The Return of the Native Group

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wddd
wddd

What is the significance of the fire in Return of the Native?

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Posted by wddd on Tuesday May 19, 2009 at 4:48 AM and tagged with fire, significance.

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  1. kc4u Teacher
    College - Senior

    eNotes Editor

    The 5th of November bonfires as lit up by the Egdon rustics represent a celebratory, ritual fire which is very different from Eustacia's fire seeking the attention of Damon Wildeve, her fire being a fire symbolising the passion of love in her. Later at a crucial juncture in the novel, Charley lits up a fire to enthuse eustacia without her consent and outside her knowledge, and the fire is wrongly understood as a signal for new love from Eustacia to which Wildeve is, as it were, asked to respond. Wildeve's response enhances the plot towards its tragic end. Thus the fire serves differently as a potent symbolism in Hardy's novel.

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    http://www.enotes.com/return-native

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    Posted by kc4u on Thursday September 24, 2009 at 7:33 AM