Chapter 32
Midnight Chase and Unexpected Truth
NIGHT—HORSES TRAMPING The village of Weatherbury was quiet as the graveyard in its midst, and the living were lying well-nigh as still as the dead. The church clock struck eleven. The air was so empty of other sounds that the whirr of the clock-work immediately before the strokes was distinct, and so was also the click of the same at their close. The notes flew forth with the usual blind obtuseness of inanimate things—flapping and rebounding among walls, undulating against the scattered clouds, spreading through their interstices into unexplored miles of space. Bathsheba’s crannied and mouldy halls were to-night occupied…
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Critical Thinking Exercise
Decode Your Own Justified Impulses
Think of a recent decision where you built elaborate reasons for doing something you wanted to do anyway. Write down your official explanation, then write what you really wanted underneath it. Look for the gap between your reasoning and your actual motivation.
Consider:
- •Notice how urgent your reasoning felt at the time versus how it seems now
- •Pay attention to how much mental energy you spent justifying versus actually deciding
- •Consider whether the outcome would have been different if you'd been honest about your real motivation
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you convinced yourself that something you wanted to do was actually something you had to do. What were the real consequences of following that impulse, and how might things have been different if you'd been more honest with yourself from the start?
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