Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), originally from Dorchester, England, was a novelist and poet who spent most of his life as a career writer. His crowning achievement was The Mayor of Casterbridge, which he wrote in 1886; highlighted his signature style of tragedy and indifference towards his main characters. He spent his entire childhood and much of his adulthood in his private practice due to recurring and unknown illnesses. As a result, he observed the countryside around him and incorporated it into the geography of his novels and poems. Most scholars believe that the setting of The Mayor of Casterbridge was a recreation of his hometown of Dorchester. Hardy also had an exclusive circle of friends and family who heavily influenced his writing, such as his mother, who taught him the hardships of lower-class life. His knowledge influenced him so much that the story of The Mayor of Casterbridge parallels his life, particularly the rags to riches story of its main character, Michael Henchard. Societal influences, such as class barriers and emerging secular ideas, including Darwin's theory of evolution, became a key part of his writing style during the second half of his life. These ideas influenced him to write about an indifferent, demystified world distant from its inhabitants. In The Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy's writing style was greatly influenced by his illness, his friends, his family and a changing society. Hardy's unstable health influenced him to write The Mayor of Casterbridge from a unique observer's perspective. As a newborn, he was so sickly that he was left to die, only to be saved by the midwife (Millgate). His early education was peppered with illnesses that forced him to stay in... middle of paper ... there to conspire against him. Hardy's writing style, however, was not devoid of human connection; his friends and family taught him about contemporary society, its difficulties as well as its luxuries. His lifelong lessons are mirrored in the story of Michael Henchard, whose character development parallels his (Hardy's) life. Both began their lives as poor village boys, later becoming the richest men in their respective communities. Unfortunately, like Henchard, Hardy's success eventually curtailed due to recurring illnesses. He became a hypochondriac in the second half of his life, and the indifferent tone of his writing style began to overwhelm his works. It is quite evident that Hardy's life influences had an extreme effect on his writing; however, it was to his advantage because he became famous for his tragic and hard-luck stories.