A Reflective Log About The Son’s Veto
The Son’s Veto is a short story written by Thomas Hardy in 1894. The story starts with the introduction of Sophy who is working as a servant to a rural vicar named Reverend Twycott. She then receives a proposal of marriage from the gardener named Sam Hobson but she rejected his proposal.
When an unexpected event suddenly happened wherein she injured her feet when she fell down the stair, she thought the she had to stop working for the vicar. However, something else happened, Twycott proposed to her and Sophy accepted the offer. They then have a son named Randolph.
When Twycott dies, Sophy live in a small house which was provided by Twycott and was bored because there was really anything that was happening in her. She was always also estranged from her son who has adopted superiority over his uneducated mother.
She eventually meets Sam again and told him about how unhappy she is with her life and how she wishes that she was living back in the countryside. They soon had a relationship and Sam proposes to her for the second time and though it was cost her the house and the living that Twycott has provided for her, she still accepted the offer. When she told her son about it, he forbids her from marrying Sam and because Sophy didn’t want to marry without her son’s approval, she asked Sam to wait. Sam then proposes to her five years later. However, Randolph still didn’t agree and forced Sophy to her knees and swore that she will never marry Sam.
Five years later, Sam, who became a prosperous greengrocer, stands in his shop’s doorway as the funeral procession of Sophy, who died sad and depressed, passes by.
The life story of Sophy is an example of what will happen to your life once you choose to follow what other people wants you to do instead of doing something that will make you happy. Because of following her son’s order, which is to not marry Sam, instead of choosing her own happiness, Sophy died depressed and sad. She lived a life wherein other people were making decisions for her, wherein other people were dictating her on as to what actions she should do or shouldn’t do which then became the reason as to why she gave up on life.
If you don’t want to live a life full of misery, you should always choose your happiness over anything else. You should never let another person dictate your life and never let another person keep you from being happy.
Find your true purpose and happiness and always choose whatever makes you happy. Always follow your heart because it is only then that you can live a happy life.
