Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights
This entire novel takes place in England between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross
Grange,
two homes on the English moors. There is a distance of approximately two miles between
the two
homes. The moors are vast open lands that may stretch out for miles at a time. Due to
location and
climate, there is usually a heavy fog present on the moors during the night. This
presence adds
dreariness and confusion to the already complex feud occurring between the two families
living in the
homes.
The exact period of time was never precisely established but the general time period
is
suggested by the setting. The use of horses for transportation back and forth between
the two homes
was maximized as there was a consistent flow of news between the two families. The use
of candles
being taken "upstairs to bed" also suggests an early time period. The actual duration of
the book
takes many years, approximately sixty, due to the spreading of the story over three
generations.
One chief character was Heathcliff. The entire story was written around Heathcliff
and yet
he wasn't really the main character. Heathcliff was adopted off of the streets at a very
young age.
Neither of his foster siblings cared much for him at first. Eventually, his sister grew
to like him and
his brother grew to hate him. As the years passed, Heathcliff's brother Hindley
continued to scar him
emotionally and his sister Cathy grew to love him with such a passion that when Cathy and
Hindley
died in their middle ages, Heathcliff vowed to take revenge on Hindley's son and to not
rest until he
lay in the ground beside Cathy. There were many instances in the story where one was
compelled
to feel sorry for the way Heathcliff was constantly barraged by Hindley's acts of
contempt. However,
no matter how much damage Hindley did, there was no one to blame for Heathcliff's
mannerism but
Heathcliff.
One example of Heathcliff's psychological turmoil was when Cathy died. He bribed
the
cemetery caretaker to open Cathy's grave after the funeral services had passed. On doing
so,
Heathcliff kicked one side of the coffin in so that the dust and dirt could be free to
intermingle with
the body of Cathy. He instructed the caretaker to close the grave and to repeat the same
ordeal this
time with Heathcliff's coffin when he died.
Another chief character was Nelly, the secondary narrator. (Secondary because she
tells the
majority of the story within the dialogue of the primary narrator. Nelly was the only
person that was
present at the beginning of the story and lived to tell the see the end of it. Nelly was
an important
character because she was the one that raised most of the children in the story.
Although the children
may not have turned out the way Nelly would have liked, she still played an important
part in shaping
the lives of the characters and in turn the course of the story.
The most important event of the story, I believe, was when Heathcliff died. With
Heathcliff
dead, along with Cathy and Hindley, there was no one remaining who wished to seek revenge
upon
another. Hindley's son Haerton eventually married Cathy's daughter, Cathy. And as most
stories go,
the two lived happily every after at Wuthering Heights.
I would strongly recommend this book to another reader. The book is well written.
It is
easily read due to the manner in which the text flows. There is no need to tear apart
the sentences
in order to follow the story as you would in reading, for instance, Lord of the Flies.
All in all the
book had a good storyline, a wonderful cast of characters, a pleasant ending, and is
definitely a classic
piece of English Literature.
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