Mood, Atmosphere, and Location in Return of the Native Throughout Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy does a great job of creating mood and atmosphere. Some scenes are so descriptive that a very clear mental image can be formed by the reader, causing a distinct sense of place. It seems that through his words, Hardy immerses readers in his story, allowing us to participate solely as a spectator. It's at the beginning that the strongest mood, the heaviest atmosphere and the most obvious sense of place occur, because once the scene is set and the characters introduced, the landscape repeats itself a lot. The book opens with an in-depth description of heather. This is a perfect example of Hardy's ability to clearly describe a scene, giving us a sense of place, placing us on the moor. This moor, although seemingly just a geographic location in the story, plays a very important role. The role and symbolism of heather is truly explored through some of Hardy's statements. “The sky spreading from this pale screen, the earth of the darkest vegetation, their line of meeting on the horizon was clearly marked.” This highlights the stark contrast between the ground and the sky, leaving the reader with an image of the wild expanse of vegetation. Hardy describes the nature of the heather with the words "It was at present a place perfectly conformable to the nature of man - neither horrible, hateful, nor ugly: nor... insignificant, nor tame; but like the despised and enduring man...". This is a description of the heather, which leaves the reader with a stronger sense of belonging, having...... middle of paper ...... would be considered the weakest character, Thomasin, who achieves happiness. She is the only character who ends the story well, because with Wildeve's death, she is free to leave a marriage where she was very unhappy and marry the Redddleman. Hardy shows, throughout “The Return of the Native,” that he has succeeded. in creating images in the reader's mind. He easily creates mood and atmosphere with varied use of conflicting descriptions and images. It gives the reader a sense of ownership, whereby it seems that even though they are there and know what is going to happen, they cannot help the characters in any way. The reader is close enough to feel most of the action, but is powerless to intervene. This shows that Hardy is very successful in creating ambiance, atmosphere and a sense of belonging..