ʻOur Exploits at West Poleyʼ as an Anti-adventure Story

ʻOur Exploitsʼ is a story for children written by Hardy in 1883. Its manuscript was sold to The Youth’s Companion, a popular American childrenʼs magazine, but was published by another Boston periodical, The Household, in 1892 and 1893. Why it was held back so long is unknown, but it is likely that the editors did not read it with enthusiasm probably because it is different from other sensational Companion stories of train crashes, naval battles, and so on. 　ʻOur Exploitsʼ is an unusual adventure story in that Steve and Leonard are not admired but criticized for their adventures. They find a stream of water in the cave and enjoy turning it into East Poley and turning it back to West Poley. For a while, they are proud of their power to dry up rivers and make them flow at will, but they soon realize that they cannot control the water. If the stream goes to West Poley, the people in East Poley suffer the shortage of water. If it flows into East Poley, the residents in West Poley lose the river by which they get their living. The boys have to learn that “it is next to impossible, in this world, to do good to one set of folks without doing harm to another”. 　Behind this bitter lesson lies Hardyʼs view of the world. In The Life of Thomas Hardy, he surmises “an indifferent and unconscious force at the back of things ʻthat neither good nor evil knowsʼ”. He also compares the universe to “an imperfect machine” which “requires endless adjustment and compromises”. It would be possible to consider the uncontrollability of water in ʻOur Exploitsʼ to be an example of the imperfection of the world. In such a world, success is made “by the merest chance”, and the boys should understand that “Quiet perseverance in clearly defined courses is ... better than the erratic exploits that may do much harm”.