Because he is not and does not become a notable person. This use of the word "obscure" does not mean "difficult to understand". It means something more like "anonymous" or "unimportant". read more
Thomas Hardy’s novels tend to home in on the enduring qualities of personal relationships and person-to-person interactions. In other words, he focuses on the perennial characteristics of human beings and how they carry on with others. In short, he was a realist. read more
Thomas Hardy, (born June 2, 1840, Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, England—died January 11, 1928, Dorchester, Dorset), English novelist and poet who set much of his work in Wessex, his name for the counties of southwestern England. read more