Lambs
Gabriel Oak spends quite a bit of time in this book taking care of sheep and lambs. And do you know which other figure tends to do the same? That's right, Jesus. In this case, Hardy uses Gabriel's...
Troy's Sword
Contrasting sharply (pun intended) with Gabriel Oak's love of lambs, Frank Troy loves swordplay. Oak loves nurturing tender young beasties, and Frank Troy loves stabbing. Oak takes little baby anim...
The Valentine
If you want to trace most of this book's conflict back to a single point, it's the moment when Bathsheba decides to play head-games by sending Farmer Boldwood an anonymous Valentine that asks him t...
Fire and Water
Trial by fire and trial by water: that's exactly what Gabriel Oak is willing to go through in his love for Bathsheba Everdene. Now to be fair, he doesn't actually know that he's helping Bathsheba w...