Daily we as humans face an insurmountable amount of evil in which we usually stumble or fall to. It keeps us from walking perfect lives and becoming blameless and perfect people. It is thrown at us in many different ways often as society. As hard as we may try, we continue to fall back to our primitive, selfish nature. The author of the book, The Great Gatsby, states in the last line of his work: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." In the novel, Tess of the d'Ubervilles, Thomas Hardy agrees with F. Scott Fitzgerald as he unquestionably presents his cynical views of the progression of humankind from primal inclinations.The novel's heroine, Tess Durbeyville, further proves Hardy and Fitzgerald's views of man's undeniable savagery and inability to do anything but recess further into the past. Tess, like many of us, is unable to see numerous threats to her wellbeing thus continually keeping her from success. Through his character, Tess, Hardy makes his opinion known vocally in a paragraph in his novel:"As Tess's own people down in those retreats are never tired of saying among each other in their fatalistic way: 'It was to be.' There lay the pity of it." (91)This statement only strengthens and adds truth to Fitzgerald's quote in which he displays the idea that in humanity we only recede further into savagery without ever progressing in morals or ideas. Alec hunts Tess and she never stands for herself. She continually lets him get away with stealing a "cursory kiss" (88) and "clasping his arm round her" (87) without expressing any further negative. So into the rut we fall: Predator stalks his prey while the prey stands helplessly by. Unable to foresee the danger in Alec's alleged friendship, Tess is helplessly devoured and again another person is lost in the "current". After being viscously attacked, Tess is unable to keep from falling victim to other dangers. Finally escaping he...
