Below are a few questions regarding Bronte's book. You may respond to one of these initial questions, comment on another student's observation, or pose your OWN question(s) about the book you would like to see discussed.
One critic writes of the "Psychology of Loneliness" in this novel. What role does loneliness play in the action, character motivations, and themes of the novel?
Several critics have examined the diary as a mode of storytelling in the novel. Lockwood's recollections, dated 1801 on page1, ostensibly make up a series of diary-type entries. Another more marginalized but perhaps more important "diary" is the one Lockwood discovers written by Catherine as a child in the margins of a book found in the cabinet in her room. What significance is there in the usage of this form? What do we learn about each of these characters through the knowledge we are reading diary entries?
I agree, the diary P.O.V gives the reader a different level of interaction with the characters. None of the characters were able to present the story in an unbiased way, and the reader has to comb through the prejudices and slights to get to the fact. But it also provides a lot of insight into how the emotion of the scene played into the actions. Each different tone and inflection from different characters provided a different image of the scene being recounted. As far as loneliness goes, even though Catherine and Heathcliff love each other, their love remains fairly stagnant and unchanging. I think ultimately the lack of flexibility in their relationship is more lonely than being alone. Catherine and Heathcliff rarely behave as lovers, and their resistance to change is reflected throughout the book in the disastrous chaos that surrounds them. Heathcliff and Catherine never end up together, and Heathcliff dies alone, at the end of the day more lonely than he started off.
ReplyDeleteYes, Heathcliff is the poster child of loneliness acting out. Following the death of his adoptive mother, the only one who really cared for him, his motivations seemed to be driven based on seeking attention, rather than just attaining Catherine. (Though this was a main method of getting attention, it was perhaps not his only desire.) For example, when he makes it clear that he will seek revenge on Edgar- he is not trying to become one with Catherine, he is acting foully to her husband. And in a non-discrete way too, so as to make others fully aware of his actions, to get them all flustered. What better way to get attention when both households are completely fixated on wondering 'what are you going to do next, Heathcliff?' Point is, yes, an early life of being lonely largely impacted the character who practically drove the dramatic lifestyle of the novel.
ReplyDeleteHeathcliff never really had anyone who really cared about him when he was younger other than his adoptive mother who died when he was very young. Being brought up in a home where he was close to no one, and no one really cared about him affected the way he acted in later life, and the way he treated other people... his relationship with Catherine, I believe, was more of a cushion for him so that he knew he wouldn't die alone, and would always have someone there for him. The way he treated her was as if he just wanted a wife, rather than Catherine herself. Like Katy Purrington said, unfortunately they never end up together, and he dies alone.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that the book has the diary as a part of the narration is very important because, it is very biased that way, and one who is reading it will get the full effect of what the narrator was saying and thinking at the time, in the same idea, it is bad because we as the readers don't see what everyone is thinking. But then again it makes the book more personal.
ReplyDeleteI thought this book was very intriguing because of that concept of loneliness. From my understanding of the book before reading it, I had the preconception that it would be a basic love story with a few key tragedies thrown into the mix. Little did I know taht only a few times was loving someone even mentioned. For Heathcliff, he has been lonely his whole life. Not only did he lose his parents at a very young age, shortly after he loses the closest thing he has to a parent when Mr. Earnshaw passes. When he finds a friend, finally, she declares him unfit to wed and marries another man. Heathcliff's reaction to loneliness is to try to get "revenge" on those who took away the things that he loved, or at least the people he held accountable for his loss. I think the lack of love in his upbringing left him unable to handle love, so he almost smothered it when he finally had some control over the things he loved, ultimately causing his loneliness.
ReplyDeleteLoneliness is what starts the entire novel off. If it weren't for Mr. Lockwood being sick and pathetic and wanting to hear the story about Heathcliff the book would have no story at all.Both Heathcliff and Lockwood are described as men that turn away from society and prefer to be alone but that is not the truth at all both are looking for some sort of attention. For Lockwood Nelly provides just enough human contact for him to feel comfortable but Heathcliff never feels comfortable within the story. Every evil and wicked thing he does is driven by his desire to feel complete and the only way for him to feel complete is to be with Catherine. But I find this concept hard to belive. A monstorous person like Heathcliff who has been brooding over his lonliness for so long is not going to magically change into a light hearted man once he obtains catherines love. In the end Heathcliff will never feel fullfilled in his life because he cannot accept the fact that Catherine will never be his and they never had a chance from the very beginning.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that this book is written all in the style of a diary made me curious throughout the entire novel. Since the story was not only a diary of Mr. Lockwood, so we are only getting his memories of what Mrs. Dean is telling him, we are also only getting one side of the story. There is no way that we can be sure that Mrs. Dean exaggerated throughout the entire novel. Though she seems to be very trustworthy and had no reason to lie, we don't know whether or not the events that took place were quite as dramatic as being taken prisoner and locked inside of Wuthering Heights until Catherine married Linton. My main cause for questioning Mrs. Dean was her involvement in the lives of these people. She was very invested in Catherine and Hareton, so she may have unknowingly given the readers a look through her rose-colored glasses. Despite my curiosity about whether or not the events were exaggerated, I found that because all of the events were happening from a third party view, we were able to empathize with Mr. Lockwood because he was experiencing these events at the same rate we were. I was curious about the diary of Catherine's, though. I did not quite understand what was going on during that section of the book, so if someone could explain the meaning of her diary that would be great!
ReplyDeleteI realize this is late but I was gone the day this was announced so I just found out about this...
ReplyDeleteI think that the use of the diary to tell the story allows for the reader to feel like they really are a part of the story and to fully understand the personal connections between the characters and their situations. It helps to understand some of their motives but for the most part everyone's motives are hidden throughout the book. Even though motives are hidden, the diary lets the reader know that the story being told is bias and that for example when Ms. Dean tells the story it is obvious that she thinks more highly of some characters, like young Catherine, than others, like Heathcliff. I really enjoyed this book because it is not the type of book I usually read and it was a nice change, it kept me waiting for the next plot twist and what would happen next. I think this added drama was also a result of the bias narrator but it added to the overall "theatrical" or exagerated effect.
-Allison Saxby