journal 4

Pain and conflict continue to be dominant in Wuthering Heights and the Grange. Catherine has died after giving birth to Young Catherine and all who loved her are in terrible grief. Heathcliff and Edgar blame each other for their loss; however, Edgar becomes more conservative of his emotions. "He dashed his head against the knotted trunk, and, lifting up his eyes, howled, not like a man, but like a savage beast getting goaded to death with knives and snears." pg.164. After Catherine's death, Heathcliff revealed his inner rage and madness. Emily Bronte used this literary device beautifully in describing Heathcliff's grief. She connected Heathcliff to a wild creature. One is offered an image of fear, evil, and darkness. This empowers a reader's previous opinions of how evil Heathcliff was from the beginning of the story. For example, he pleasingly left Catherine yearning for him constantly and takes advantage of innocent people who find humanity in him. "He's a lying fiend! A monster, and not a human being," pg 149. Isabel, who once loved Heathcliff, regrets leaving her loving house and marrying Heathcliff in secret. Isabel continues to tell Nelly how horrid and evil Heathcliff is to her, Hareton and Hindley. Reading between the lines, it seems as if Heathcliff seeks revenge from all those who've done wrong to him in the past. Isabel's brother, Edgar, married Catherine and forbade Heathcliff to be with her. In their childhood, Hindley use to beat up Heathcliff. Therefore both he and his son, Hareton, are to pay the price of Heathcliff's pain. 

There was one passage that I came across recently. It was when Nelly reflects the differences and similarities of Hindley and Edgar. "I used to draw a comparison between him [Edgar Linton] and Hindley Earnshaw, and perplex myself to explain satisfactorily why their conduct is so opposite in similar circumstances." pg 179. It has come to an agreement that both Hindley and Edgar were formidable husbands, and that their wives had a child before their quick deaths. They remain widowed and grieving; however Edgar's character and nature are much different than Hindley's. Hindley is and always has been hard headed, stubborn, and uses  violence to disguise his weakness. He inflicts pain to others around him in act of fear, power, and conflict. Hindley drinks to drown the pain away. Nelly, the speaker, infers that all these traits and epiphanies came from the fact that Hindley did not accept death. His wife's death offers him inevitable pain and sorrow. On the other hand, Edgar has always been a calm, collected, and courteous chap. He refuses to participate in violence and forgives Catherine of all her sins. In time, Edgar accepted  his wife's death, for he found strength and trust in God. In a way, Nelly sees Edgar as the stronger one, the one with courage. This reminds me of the poems, Because I could not stop for death by Emily Dickinson and A Bird in a Cage  by Juan Antonio Rodriguez. Like Hindley, Juan could not accept death. He was only offered pain, anger and unsettlement for he did not agree that life will never be complete. Fortunately, Edgar and Emily accept death. This offers them serenity, hope, and peace. As a result, Hareton, Hindley's only son grew up in an inhabitable home where Hindley was abusive and left Hareton to live by himself. Hareton is now illiterate, slow, and unloved.  Soon his experiences will offer only hindrance and possibly inflictions of violence of his own. Catherine, Edgar's daughter, is proper, eloquent, and loved by all. In return, she offers love to others and happiness in the future. This proves that if we don't over come our pain, we can never grow stronger. Our reactions to life determines the future of ourselves and others. I liked this passage because it gave the reader a moral to extract from it. And I feel that this moral can be applied to our modern lives.

This week, our group successfully discussed about our previous readings. We talked about metaphors, imagery, and connections. I feel that we did well in expressing our opinions and ideas. Each member actively participated in the in class activities in which each of us offered answers to the questions. My goal for next week is to continue to read and hopefully finish Wuthering Heights.