The characters in Hardy’s novel can be grouped by their attitudes toward the heath. Clym, Mrs. Yeobright, Thomasin, and Venn are products of Egdon and understand it: Clym is frequently shown, for instance, to have an intimate knowledge of its natural features; Thomasin, though well off after her husband dies, has no desire to leave it; Venn is shown to be so familiar with it that at night he can walk at full speed across it without losing his footing. On the other hand, both Eustacia and Wildeve look upon the heath as a place to leave with all deliberate speed, making it ironical and appropriate that both should die in a stream near Shadwater Weir.