“The Whithered Arm” is a short story by Thomas Hardy. It was first published in 1888. It follows the life of Rhoda, who has an illegitimate child with Farmer Lodge. However, instead of marrying Rhoda, Lodge marries a different woman, Gertrude. This deeply upsets Rhoda. In a dream, she grabs Gertrude’s arm in an act of self-defense. However, the next day Gertrude announces that she indeed feels a pain in her arm. Her arms continues to whither, which explains the title of the short story. It is a fictional short story, written in the third person. The narrator is not an omniscient narrator, but an objective narrator.

The main theme of the story is the supernatural: Rhoda’s dream and the effect on Gertrude’s arm are clearly linked to the supernatural. This is theme is further supported by the fact that the two women proceed to seek the help of a conjurer, rather than a medical doctor. Furthermore, the conjurer tells Gertrude that the only way to heal her arm is by touching the neck of a hanged person. This, again, is clearly linked to the theme of the supernatural.

A further theme in this short story is jealousy. All the incidents in the story happen because Rhoda feels so jealous of Gertrude. This is because Lodge did not marry Rhoda despite the fact that Rhoda had fallen pregnant. The misfortune Gertrude is suffering is purely caused by Rhoda’s jealousy.