Okay, where Adam Bede is concerned, what do we mean by transformation? You won't be seeing Seth Bede ripping off his shirt and morphing into a giant green rage monster. Here, "transformation" is more a matter of personal growth and psychological change.
But the changes that take place in Adam Bede aren't as small as they look. Subtle, yes. Low-key, sure. But most of the important changes we go through, in our own lives, are subtle and low-key. Eliot is good at depicting such personal transformations. She may be even better at showing how an entire community is transformed by harrowing events—and struggles to pull itself back together.
Questions About Transformation
- Who transforms the most in Adam Bede?
- Do any of Eliot's characters seem completely incapable of transformation? Can you think of characters who resist or refuse change but are different in all other respects?
- How—and how much—has the rural community depicted in Adam Bede changed by the end of the novel? Have any new social, political, or religious attitudes emerged?
- Eliot never shows us how much Hetty is transformed by her exile. Why do you think we never see the changed Hetty?
Chew on This
Though Adam is rattled by his experiences, he does not change in any fundamental way. In fact, the ordeal of winning and losing Hetty only seems to re-affirm Adam's long-held values of self-reliance, personal pride, and thorough practicality.
Hetty discovers a sense of moral responsibility in the course of her journey. Yet she seems weirdly incapable of following this awakened conscience. This incapability is the #1 reason that Hetty is doomed, doomed, doomed.