poor thing.”(1) This description demonstrates Sophy was trying to look good, trying to look like a lady, but she struggled to do so, but why would she want to look high classed, why would she care? She wanted respect and be just like a high class women had to be. The author also says; “She was not so handsome as the people behind her had supposed, and even hoped – they did not know why.”(1) The men thought she had to be handsome, just because she looked like if she was high class, but unfortunately for them she wasn’t, which shows she failed to be lady alike in public again.
After a concert for charity, his son sharply corrects her inaccurate grammar: “Has, dear mother – not have! Exclaimed the public-school boy, with and impatient fastidiousness that was almost harsh.” “His mother adopted the correction, and did not resent his making of it” (2) She knew she couldn’t complain, the boy was well educated. The boy hated these grammar mistakes of her mother, “to feel irritated at their existence.”(4) He evidences how much he cares for her mother to be high classed because poor grammar demonstrates she is not well educated. By using an almost harsh tone he doesn’t show there is too much love between them. The boy hadn’t even went to his mother’s native village.
When she was a parlor-maid, she was a perfect example of a lowered class person, none of the maids would relate to the parson, owner of the house, high class man called Mr Twycott. One day she fell and got injured so she couldn’t work for him anymore and shockingly he asked her to marry him, she said yes even though she didn’t really love him, “Sophy did not exactly love him”(4), this marriage would mean a good house, better education, a good life for her children, and an essential high class for her. However, why would Mr. Twycott commit this social suicide? For practicality, not love. This marriage had changed her, but was it enough for his now well-educated son? According to Thomas Hardy this wasn’t. Her husband had died. Her son started to drift further apart from her and interacted more and more with the higher class people: “He was reducing their compass to a population of a few thousand wealthy people.”(5) Which meant “He drifted further and further away from her”(5) He preferred to be around well educated, high class people than her mother, this shows no love from him to her mother.
Later in the story she finds Sam, her old friend. He asks her to go back which she really wanted but she had a son who probably wouldn’t let her. When she was complaining that she had a son she exclaimed he didn’t love her, but her dead father and he was so well educated she didn’t feel dignified to be his mother. She decided she had to ask her son of these desirable act to marry Sam, a low-class man and his son’s response really demonstrated the power class had over love: He started crying and said: “I am ashamed of you! It will ruin me! A miserable boor! A churl! A clown! I twill degrade me in the eyes of all the gentleman of England!”(10) Does this show any love? She preferred to be a high class person than her mother to be happy. Years passed and he did not accept. She even swore to him: “There bade her kneel and swear that she would not wed Samuel Hobson without his consent” (10) but he answered, “I owe this to my father.”(10) He showed no love to her and at the end she ended up dying without marrying Sam, living a sad, undesirable life and so according to Thomas Hardy, Class was the shark and love was the little unnoticeable fish.
By Roger
According to Thomas Hardy, author of ''The Son's Veto''. It shows us how class and education matters in the 19th and 20th century. You had to have a very high social class to be accepted
In the 19 hundreds they forced you to get married with someone that has a good class. If you were in love with someone and they made you really happy but they had a bad class you usually wouldn't get married to them because of their class. It didn't matter if they made you happy it mattered if they had a high class in social and political ways. The person you got married with had to be respected and welcomed by everyone. In 'The Son's Veto'' Sophie who is the main character falls in love with a guy that is a gardener. A gardener is a low class. They fall in love and the gardener proposes to Sophie. Sophie says no to the gardener and leaves. A few weeks later she meets up with a very rich guy with a very high class. He proposes to Sophie and Sophie says yes because of his high class. They get married because of his high class. If the guy Sophie got engaged with was poor and had a low social class she wouldn’t get married. So the couple eventually has a child. After they have the child Mr.Twoycot dies. The only people in Sophie’s family that are left is her and her child. Years pass and she falls down stairs and she gets crimpled. Her son who is now at a very high class going to an amazing school in London. Her son keeps making fun of her calling her rude names and calling her a disgrace for England and doesn’t appreciate her because she is crimpled. Then Sophie meets the gardener once again. They fall in love and start going out on dates. She is happy for the first time in a long time. The gardener proposes to Sophie and she is very excited but she says to herself. ‘’I have to get my sons approval first’’. She goes to her son and tells her about the marriage. The son gets very angry and calls her a disgrace to the family and doesn’t let her get married. Sophie is left in her room depressed and angry and then she dies without and happiness in her life. ‘’The Son’s Veto’’ Is a very good example of class and social acceptance. In my opinion you should be let to get married to whoever you want. It doesn’t matter if you’re very rich and loved by everyone or if you very poor and not a lot of people like you. I think that this problem still does go on a bit but not as much as it used to. Like sometimes if there is a very rich guy and an average girl the girl might date the guy and get married just for his money and social acceptance. Will this ever stop?
English language/literature
In conclusion it clearly states that in the early 1900s class and wealth was a very improtant attribute to have
Matthew 9A
AKA SALAMANDER MAN
In the short story ‘’The Son’s Veto” Thomas Hardy states that class and marriage would highly affect each other in 1894. People couldn’t marry someone only because they love that person, what they desired was invalid since class was the only thing that mattered. Therefore, when people were getting married they had to choose their partners based on their classes. As a higher class, marrying a lower class person would be “social suicide” states Hardy. When Mr. Twycott –an old, higher class man- married Sophy –a young, defenseless and non-educated lower class women- he essentially degraded himself. Mr. Twycott married Sophy in order to have an offspring, in addition, he was forty years old and she knew how to take care of him, it would be practical. Randolph, their only son, grew up as a higher class man and was well-educated. He was already more educated than his mother that he could “perceive deficiencies in his mother and not only see them but feel irritated by their existence”. After Mr. Twycott died, Sam, a lower class gardener, desired to marry Sophy. However, this marriage would “degrade Randolph in the eyes of all the gentleman in England” so he, as a higher class, with the power his social statue gave him, vetoed his mother, a lower class who would not defense herself against his sons command once again because of her social statue. Randolph would not let her mother marry a lower class man like Sam, it would affect him badly. These are some of the reasons why I think marriage and class are dependent with each other. Marrying a person from a different class could degrade or upgrade one. Therefore they had to consider their and their partners classes before their feelings in order to have a healthy marriage.
How Power Affects Love Andrew Altıntaş
In the short story “The Sons Veto” by Thomas Hardy, according to the author, people who have the highest amount of social or economic power would be able to indoctrinate other people to accept the power of these elite individuals and admire them to a certain degree. Through the years, certain ideologies have indoctrinated certain people to receive a higher authority. A really good example of this is religious groups. Certain religions will try to indoctrinate other people in order to have those people give them a higher authoritarian’s position in their certain society. Another good example of this is how kings and rulers of countries also indoctrinated certain people. A very obvious example of this in the story “The Sons Veto” is when the main character would not marry her lower-class childhood friend after he asked her to, but when the older vicar who owned the house that she worked in asked her to marry him, she said that she would, partially because he was a powerful human being. In the text, it says “Sophy did not exactly love him, but she had a deep respect for him that almost amounted to veneration”. The text also says “She hardly dared refuse a personage so reverend and august in her eyes”. These quotes from the text tell you that economic or social power can affect the idea of love because Sophy finds herself in a position where she has a kind of adoration for the vicar and is afraid to refuse him of anything due to the fact that he is a very powerful person, meaning that in the story, the way that power can affect love is present quite frequently. This idea of power affecting love continues around us in the modern world today. Although not as common as in the past, many people today still do not marry people they love who are poor or marry people just because they are economically well-off. Some families in many countries encourage their kids to marry into the richest or most powerful family that they can and will often choose who their child can marry based on how rich and powerful the family is. In the story, this idea of family pressure went even further when Sophy’s son would not allow her to marry her lower-class childhood friend because he said that it would ruin him to be the son of a poor man, again giving you the idea that power can control love because when the boy’s mother wanted to marry a man with a low social status, her son started to feel ashamed of her and started to love her less because of her trying to make, what he considered, an unwise decision. Personally, I feel that people should consider both factors when getting married. Obviously, one must have enough money to survive, but if I loved someone who was poorer than me, I wouldn’t refuse to marry them simply because they have a low social or economic status. The reason I feel this way is because I don’t believe you can be really happy in a marriage with someone you married just for their money or social position if you don’t love them at all.
In the short story “The Son’s Veto” by Thomas Hardy, according to the author social relations and class affect family structures because if one member of the family is from the high class and another is from a low class it will cause the high class member to be ashamed of having a member of the lower class in their family.
In the story we see that the mother is uneducated and has a shameful past of working as a maid while her son is an educated gentleman from the higher class. This causes the son to always correct his mother whenever she says something grammatically incorrect like on page 2 when the mother says “He have been…” instead of has been and then the son says “Has, dear mother-not have!” and he exclaims it with an impatient fastidiousness that is almost harsh as it says on page 2. It shows us how the son is frustrated with his mother’s level of education. Further in the story we see that the son is ashamed of his mother’s background and class. On page 5 it says “After her husband’s death she soon lost the little artificial tastes she had acquired from him, and became –in her son’s eyes- a mother whose mistakes and origin it was his painful lot as a gentleman to blush for” which shows us how the son is from the higher class and is a gentleman and he is ashamed of his mother’s past and mistakes but he became more ashamed mostly after her husband’s death because he was of the higher class. Since the husband was of a higher class, the mother’s class wasn’t much of a big deal but now that she is alone it is something the son has to carry. On page 7 it says “No, I am not a lady.” she said sadly, “I never shall be. But he’s a gentleman, and that makes it-O how difficult for me!” this shows us that the mother knows she’s not of the same class as her son and she seems quite ashamed of the situation herself.
In conclusion, in the story you see how the son’s and the mother’s classes and education levels affect their relationship and the son’s behavior towards his uneducated mother.
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