The Warden-by Anthony Trollope

Some said that this story is based on the real event happen in St Cross Hispital. But Trollope denied this, saying in the beginning of story that :

Were we to name Wells or Salishbury, Exeter, Hereford or Gloueester, it might be presumed that something personal was intended…We are anxious that no personality may be suspected.

But I doubt this. It seems Trollope tried to avoid troubles by claiming that the story is not real. But the harder he tried to deny, the more we believe the story is real to some extend. Anyway, it is just some of my thought beyond the subject matter and we are not gonna find any information in reading fiction.

The book is well structured and related smoothly. I am not familiar with religion so it took me some time to figure out what is archbishop, clergyman, archdeacon, canon and so on. But after I have known what those mean, I fully enjoyed reading the story. By the way, I find it useful to draw or write the charactors and their relationship in my notepad. The strutures would be presented more clearly and I don’t need to bother to remember all of the name of charactors.

Chapter I briefly describes the warden, Mr Harding-his personality, his family, his job responsibility, and the cause of the conflict. As the value of the trust estate keeps increasing and the amount given to 12 bedesmen is fixed, which means the large amount flows to the warden and the steward rather than beneficiaries. The warden is a kind old man who has never doubted with his stipend until he hears some rumors that trigger his thought.

The story begins in Chapter II. John Bold, a rich heritor (if he is not rich, I doubt that the reform would not be happen), has a very good wish to seek justification for the society as he knows the huge payment to warden contradicts the nature of the will by John Hiram and is unfair to the 12 bedesmen. Things would not be so complicated if Mr. Bold is a merely a stranger to Mr.Harding. Unfortunatly, he is a close friend to Mr. Harding and he even falls in love with Mr. Harding’s daughter, Eleaner. Mr. Bold’s reform is by no means unjustifiable, however his act aggravates the warden’s inward suffering. Actually, not only the warden but also Mr. Bold is internal conflictive. This is reflected in a conversation between Mr.Bold and his sister, Mary:

Mary: And for what?For a dream of justice. You will never make those 12 men happier than they now are.
Bold: The duty of righting these poor men would belong to nobody. If we are to act on that principle, the weak are never to be protected, injustice is never be opposed and no one is struggle for the poor (pp. 46-47)

Personally, I admire Mr. Bold. Even though he seems to act on impulse, he is passionate and ready to sac
rifice all he has-his wealth, love and friendship-for social justice. It is rare to see this kind of people nowadays.

Mr. Grantly, the archdeacon and the son-in-law of the warden, is a strong opponent of the reform. He is not a bad man; he just a conservative man ready to fight for anyone and anythings that may harm the reputation of the church. I think Mr.Bold and Mr Grantly are similar: they are both strong, determined, confident and believe in what they believe. That is why they are enemies at the first beginning but turn out to be friends at the end.

Mr. Harding is tortured by two set of opinions represented by Mr. Bold and Mr. Grantly. In addition to those forces, a newspaper call Jupiter publishes some opinions attacking Mr. Harding. He can not stand it not because he is weak and scared but he has awared that there is something wrong with the distribution of the money. He can not live on those money that should be given to the bedesmen. It is his self-consciousness and honesty that impress me.

Eleanor wants to help her father and thus begs Mr.Bold for giving up the case, ready to give up her love in return for her father’s peace and happiness. She is really a unselfish and naive woman! At the end, Mr. Bold gives up his act and find himself deeply love and beloved. But this does not exempt the warden’s pain and doubts and he decides to resign.

Mr. Harding: A man is the best judge of what he feels himself. (p.142)

The ending is a happy one: Eleanor marries Mr. Bold, Mr. Grantly and Mr, Bold become friends and Mr. Harding lives free from worries and pain. While the 12 bedesmen are the true victims of the reform: they are given hope of receiving large sum of money every year and get nothing more at the end and even lose their best friend, Mr. Harding who is the only one that truely care for them. They live and then die sadly and lonely. What is the use of the sudden wealth to these old men? Nothing can make them more happily and cozily. I think it is a pitfall of the reform.

Reading The Warden is one of the happies thing in these two monthes. This is a great book that worth reading.