THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE is Hardy’s representative work. The novel is the turning point of Hardy’s writing style. It also occupies a very important position in his Vessex novels. Hardy is a keen observer of nature and of people. And he is good at using words, especially the country dialect. Hardy is also good at creating characters. He is just an architect who holds his characters almost stone by stone. Hardy is a great story-teller and a deep thinker. Hardy’s basic characteristic of art revealed in his own words, "The business of the poet and novelist is to show the sorrow underlying the grandest things, and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things."
