On Empathy Loss In Ford’s Some Do Not

Ford Madox Ford(1873-1939)is a well-known twentieth-century British novelist and critic.Some Do Not is a novel based on his experiences as a soldier in World War I,focusing on individuals’ emotional collisions and faith decisions at that time.Faced with a chaotic and contradictory world,the protagonists in this novel choose between abandoning morals to satisfy their selfish desires or actively attempting to escape predicaments.These choices embody their empathetic capabilities.The novel has been studied by academics from the angles of narrative skills,chaos and order,rural nostalgia,and gentlemen culture.There is little research that probes into the novel through the lens of empathy.Empathy is an interdisciplinary concept that has been explored in the fields of aesthetics,philosophy,and psychology.Social psychologists Martin L.Hoffman and Mark H.Davis define empathy as an affective response,which should be more appropriate for another’s circumstance than one’s own.They point out that individuals are susceptible to personal and situational elements during the response process,resulting in people’s different empathic states.This thesis explores the role of empathy by delving into the living conditions of three representative characters:Tietjens,Valentine,and Macmaster,who appear as “strugglers”,“victims”,and“climbers” respectively.Focusing on their states of “inhibition”,“desire”,and“manipulation” of empathy,this thesis aims to explore the manifestations of empathy loss in a transitional period,and mirror social crises reflected in people’s different empathic states,thus sketching a repressive and alienated world.The introduction to this thesis reviews research about Ford Madox Ford and Some Do Not and provides a general analysis of the concept of empathy.The main body of the thesis begins with the examination of Tietjens’ inhibition of empathy as a struggler.In order to protect the family’s dignity,he suppresses empathic anger and generously forgives his unfaithful wife in marriage.When experiencing genuine love,he restrains intense affection for Valentine in order to fulfil the obligations of a proper gentleman.Ultimately,he becomes extremely lonely.Then it describes Valentine’s desire for empathy as a victim.Males’ inaccurate empathy with women’s power and females’ lack of empathic engagement in women’s cause in a patriarchal culture result in women remaining marginalized.In an effort to advocate for women’s rights,Valentine becomes a suffragette.She aspires for more women to leave the household and pursue their careers,and longs for men to offer women support and empathetic understanding in order to expedite the attainment of women’s independence.Lastly,a strong emphasis is placed on Macmaster’s manipulation of the dark side of empathy as a climber.Born into poverty,he exploits the Tietjens’ sympathy to acquire educational assistance and successfully enter the government sector.He understands Duchemin’s vanity,so once in the upper class he has made fame and money their common pursuit.Through a study of their empathetic states,this thesis demonstrates the author’s lament for the collapse of traditional values,his attention to women’s status,and his critique of the phenomenon of pursuing fame and fortune in an unscrupulous manner.It emphasizes that,on one hand,empathy,as the capacity to experience emotions,enables people to better understand and accept others and promotes interpersonal relationships.Simultaneously,it is also easily exploited to satisfy others’ selfish desires,resulting in commensurate social problems.Ford’s focus on the power of empathy is reflected in this novel,which triggers public discussion of Britain’s twentieth-century social concerns.