Francis Troy And Gabriel Oak Are Two

Very Different Characters Essay, Research Paper

Far From

the Madding Crowd Compare the

Characters Gabriel Oak and Francis TroyIn my essay I am going to compare Gabriel Oak and

Francis Troy.? I will consider their

relationships with Fanny and Bathsheba, and their skill as farmers. Francis Troy and Gabriel Oak

are two very different characters.?

Francis Troy is outgoing, flirtatious and very handsome.? While Gabriel Oak is simple, shy and not

ugly, but pleasant looking. ????? I

prefer Gabriel to Troy because although Troy is dashing and charming, you can

tell that there is something odd about him.?

Thomas Hardy says in the book, " And Troys deformities lay deep

down from a womans vision, whilst his embellishments were upon the very

surface; thus contrasting with homely Oak, whose defects were patent to the

blindest, and whose virtues were as metals in a mine."? He was very unfair to Fanny when she made

the mistake of going to the wrong church when they were due to get married.

When she apologised he did not care.?

This was the girl he was going to marry and he left her, just because

she was half an hour late for the wedding.?

That was a big mistake he made.? ?????? Also,

when Fanny came to visit Troy at the barracks she hit the window hoping someone

would open it.? Someone opened the

window and said, Who’s there."? She

asked if it was Sergeant Troy who was there and he said, "Yes."? Troy said, "What girl are you,"

because of all the prostitutes that loiter around the barracks as they got a

great deal of attention he thought it was another prostitute wanting some quick

cash by having sexual intercourse with him, and he obviously had given them

some money before. Then Fanny said, "Yes, so am I.? And Frank, when will it be?" ??????????? "What?"? Then fanny said,???????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????

"That you promised."?

Troy went on to say,???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????"I

don’t quite recollect."? He had

basically forgotten the promise that he made to Fanny when he last saw her.? That they would marry, some day.? He made it thinking that he would never see

her again because he got her pregnant and it was disgraceful if you were

pregnant and not married.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

He also treated Bathsheba very badly when he lost interest in her and

started to lose all her money on the races.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

He was also very unkind to Farmer Boldwood.? Farmer Boldwood gave Troy money for the wedding when no one knew

that they were married already, Troy led him along being very nice to him then

saying, very abruptly, that he was already married to her.? This broke Farmer Boldwoods heart even

more.? He was using Bathsheba because

when Troy saw Fanny again he cared for her much more and wanted to help her but

didn’t want Bathsheba to know that he knew her so she told her to meet her the

next day and he never turned up.? Troy was

always drinking heavily and when he and Bathsheba had a celebration of their

wedding, at the end of the night he told all the women to go to bed while the

men stayed and drank themselves stupid.?

While they were getting drunk there was a storm brewing and the ricks

were left uncovered so if it rained all the hay would have got wet and she

would of lost a lot of money.? Troy

didn’t even care about the storm because he was to drunk to even think, so it

was left to Gabriel to save the day, once again by covering the ricks with

tarpaulin.? You can tell how grateful

she was to Gabriel after the storm by her saying," Gabriel, you are kinder

than I deserve!? I will stay and help

you yet."??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????? Troy

was in some ways a lovely man.? Every

year he would come to the farm and help with the harvest.? He was very charming, the woman always liked

him.? He was a great swordsman and he

lured Bathsheba in with his fancy sword work.?

In the novel, Troy says to Bathsheba when showing off how skilled he was

with a sword, "They are rather deathy.?

Now I’ll be more interesting, and let you see some loose play-giving all

the cuts and points, infantry and cavalry, quicker than lightning, and as

promiscuously – with just enough rule to relegate instinct and yet not to

fetter it.? You are my antagonist, with

this difference from real warfare, that I shall miss you every time by one

hairs breadth, or perhaps two.? Mind you

don’t flinch, whatever you do."?

That was his type of flirting.?

He is showing off that he can only miss Bathsheba by a hairs

breadth.? This makes her feel threatened

and makes Troy feel in control over her.?

This shows he is very chauvinistic by wanting to be in control. Although

that he was charming he never let people know what he was really like. ??????

Gabriel was a very pleasant man; he was always so kind to Bathsheba and

was always there for her when she needed him.?

He was a very patient man.? When

Boldwood and Troy were queuing up to marry Bathsheba he just let it

happen.? He didn’t do anything in a rage

of anger.? Even though, deep down he

wanted to marry her.? He was always

there for anyone if they didn’t have anyone else to turn to.? He was a very modest man, when he asked

Bathsheba to marry him.? He admitted he

was a simple man.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

He was going to leave the farm because he had an argument with

Bathsheba, but when he got a note saying from Bathsheba saying, "Don’t

desert me," he can’t ignore her as his feelings got in the way of his

principles.? She would lose all her

money if her sheep had not have been cured.?

This shows that he would do anything for Bathsheba. ?The sheep got into a field with clover in it

and if the sheep ate too much clover they would bloat up and if they were not

relieved of that pressure they could have died. ??????

Gabriel was kind because when he saw Fanny in Weatherbury on the

streets, he gave her a shilling, even though he did not know her, but she

looked in a bad way so he spared the change for her.? She was very grateful for this offering and accepted it.? In the novel Gabriel says, " Since you

are not very well off, perhaps you would accept this trifle from me.? It is only a shilling, but it is all I have

to spare."? Gabriel helped Farmer

Boldwood with the running of his farm.?

He had to work in two farms which was quite demanding but he managed

because he didn’t want to upset anyone which shows how caring he is.? On the day of Fanny Robin’s funeral when the

man who was suppose to bring the coffin to the church stopped off at a pub and

got completely intoxicated with alcohol.?

Gabriel Oak caught him and had to take the coffin to the church.? He saw on the coffin the words

written," Fanny Robin and Child."?

Gabriel realised that the child’s father was Sergeant Troy, he was very

annoyed by this.? But still he rubbed

out the bit saying, "Child" on it, because he didn’t want Bathsheba

to get hurt, that is all he cared about.?

Even though it meant by doing this that that he would be lying to her

and maybe squandering the only chance he had to break her and Troy up.? This shows that Gabriel is a caring man who

does not want to hurt people’s feelings.?

This tells us that Troy is a man who does not care who he sleeps with

and only has relationships with woman he is physically attracted to. ??????

Gabriel was a much better Farmer than Troy, mainly because Gabriel’s job

was a farmer and Troy was a soldier. Troy had done more farming when he was a

young boy.?? ?This concludes that Gabriel Oak is a far more pleasant man than

Francis Troy and that Gabriel is more of a down to earth type of person than

Francis.? Troy is more of a exciting,

bouncy type of personality which sounds good but not when you don’t have your

heart in the right place. Gabriel is kinder to Bathsheba than Troy is to her

and is generally nicer to everyone else than Troy.? Gabriel is not two faced like Troy is.