Adam Bede

"No gentleman, out of a ballad, could marry a farmer's niece." Adam Bede, George Eliot

Arthur knows this truth--he declares it before he even seduces Hetty, but for some reason he cannot seem to stop himself. He rationalizes his decision to pursue this relationship when he knows it not good. He hides it from everyone since he values their good opinion and cannot lose face. Perhaps his character is most revealed in a childhood story: he feels like kicking so he kicks over a man's dinner. He realizes after that this wrong, so he tries "to make all the offences forgotten in benefits" (313). It's too late. Things cannot be undone. A pencil case and pocket knife won't feed the hungry man. Likewise, the seduction cannot be undone. Hetty cannot suddenly become unpregnant. The consequences eventually catch up to you.