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 eloping 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. " When his ship struck, the captain abandonned his post, and the crew, instead of trying to save her, rushed into riot and confussion, leaving no hope for their luckless vessel." pg179. This is a metaphor for the event of when Hindley's wife dies and the doctors had no clue how to save her. 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." He trusted God; and God comforted him." pg179. In a way, Nelly sees Edgar as the stronger one, the one with courage and faith. 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.
At the end of this book, I found many passages and events of light. From all the accumulations of darkness since the beginning, Emily Bronte has offered the reader a happy and hopeful ending. After mourning her misfortune, Young Catherine became sour and mean. Towards the end of the book, Young Cathy seeks the friendship of Hareton. Initially, Hareton and Catherine hated each other. "I shall have naught wi' you, and your mucky pride, and your damned, mocking tricks!" pg297. However, Catherine asks for forgiveness. Hareton was hesitant at first, but experiences a character epiphany in which he finds hope, love, and acceptance. "I perceived two such radiant countenances bent over the page of the accepted book, that I did not doubt the treaty had been ratified, on both sides, and the enemies were, thenceforth, sworn allies." pg299. Nelly notices the newly found bond between Catherine and Hareton and receives radiating warmth from them. It is as if Emily Bronte infers that Heathcliff's dark, cold wrath was defeated by love. Furthermore, it is not just Catherine and Hareton who witness the light, but Heathcliff himself learns to forgive. Heathcliff use to live off of hatred, resent, and revenge. But now, he accepts the death of Catherine, the pain from others, and the pain he inflicts on himself. " An absurd termination to [Heathcliff's] violent exertions[.] [He gets] levers and mattocks to demolish the two houses, and [trains himself] to be capable of working like Hercules, and when everything is ready, and in [his] power, [he finds] the will to lift a slate off either roof had vanished! [His] old enemies have not beaten [him]; now would be the precise time to revenge [himself] on their representatives-[he] could do it, and none could hinder [him]. But where is the use? [He doesn't] care for striking...exhibit a fine trait of magnanimity…[Heathcliff has] lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction...there is a strange change approaching." pg306. Heathcliff discovers that forgiveness and love over came his desire to take vengeance. He calls this epiphany a strange change because he has never experienced what it's like to exculpate and move on. Much like many others who have been victims of violence and pain, one resolve and be magnanimous. Without forgiveness, you will hinder yourself from growing. Fortunately for Heathcliff, this offered him peace and serenity with Catherine. With this, Heathcliff's lack of darkness also enabled Hareton and Young Cathy to expirience true love.
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.
For this journal, I didn't add much for I thought that I presented enough connections (T-T)(T-W) and symbolism. However, I did give more examples from the book like quotes to back up my ideas more. And I also just added another paragraph that analyzed the last parts of the book.
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