The untimely death of Michael Henchard, the Mayor of Casterbridge. Henchard will never be able to escape the events of his past. What do you think drives Henchard to his demise? All page references are to the new version of the Windmill Classics. ----------------------- --------------------------- -----There are many factors leading to the untimely death of Michael Henchard "the Mayor of Casterbridge". Some of these factors are partly due to bad luck, while some of the major ones are due to the poor decisions he makes. To find out why Henchard actually makes such devastating mistakes, one must look closely at his character. Henchard is a proud and irascible man. This is probably the worst combination of traits possible in any man. This is because once he has made a decision he can no longer go back as it would affect, or so he thinks, his majestic reputation. This ruthless nature also leads to the deal being made to sell Susan and Elizabeth-Jane for five guineas. Even when Susan gives him the chance to back off when she says "Before we go any further, Michael, listen to me. If you touch that money, me and this girl will go with that man. Mind you, it's not a joke anymore." (page 12)Henchard refuses to back down. I think this is because he is in front of the crowd and is very encouraged by the illicit rum he drank in the furmity, even though he later regrets it greatly. Another of Henchard's characteristics also leads to his downfall. This is his objective way of seeing things. He always takes things at face value and never thinks to look beyond the façade of a situation. An example of such a situation is the twenty-one year old vowing to never touch alcohol when he realizes that he has sold his wife and son to Newson. When the vow expires, instead of drinking only in moderation, as he would have done before making the vow, he waits until the very day the vow expires and immediately goes out and gets as drunk as he can in the three sailors. All of these characteristics lead Henchard to be very poor at making friends but very good at business due to his inability to back down and the way he can make a decision very quickly without first thinking about the consequences. This feature works not only for but also against him. The first time we hear of Henchard as Mayor of Casterbridge is when the women in the square speak of the 'corn farmer': he is the man with whom all our millers and bakers deal.