Up to chapter 20

As I have said before in all post’s, a lot of events happen in a couple of chapters and these chapters certainly were not different. Well after Catherine has died and left a daughter behind, Isabella appears at Thrushcross Grange in a carriage to run away to London. She then tells Nelly about the chaos that has been occurring back at Wuthering Heights. The fact that Hindley has turned into a alcoholic and cannot even stop drinking for one day, shows how things in Wuthering Heights have grown out of control. There seems to be a heavy cloud of bad happenings over Wuthering Heights, because the situation there is terrible. From what Isabella tells Nelly, it seems that Hindley has tried to kill Heathcliff but since Heathcliff was warned of such he protected himself and I believe it was with a latter or something like that that he used to cover him self and I really did not understand how but Hindley wounded himself on the wrist. Then Heathcliff ran after him and beated him up. However something interesting happens for Isabella instead of staying on her husband’s side (although this would also not be as convenient for he was not faithful to her), she tells Hindley what happened and makes him want a revenge. It is then that she runs away.
So then Isabella finally runs away and in London she gives birth to a baby boy name Linton.
One thing I find really interesting about this book is that various characters have the same name which make me very confused. For example now that there is this Linton son o Isabella and Heathcliff I get confused when I try to talk about Edgar for I used to call him Linton. Also with the Catherine’s; although the big Catherine, who was in love with Heathcliff died, there is her daughter also called Catherine which confuses my life when I try to explain a past event. Did someone get my point???? I know it is very confusing do understand but also to explain.
Then another big event happens for Hindley dies. It is here in this chapter that my first question is answered and I believe Rafael and Rodrigo also had this question, of why is Heathcliff the owner of Wuthering Heights if Hareton is still alive and Heathcliff is not even a legitimate son of the Earnshaw’s. Well apparently Hindley had a great problem with gambling and he was very addicted to it, so Heathcliff would lend him money to pay his debts. However when he died he had not paid every loan Heathcliff made to him and so the ownership of Wuthering Heights was designated to him as a form of covering the debt. The interesting part is that Hareton ends up becoming a slave to Heathcliff and even Nelly can’t take him out of there.
Now this was all in chapter 17…..I think too many events happened in one chapter, just like the ending of brazilian novelas, it seems like the author has too much information still to reveal so he just throws it all out to the viewer or in this case the reader. And in the case of the novelas the last day is usually two hours long or else they can’t end it hehehehe!!!!!
Well I guess I better leave to explain the next chapters next time or else the post will be too long and you guys will be discovering too much information about your future readings. So in this case this post is for last week and I will post another one for this week!!!!! Bye everyone!!!!

Chapters 10-14- Rodrigo

I found these chapters to be quite surprising given the way that Heathcliff comes back and how he treats all those around him who have caused him pain during some point of his life. Heathcliff, who was believed to be a very simple and fearfull character seeing as he was oppressed during the majority of his life, is transformed into a diabolical, demonically charismatic, powerful, and villainous man, capable of extreme cruelties. This was trully shocking but in a way expected seeing as the only thing which he knows is cruelty. Driven by his determination for revenge, by his love for Catherine, by his beliefs that he has betrayed him by marring Edgar, by his hatred of the Lintons for having treated him so poorly and making him seem unworthy of marrying Cathering, Heathcliff dedicates himself during these chapters to devising a plan to get revenge on all of the people who he felt were injust to him. Nelly suspects that Heathcliff has second intentions once he returns after a while and desperately needs to talk to Catherine and Isabella. His malice and evil nature can be seen through his treatment of Hindley and Isabella who later becomes his wife in an atempt to punish Edgar seeing as Heathcliff cannot get to Edgar directly or to Catherine he decides to use Isabella as a mediator for his anger and hatred. Even though he treats everybody extremely diminishingly, it is hard not to feel some sympathy for his character seeing as he had gone through all of this treatment during his childhood by the same people who he is now trying to make suffer. Ofcourse we cannot condone these actions but that does not mean that we are not allowed to sympathise with his character, for it is necessary to understand where he is coming from physically and mentally. At this point in the novel i find it difficult to see however where it is or at what point Bronte is trying to get too because all the characters keep constantly changing and the situations keep changing making it very difficult to know what to expect. For example with Catherine getting sick it is hard to know whether or not she will die because at the moment she plays a big role in the plot and in the development of Heathcliff's character and plan for revenge. If she dies, Bronte will have a lot of work to do in order to make Heathcliff justify his revenge and the misstreatment of all around him. If Catherine doesn't die then tere will be another 100 or so pages for the story to finally unfold. Either way I fail to see what it is that Bronte could possibly do in the last 100 or so pages, i know that finishing the story earlier isnt one of them unfortunantely. Besides focusing mainly on Heathcliff's character, these chapters also give some insight to the narrator, Nelly who is shown to always have very biased thoughts on Catherine saying that she is often spoiled, proud, arrogant, selfish etc. It is the first time during the novel where the reader is allowed to see how Nelly thinks and feels towards the other characters, because until now she was just telling the facts to Lockwood. All in all, these chapters were amusing to see how Heathcliff feels after all the time that he spent away to those who opressed him during his childhood, and to see how his hatred as accumulated to a point where he is likely to release all that anger, hatred, and jealousy very soon.

Up to the middle Chapter 17 - Camila

Totally true Rodrigo, sometimes I even feel like Bronte got herself confused with her story and prolonged it a little more to find the path to revealing the message of the novel. I have now passed the middle of the story and I am really interested in knowing how the story will go on for another hundred pages since the supposed most important event has happened in these pages.
By these chapters, one of the most important events of the novel happens....Catherine Linton dies after days of struggle. However, she leaves behind a little baby girl named after her.
These chapters were very intense because it is when Heathcliff and Hindley confront each other but are seperated by the inconvinient death of Catherine. The passage in which Heathcliff is talking secretly with Catherine in her bed, kissing and embracing ardently, reminded me a lot of the final scene of Primo Basílio. Heathcliff forgives Catherine for having abondoned him and says he will do whatever she wants as long as she lives. In Primo Basílio, the lady is also very sick, almost dying and her husband forgives her act of cheating on him and also promisses to do anything for her as long as she does not leave him for heaven.
Before this scene, which revealed the true Heathcliff true emotions and feeling for Catherine, I was thinking of Heathcliff's love for her more of an obsession than heartly passion. The way he talked about her wanting to visit her frequently and demanding responses, made me think he was obsessed by her and was sort of stalking Catherine. However this scene was really passionate and almost evoked tears, because Heathcliff was really concerned about her and even promissed to die with her, proving his true love. And according to page185 he does die and is buried right next to Cathy's tomb.
Now about the baby girl, either I missed the part or did not read it attentively I did not see before Chapter 17 a note or a single reference to Catherine's pregnancy! Did it mention that she was pregnant?? and now I am sturck with the doubt of if the baby is Hindley's or Heathcliff's daughter??? Although I know it would be difficult for the baby to be Heathcliff's, however since I did not see Nelly mentioning the pregnancy it could be a possibility right??
After quarreling about how could Bronte continue continue writing for a lot more of pages after the main character has died, I remembered of the beginning of the novel. Lockwood present a diary in the beginning and it is from this diary that the narration of the story begins. However Lockwood never finished reading the diary since he was sent out of the room, hence I start to believe that now the story will transition its narration to the present and Lockwood will continue the story by telling the reader about Catherine's diary, which holds all the secrets of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange.
Bye everyone!!!!!

Chapter 10-Rodrigo

I would like to start off by saying that i am really not enjoying this novel at all. I am not enjoying it because of the length of the story, the writing style of the author and the actual content of the novel and how the author approaches this content. I would like to use something that Camila said in that when comparing Wuthering Heights to A Doll's House it is clear that it is possible to have a well written story in a short amount of pages or play form as is A Doll's House. In Wuthering Heights it takes 300 pages for the author to get her message through to the reader while in A Doll's House it only takes 60 pages for the author to get his message through to the reader. I am at the beginning of Chapter 11, page 118 and I truly fail to see how the author is going to be able to wrap up the whole story while still being able to transmit her theme and message along to the reader. I dont enjoy how Bronte takes one whole chapter(10-15 pages) to tell one single story or event about one of the characters lives. A little suspense is good but not when it means that the reader has to read the book for one hour just to know the main characters age. So far in Chapter 10, Heathcliff returns after many years, apparently grown up and looking like a gentleman. He comes back looking for Catherine and finds her at Wuthering Heights with Edgar, her being girlishly pleased at seeing her old companion back encourages him to stay with them while he is back. Edgar however, does not feel the same way towards Heathcliff and shows a slgiht distatste to his presence at Wuthering Heights. Isabella, appears to be enchanted by how much Heathcliff has changed and apparently begins to harbour feelings for the outcast gentleman. Nelly the watchfull eye of Wuthering Heights notices that even though Isabella is apparently falling for Heathcliff, he only has feelings for Catherine or so it seems for she begins to doubt whether he has alterior motives for coming back, possibly envolving motives of revenge against those who opressed him. This chapter was rather interesting because Heathcliff comes back filled with rage and it makes me curious to find out what this surpressed rage is going to make him do regarding Hindley who treated him like garbage since they were children. The way in which he comes back is very characteristic to many stories or plots. For example, the poor kid who is bullied and opressed during his childhood while all his brothers and sisters have the better lives, so the kid decides to leave never to speak to the other siblings again. Until one day after many years this kid returns, but not a kid anymore, rather an adult with many riches accumulated from years of hard work which will be used in order to make those who made him suffer, suffer. It will be interesting to see if this is the path that heathcliff will take or if he will chose a different path.

Up to Chapter 15

My question from the last post persists because I really cannot not see how this story will be able to maintain its expectations for a hundred pages more. Comparing this novel to the play A Doll's House shows how there was a difference between realistic authors. In the play, the story is much more direct and real, eventhough if it is a play meaning it has to be short. This novel is full of supernatural happenings and recurring events such as Cathy's sudden illness. The play seemed to be breaking the fourth wall because it was direct and presented to the audience a true feeling of the family's problems. In this novel the story sometimes seems to be unreal, even small details help to confirm this idea.For example the letter that Isabella writes to Nelly. In real life someone would not write a letter that big that occupies a whole chapter, even writing the accent in which Joseph speeks. And the fact that many events happen in very few chapters seem untrue. In the case of these chapters Isabella runs away with Heathcliff; marries him; Catherine becomes very ill almost dies, but recuperates herself.
When Catherine was almost dying I was sure this was not going to be the end of her life because it is in the middle of the book. However I did not imagine she would become healthy again in one chapter. I believe Bronte could have extended this agony for more chapters prolonging her story.
In these chapters a comparison between Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights is made. As Rafael mentioned this comparison is also made in Chapter 4. However in these chapters Wuthering Heights is portryed as a terrible place to live. And since it is Isabella who is describing it, the place seems even worst. She continually refers to Thrushcross Grange as a place of comfort from which she should have never left. By the description we can easily see that after the main charcters left the Wuthering house, things declined. Hindley turned out to be a very bad master teaching Hareton only bad manners and Joseph becoming even more grumpy.
Also in this chapter we can see the truth about Isabella and Heathcliff's marriage. She is very unhappy with him and they do not share a faithful love. The idea that Heathcliff only married Isabella for interest becomes more apparent because he keeps asking Nelly about Catherine and her health.
However as Rafael is questioning I also question, how did Heathcliff become the master of Wuthering Heights if Hareton is alive and what does he do of such importance that he also shuts the door of his room and office not even letting his wife come in???
One thing I found very interesting is the fact how even after Isabella suffered a lot in trying to find a room in Wuthering Heights she still did not forget her racist manners. Once the servant she knew from past times appeared she reffered to him as "it". Racism is really a big deal in this novel!!!!
P.S. Mr. Kuczynski I am only posting today because on friday I arrived very late from the game in Sao Paulo and after I went to my farm because my parents were celebrating their 25th anniversary "Bodas de Prata" and we stayed there until today. At my farm there isn't any internet therefore I did not have acces to the blog. i am really sorry I hope this will not affect my grade!
Good Bye!!!

Rafael’s Comment on Chapter 4

Right at the beginning of this chapter the reader is confronted with a series of new information about the two houses and their past residents. Like I predicted, Lockwood ended searching for more information with his servants, and easily learned a lot. We also know now that at least 18 years ago, Catherine was still alive. And it’s clear that she died married to Linton. The question of how Heathcliff gets his money is raised and it was also established that he probably has some sort of emotional attachment to the Wuthering Heights manor, since he could easily live in a much better place. It was also interesting to know that Mrs. Heathcliff’s first name is also Catherine and she is actually Catherine’s daughter. Which makes me wonder is she was the Catherine Heathcliff, whose name was written on Catherine’s room in Wuthering Heights. And her husband was actually not Catherine’s son with Heathcliff, but the son of Heathcliff with Mrs. Linton, who turned out to be Heathcliff’s actual wife. This was really strange. How did Heathcliff end up marrying the sister of the husband of his beloved Catherine? But it is curious that if Heathcliff and Catherine couldn’t be together, at least their sons could. But I still wonder why Catherine Heathcliff is so unhappy? And did she love her husband? And why does Heathcliff hate her so much? The reader also learned that Hareton Earnshaw is probably the son of Hindley and Frances Earnshaw. Which makes me wonder, why is he not the master of the house since his father, grandfather, and probably all the Earnshaws before him owned the house. How did Heathcliff obtain possession of the house? At least we now know how Heathcliff got to the house in the first place. When Mrs. Dean, Lockwood’s maid, mentions that Hareton was “cast out like an unfledged dunnock”, I started thinking about whom supposedly “cast him out”? Was it his own father maybe or Heathcliff? And why was he cast out? Was Heathcliff trying to achieve some sort of revenge over the Earnshaws?

For the first time as well, while Mrs. Dean is telling her story, we hear about Catherine Linton’s mother, Mrs. Earnshaw and about how good of a person Mr. Earnshaw was. When more about Mr. Earnshaw was told is started thinking that Mr. Earnshaw, Hindley, and Heathcliff are probably foils of each other; each having qualities that lack on the other. Particularly Mr. Earnshaw and his son, and how the goodness of the father makes the cruelty of the son seem even bigger.

The issue of race and class was also introduced now. There were a few passages before, when Mr. Heathcliff’s “inferior” background is mentioned, but only now does it become an issue and we see the importance of it. When Heathcliff first appears he is actually described as being as dark as if he “came from the devil” and is vehemently criticized by Mrs. Earnshaw for being a gypsy, and for quite a while he is referred to as “it”. It is then that we realize that race and class is a big deal. I personally think it’s a bit far-fetched that a rich, respectful, and relativity powerful man such as Mr. Earnshaw would simply pick up a gypsy child from the streets and raise it in such a way that he actually becomes the master of the house, but I can’t do anything besides going along with it. It is also interesting how it was established that since they were very young, Hindley despised Heathcliff – who got his name from a son who died in childhood -. In fact it was clear that everyone, even Mrs. Earnshaw disliked Heathcliff. The only two who lacked the hate for the young boy was Catherine – who was also very young at the time – and Mr. Earnshaw, who actually began to treat him like a child. This whole class struggle and the prodigious class jump performed by Heathcliff actually reminded me of the discussion we had about Realism, because if I’m not mistaken this is exactly one of the recurrent themes in realism.

Rafael’s Comment on Chapter 3 (cont.)

The fourth and last “stage” of the known history of the Wuthering Heights manor is the present one, when Heathcliff owns both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Besides Heathcliff, we also know that at least four more people live in the Wuthering Heights manor: Mrs. Heathcliff, Heathcliff’s daughter-in-law; Hareton Earnshaw; Joseph, who ironically went from being one of the people who hated and took advantage of his power over Heathcliff to being his servant; and Zillah, the newly-employed housewife. Throughout the book we will probably be able to connect each “phase” with the next, especially the third one with the this last one, which differs so much from any of the previous ones in many way. For starters, how did Heathcliff go from being the despised boy – and supposedly from gypsy background - at Wuthering Heights to being the master of the house? And if Thrushcross Grange wasn’t already owned by the Earnshaw’s, how did Heathcliff acquired it? Does it have anything to do with Catherine and her supposed marriage with Linton – who seems to be the previous owner of Thrushcross Grange -? And what happened to the other characters? Did Hindley, Catharine, Frances and Linton die? How? Did Heathcliff kill any of them? Was Catherine killed? And what about Heathcliff’s son – mentioned in the previous chapter -? Is he Catharine’s son? What about Hareton? Is he Catharine’s son with Linton? Or is he Hindley’s son? And why does everyone who lives at Wuthering Heights hates each other so much? Specifically, why does Mrs. Heathcliff hates Mr. Heathcliff? And why can’t she supposedly leave the house? There are also a few lose events that I don’t know where to place, such as when did Heathcliff had a son, and when did he die. And a few other general and maybe not important doubts crossed my mind, such as: what about Catherine’s mother? What happened to her? But everything will probably be answered as the story goes on.

Not only is the story of Wuthering Heights and its past and current residents appealing, but I was also very interested in the story behind the actual room in which Lockwood is sleeping in. It probably belonged to Catherine, but it has lots of mysteries. I actually had a hard time understanding the description of the room; I still don’t quite know what the “large oak case” (19) is, it was extremely confusing when he said that it “[resembled] coach windows” and that it had “a singular sort of old-fashioned couch” inside “to obviate the necessity for every member of the family having a room to himself” (19). That made absolutely no sense to me. But vocabulary in general is not being a problem, except in some cases like: “vapid listlessness”, “obtrusive”, “assailant”, “cudgel”, “asseverated”, and “hubbub”. Going back to the room, I keep wondering if it was Catherine who kept writing her name over and over in the wall with different last names. I suppose that as she changed last names she would go and change the writing in the wall. And I wonder if Heathcliff knows what is written in all of those books. It was also weird when Heathcliff got very shocked to find Mr. Lockwood in that room; it showed how probably no one has used that chamber in quite a long time, augmenting its importance. The fact that the room was kept untouched all these years and that nobody is allowed to go there clearly show that it has a very significant meaning to Heathcliff, emphasizing his love for Catherine.

But even though there were many questions waiting to be answered, there are many things that were discovered in chapter three, and other things that can be easily assumed from what was told so far. For example, I think it’s obvious that one of the main “problems” in the story that Lockwood is slowly discovering, is that Heathcliff and Catherine probably loved each other. I’m almost certain that many of the “complications” and events revolve around the fact Heathcliff loved Catherine, showing now that this is probably one of those stories about “impossible loves”.

In terms of understanding everything, like I said above, I didn’t have much trouble except with a few words and a few descriptions. But besides the description of Catherine’s room, the dream Mr. Lockwood had concerning James Branderham was very confusing. Perhaps it was a bit purposefully confusing because it was a dream, but I’m not sure. First I don’t get what is the “First of the Seventy-First”. All I understood was that it was some kind of sin. But what is the sin? Does it mention? And is Branderham’s character important? What is the importance of this sin? Is it something one of the characters did? Is it something Heathcliff did? Was Brontë also aiming at criticizing the Church or religion for that matter? The entire dream sequence was quite confusing, until it got to the part where Lockwood is supposedly haunted by Catherine. Then it went from confusing to plain weird. I don’t know if it’s he had a dream, or if it was an actual ghost or apparition of some sort. But I guess that is the point. Zillah’s line at the beginning of the chapter sums it up quite well: Wuthering Heights “[has] many queer goings on”. She even says that she can’t be curious, which is the opposite of Lockwood. Regardless of the fact that there “strange” things going on, Lockwood’s dream about Catherine adds an entire new “supernatural” level to the book. It couldn’t just be a dream, because how would Lockwood know that she has been “waiting” for 20 years? And why did he say she committed a “mortal transgression”? What is this transgression? But one thing was established by this: the fact that she is supposedly a “ghost” or “spirit” makes it clear that she died. It’s something that could have been guessed already, but I wasn’t 100% sure. It’s also intriguing how we know that Catherine dies and that Heathcliff’s wife died, and that one of the “names” of Catherine was Heathcliff, and that Catherine and Heathcliff loved each other. So by connecting those pieces of information it’s easy to assume that Catherine was, at some point, Heathcliff’s wife. Which is weird because she supposedly married Linton, and was there such thing as divorce at that time? Or marrying more than once? Catherine probably didn’t actually married Heathcliff, but Heathcliff just considers her his wife. I was also pondering about the meaning of Catherine’s words in Lockwood’s dream. She kept asking him to “let her in”. I guess the dream “takes place” at the time Catherine was married to Linton and she had to live at Thrushcross Grange. The 20 years also put a date to my “time line”, because if the dates in the book are accurate then Catherine supposedly married Linton 5 years after the time when her father was the master of the house.

I’ve been also trying to apply some of the realism characteristics we studied to this book and found that though there many characteristics of Realism that can be found here, there are many as well that don’t really fit, especially when thinking about the Poetics. One major difference is the fact that even though Wuthering Heights has a strong and intriguing plot, I felt like it’s much more character-driven, which is something that goes against the Poetics. I say that because when you think of Realist works that do follow the Poetics, such as Doll’s House, it’s noticeable that the plot is much more important than the characters, and it’s very character-driven. In fact, the author probably intended the plot to be of greater importance so that people could easily relate with the characters (in Doll’s House, women are supposed to relate with Nora). That doesn’t happen at all in Wuthering Heights. Besides there is no such thing as a clear unity of plot or of time, since there are quite a few stories going on at once instead of everything revolving on a single action, and there are quite a few “flashbacks” in the book. The major “events” actually occurred in the past already. The fact that Realist works are not “supposed” to have a narrator is also not true in this book, since Mr. Lockwood is narrating everything and many times giving his opinion on what he sees, instead of letting the reader see everything for himself and develop his own ideas about it. But I need to keep in mind that I haven’t read that much yet to identify other Realist characteristics.

From now on it’s pretty clear how the book will continue; it’s all about answering the above questions. I’m just wondering how Lockwood will find out the rest of the story concerning the Wuthering Height’s residents. He will probably read a few more “diary entries”, but it can’t just be at that. Maybe he will find out things with the servants, and he will possibly become more intimate of Heathcliff and the other characters. Maybe he will find things from the past in his own house, or he will enter a room he shouldn’t at Wuthering Heights and find more mysterious writings. I’m just guessing how Lockwood will discover the rest of the story surrounding Wuthering Heights.

Chapter 9 (Rodrigo)

In Chapter 9, the thing that has caught my attention is the criticism towards racism present during the time. I am not sure if it is a direct criticism of racism because racism played a very big role during that time being that many people still possed slaves and may companies and employers utilized slavery as a means to produce their products. However, it is interesting to notice that the chapter is all about Hareton and Heathcliff and how they suffer because they are not born into the family but rather adopted into it and because they are of a slightly differnet colour than the other children they are punished for it. This can be seen in the very first paragraphs of the chapter when Mr. Hindley wants to punish Hareton because he cannot stand having him around because he is a pest and is not worthy of the family:

"'You'd rather be damned!' he said; 'and so you shall. No law in England can hinder a man from keeping his house decent, and mine's abominable! Open your mouth.' He held the knife in his hand, and pushed its point between my teeth: but, for my part, I was never much afraid of his vagaries. I spat out, and affirmed it tasted detestably - I would not take it on any account. 'Oh!' said he, releasing me, 'I see that hideous little villain is not Hareton: I beg your pardon, Nell. If it be, he deserves flaying alive for not running to welcome me, and for screaming as if I were a goblin. Unnatural cub, come hither! I'll teach thee to impose on a good-hearted, deluded father."

This passage demonstrates the utter cruelty which Mr.Hindley is prepared to bring upon the little boy only because he does not enjoy his presence being that he is of a slightly different race and origin. He literally treats the boy as he would his dog, or even worse as is the case for the treatment of many slaves or peoples of different skin colour during that time. Another passage that demonstrates the way in which Mr.Hindley does not truly "love" Hareton but in a way wants to force Hareton into loving him is when he says shortly after sticking the fishermans knife in his mouth:

"What a devilish conceit it is, to cherish our ears - we're asses enough without them. Hush, child, hush! Well then, it is my darling! wisht, dry thy eyes - there's a joy; kiss me. What! it won't? Kiss me, Hareton! Damn thee, kiss me! By God, as if I would rear such a monster! As sure as I'm living, I'll break the brat's neck.' "

Another thing that struck me as familiar from what I have seen from another Realistic novel A Doll's House, is how Catherine wants to gain consent or approval from Nelly for her to marry Linton because she knows that she would be marrying him just for the money and not for love. She finds it more advantagious to marry Linton for money so that she can evidentually save Heathecliff from her father's cruelty than to marry Heathcliffe for true love and live in poverty and him living under constant abuse from Catherine's father. This is similar to what Mrs. Linde from Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House did in order to have enough money to be able to take care of her mother and two brothers, for instead of marrying Krogstad who is her true love she decideds to leave him and marry another many who has money and could potentially finance her mother and brothers. However Mrs.Linde is in a way forced to make this descision because that is the only way that she can take care of her family. She is willing to sacrifice her happiness in order to help her family. Catherine is doing the similar thing in Wuthering Heights by marrying Linton in order to have more economic power to save her true love, Heathecliff.

"Nelly, I see now you think me a selfish wretch; but did it never strike you that if Heathcliff and I married, we should be beggars? whereas, if I marry Linton I can aid Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of my brother's power.' "

Up to Chapter 12-Camila

Well I am starting to become impressed with the plot of the story because tings are starting to get intense. Before I comment on my pages let me say something to you Rafa......
All the questions and doubts you are having are answered in the following chapters. Some of the questions you make are foreshadows of what will happen next. The last name confusion Linton Earnshaw and Heathcliff is clearly explained around chapter 10. By these chapters the summary on the back of the book will start to make sense. Heathcliff is in the Earnshaw family because on one of Mr. Earnshaw's trips to Europe, in Liverpool he saw Heatchliff alone in the streets and decided to adopt him. That's why he is neglected by the rest of the family. I think it's better for you to answer your questions on your own by reading a little further in the book or else I will spoil the interesting parts for you.
Rodrigo, I found really interesting the points you made on your post. The idea of explaining the characters with metaphors and simile's was something I saw but didn't take real notice of. If you read a little more you will notice how even more similar this realistic novel is to the brazilian one's because then the real drama will start to be revealed and a romance(as in couple) will become troublesome like in Primo Basílio.
Going back to the pages, I find it interesting how lots of events have been happening in one chapter. In the pages I have read Catherine has gotten really sick with a high fever, Heatchliff has run away, Catherine has gotten healthier and married Linton, the Lintons(parents) have died and left Isabella with her brother, and Heathcliff appeared once again. In three chapters three years have passed. This makes me wonder for how long will Bronte have a reasonable and logical story to tell??
Now I am interested in the story because it has become more exciting with the drama of Catherine marrying Linton but still loving Heathcliff and suddenly he appears to make things even more difficult. Only one thing I have to question is what has happened to Isabella??Did Heathcliff kiss her or had any type of relationship with her??and if yes was it something he and Catherine had planned in order to get closer without Linton noticing??
I think now I understand why Bronte has two narrators. Nelly is the narrator for the past events and Mr Lockwood is the narrator for the present. Whenever Bronte wants to shift to the present Lockwood speaks, and when trying to explain the past Nelly narrates.
I think no one will be able to answer my questions because I am far ahead, so I might as well just read further to discover the truth about Wuthering Heights!!!

Rafael’s Comment on Chapter 3

Instead of trying to solve the mystery surrounding Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights manor, chapter three only made everything more confusing. It’s as is the story was this huge puzzle that keeps getting larger and larger. I made tons of notes while I was reading, and unlike my notes from the previous chapters, these notes were extremely chaotic because the reader is exposed to a lot of intriguing information and a few new and crucial characters. On the other hand, as more information and new characters were presented, just like Lockwood said, “an immediate interest kindled within me for the unknown Catherine” (20) and the other residents of Wuthering Heights. So to try to organize things a little more I made sort of a time line of the events that have occurred in Wuthering Height. Of course there were lots of gaps, but it helped me “picture” the story better. It also gave me a “direction”; it made me aware of what I need to look out for while reading.
So after reading chapter four, I was able to identify four different “stages” or “phases” in the history of Wuthering Heights manor. The first period took place about a “quarter of a century back” (20), when the father of Catherine Earnshaw was the master of Wuthering Heights. At the time, we know for sure that at least four people, besides Mr. Earnshaw, used to live in the house: Joseph, the servant who the reader already knows; Catherine Earnshaw, who supposedly used to occupy the room in which Mr. Lockwood is in and who kept the “diaries” which Lockwood is reading; Hindley Earnshaw, the older son of Mr. Earnshaw and brother of Catherine Earnshaw; and Heathcliff, who seemed to be well-treated in the house and a good friend of Catherine. But here the first question arises: what is Heathcliff’s connection with the rest of the residents of Wuthering Heights? Why is he there? Because it seems that he doesn’t belong on the family, both because he is of different ethnicity and background and because of his name. Regardless of how he got there, the point is that during this period, Heathcliff was very well treated by Mr. Earnshaw. In fact many times, Catherine makes it clear that her father was very nice and good.
The second “phase” of Wuthering Heights is when Hindley became the new master of the manor. Making us wonder what happened to his father. Did he die? How? Was he killed? Is it important? Even with this change, Joseph, Catherine, and Heathcliff remained in the house and were joined by Hindley’s wife, Frances. But now, it was made clear that Joseph was quite mean, maybe not mean, but it seemed as if he had a certain repressed anger which he released upon young Mrs. Earnshaw and especially on Heathcliff, who was treated by everyone in the house except Catherine as the child of a slave or something of that nature. Catherine’s attitude towards Joseph were also made clear when she drew an amusing caricature of him, showing that she probably disliked him as well, but was still in a position of mocking him. Hindley also showed to be quite cruel with both Heathcliff – “his conduct to Heathcliff is atrocious” (20) - and his sister, Catherine, who even wrote in her “diary” that “Hindley is a detestable substitute” (20) for her father. Catherine goes on and gives a few examples of how cruel Hindley and Joseph could be. The events she wrote about also show how Hindley was disrespectful regarding their father, which may hint about what happened to Mr. Earnshaw. Maybe Hindley had something to do with Earnshaw’s death, if he died at all, but I could be exaggerating here. Heathcliff and Catherine seemed to remain good friends, actually very close friends. Catherine even mentions that they were planning to rebel. This made me ponder about whether if they did end up rebelling. Did it work? Was that why suddenly Heathcliff wasn’t allowed to even sit with the rest of the people? If it is, what exactly did he do? I also had a doubt about vocabulary when this “phase” is narrated. At one point, Joseph was really angry at Catherine and Heathcliff and asseverated that “‘owd Nick’ would fetch us as sure as we were living”. It could be nothing but an expression, but I still wonder, who is “owd Nick”?
Then the third “stage” took place when Catherine left the house unwillingly. That’s basically where everything starts to get confusing and lots of questions emerge. What happened to her? Did she die? How? Or did she marry Linton? A started to think about Linton because of the small summary at the back cover of the book, and because before it was mentioned that someone scratched the names Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff, and Catherine Linton in the ledge of the room where Lockwood is staying. So since then I kept trying to connect the names and think of why she kept “changing” her name and it seems quite plausible that she left Wuthering Heights manor after marrying a man named Linton. But then again, who is Linton? And why did she leave the house unwillingly? Was she forced to marry Linton, if she married him at all? And if she was forced to marry him, why didn’t she like him? Is it simply because it was a forced and arranged marriage or is it because she loved someone else? And if she loved someone else, was it Heathcliff? If it was Heathcliff, and assuming he loved her as well, what did he do when Catherine got married? What happened? What about Hindley? Is he still the master of the house? Was he the one who arranged the marriage?
These are only a few of the various questions and observations I have made concerning chapter three, since I don’t have much time, I will continue this post later.

Post for week of April 9-15(Rodrigo on Chapter 8)

Chapter 8 serves to further explain the main characters backgrounds and to show why they are the way they are. Chapter 8 begins by explaining how Hareton was born and under what circumstances he came to live under. One thing that caught my attention was how Bronte decided to describe the characters in the book, through the use of metaphors and similes and antitese(Portuguese). Examples of this can be seen in various passages during the chapter such as the one shown below:
· “Joseph remained to hector over tenants and labourers; and because it was his vocation to be where he had plenty of wickedness to reprove.”
· “His treatment of the latter was enough to make a fiend of a saint.”
· “Mr. Edgar seldom mustered courage to visit Wuthering Heights openly. He had a terror of Earnshaw's reputation, and shrunk from encountering him; and yet he was always received with our best attempts at civility.”
These literary devices give more depth to the content of the novel than if Bronte were to continue to simple explain the characters as they are without using any literary devices. Another character that caught my attention was Earnshaw, who demonstrated a very stubborn character when his wife was sick and everybody was telling him that she was dyeing but he did not want to believe it:
“Poor soul! Till within a week of her death that gay heart never failed her; and her husband persisted doggedly, nay, furiously, in affirming her health improved every day. When Kenneth warned him that his medicines were useless at that stage of the malady, and he needn't put him to further expense by attending her, he retorted, 'I know you need not - she's well - she does not want any more attendance from you! She never was in a consumption. It was a fever; and it is gone: her pulse is as slow as mine now, and her cheek as cool.' He told his wife the same story, and she seemed to believe him; but one night, while leaning on his shoulder, in the act of saying she thought she should be able to get up to-morrow, a fit of coughing took her - a very slight one - he raised her in his arms; she put her two hands about his neck, her face changed, and she was dead.”
In chapter 8 the reader continues to see many characteristics of Realism which I mentioned in my last post which include describing each characters past and many events in his/her life which influenced them into being the way they are in the present. This is as I mentioned before, a very important characteristic of Realism not only in Europe but also in other countries that adopted the Realistic method of writing in literature such as Brazil. It is very often seen in Brazilian novels such as Dom Casmurro and Primo Basilio, the use of this type of characterization to give a psychoanalyses of each character. Bronte has a very distinct style of writing, in which she sets up the novel telling the story from the end to the beginning which is not very common in novels from other time periods such as the romantics for example. The first few chapters of Wuthering Heights show the main characters such as Heathcliff and Lockwood in their present state, in which the reader begins to learn about Catherine’s past along with the Heathcliff’s families past and what led him to be so alone. It is through Lockwood’s direct narration of the facts in the story along with Bronte’s unique style of portraying the story through the main character finding a diary for example and learning of Heathcliff and Catherine’s past through it that the reader is introduced to all of the characters. I personally feel that this makes understanding the novel more difficult because the reader is forced to pay attention to the time line and closely to who is speaking in order to understand what is going on. If Bronte continues to narrate the novel as she is in the first few chapters, I cant predict at what chapter she is actually going to get to the climax of the novel, however overall it is beginning to show that it is slightly interesting and probably will have some more twists and turns as the story develops.

Up to Chapter 10

Wow in these chapters many things happen that actually surprised me. First Hindley's wife has baby however she dies after his birth leaving the poor child for Nelly to take care of. In this part once again the weather was very important even thopugh the mood of the character was joyful it was winter and winter usually symbolizes death or the end of things. In this case it was the end of Frances's life, however a beginning for baby Heraton. Following up these scenes Heathcliff gives a demonstration of his deep love for Catherine which was pretty cute but also very picky. He proved to her that he payed attention to her acts by marking on the calendar how many days she spent with him and linton and so he complains that he receives less attention. Although he is proving his love I would not be able to handle a boyfriend so picky as he is with Catherine wanting all the attention to himself. Then there is a strong scene (although treated normally) of Hindley's drunkness caused by the death of his wife. This part I felt was very realistic because it showed how the death of a beloved person can end the life of another like it happened with Hindley, and this is very true because it is common to hear about people who become depressed after the loss of close relative or wife.
In these pages Cathy tells Nelly her biggest secret which involves her love complication. Before I was thinking Cathy was a stuck up girl, with two opposed characters who only wanted to take advantage of others, but as she tells her secret I began to sympathize and understand her psychological dilemma. Once she said she was only trying to help Heathcliff grow in life and be freed from her brother's commands, I became more fond of her character; however I'm still in the beginning of the book so my opinion might change.
I've noticed that this story looks much like the Brazilian novelas, where there is a love dilemma, a drinking problem due to family complications, subordinates trying to make their own story, etc. I think that might be a reason why I'm not that much interested in it since I have become tired of the "novelas".
I know I'm still in the beginning but I think Emily Bronte did wrong in starting the book the way she did because the suspense will not be that great since the reader already knows from the beginning that Cathy dies and she was in a love dilemma between Heathcliff and Linton.Eventhough a climax can still be built from this story the suspense of the end will not be as intriging. Also the fact that Lockwood is the narrator, but Nelly is the one telling most part of the story makes it not as exciting. Anyways I think I'm enjoying a little bit more the book now that I am understanding the psychological aspect of it!
Bye!!

Commenting on another Comment

I completely agree with Rafael's and Rodrigo's analyses of realism in this novel. The long narrative does really emphasize the psychological analyses of the characters and it becomes very apparent throughout the novel. Another important aspect as Rodrigo said is the emphasis on racism towards social class. I also do sympathize now with Heatcliff because I notice he has suffered a lot with the Earnshaw's. This racism is very apparent when Heatcliff arrives with the master from Liverpool and the family referrs to him as "it". They treet him as an unwanted object and he is only recognized once he recieves the name of Heatcliff.
I also agree with Rafael on the fact that the weather and the environment are very important in this novel, and sometimes it kills the "suspense" of the story because the reader knows what to expect being that the weather is dark or rainy. For example when Heatchliff and Cathy runaway and she is bitten by Sparkles, it was a rainy dark night and they were running through the woods. It was very clear that something bad was going to happen to the two kids.
One thing I am finding really good with this book is that I am practicing the words I learn with the Vocab book. I have noticed that in almost all pages there is one word from the Vocab book, and some different words that I do not know the meaning of are words to come in the book. Therefore I am putting into to practice my Vocab. Anyways now I am starting to enjoy the story however the fact that the story evolves around the past makes it not much exciting.
P.S. my post on the next pages I have been reading will be made tomorrow because do to the confusion of this week my daily pages schedule got messed up. I hope this will not be much of a problem!!!!
Happy Easter everyone!!!!!

Rafael’s Comments on Chapter 2

In chapter two various characters were introduced and the reader learned a lot more about Mr. Heathcliff. Certain traits of Mr. Lockwood’s character also became clearer. Such as the fact that Mr. Lockwood constantly makes assumptions about the people and the things he observes. Usually his assumptions are wrong, which makes the lives of the residents of the Wuthering Heights manor even more mysterious and confusing. I guess it also makes Mr. Lockwood more curious and inquisitive – despite him saying before that he is a very introverted person - about their lives. And it’s through Lockwood’s subtle curiosity that the reader finds out about the past of both Mr. Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights. So Lockwood’s inaccurate conjectures helps the reader discover more and more about the people living in Withering Heights manor.
Before discussing the characters that were introduced in this chapter I think it’s important to note now how certain descriptions of Withering Heights manor and the weather reflect Mr. Heathcliff’s character. For example the fact that the house is closed and its hard for Lockwood to enter may show how Heathcliff is a very private person or that he holds lots of secrets or hides lots of things. Well, the fact alone that guests are very unwelcome to the house makes it clear that they are hiding something. And the crazy, wild, and dangerous weather may possibly symbolize Mr. Heathcliff’s crazy, wild, and dangerous past and maybe his present. I could be very wrong or overanalyzing, but I know there is something about the weather. From what we learned an author – even in this case in which its Brontë’s first and only novel - never wastes a lot of time describing the weather or the environment just for the sake of doing it, especially in this case where the place is so characteristic and important to the plot.
One theme that comes up a few times as well is happiness, or the fact that the residents of Wuthering Heights manor supposedly chose to live far away from the city to - just how Lockwood mentions on page 12 - find happiness. So the idea that happiness can be found in such a remote and exiled place is questioned. Mr. Lockwood’s comment even seems a bit ironic because as far as the reader can tell none of the residents of Wuthering Heights manor are happy. Mr. Heathcliff seems to hold some sort of grudge of the past and he apparently hates the people who live with him, just like they hate everyone else. Mrs. Heathcliff and Mr. Earnshaw are also obviously discontent, and so is Joseph. The reader also questions their will to live in that place, what brought all of these conflicting individuals to live under the same roof? Are they there by choice?
In terms of vocabulary and understanding, this chapter was quite easy to follow except for a few words here and there, such as “hemmed”, “deigned”, “canister”, “box his ears”, and “rafter”. Now the hard parts were when Joseph spoke. I don’t know if he is he speaks like that because he is uneducated and of “lower class” or if it’s some sort of accent. The point is that even after reading his lines various times, I think I only get the general idea of his speeches. For example, in page eight all I got was that he can’t open the door because Mr. Heathcliff is not there yet, and Mrs. Heathcliff won’t open the door as well. But I don’t know what he meant by “Goa rahned by th’ end ut’ laith…” (8). And the part when Joseph is, I think, chastising Mrs. Heathcliff in page 14 and 15, is also very unclear. Is he accusing her of sorcery? But besides Joseph’s dialogues, everything is relatively clear. Actually, because the vocabulary is a little challenging, I’m never certain about any assumptions I make. For example, I have the impression that the narrator is often ironic, but then again, I’m never certain. The most clear example for me is at the end of page 13, when Lockwood says that he “began to feel unmistakably out of place in that pleasant family circle”. I find that very ironic, because it is very clear that he is not in a “pleasant family circle”. And he says that after being accused by Mr. Earnshaw of offending him by simply assuming that he was Mr. Heathcliff’s son. Later on he also says that he “heard another specimen of their civil behavior amongst each other” (16), which I guess can also be ironic because they don’t act civilized with one another, in fact that are all quite rude with each another. But I’m really not sure about this.
In terms of the characters, the reader learns that there are a total of five people living at the Withering Heights manor: Zillah, an apparently nice housewife; Joseph, a very rude servant; Hareton Earnshaw, a young and hostile man; Mrs. Heathcliff, the young and stubborn daughter-in-law of Mr. Heathcliff; and Mr. Heathcliff himself. Mr. Heathcliff appears to be around forty and is the master of the house. A quote I particularly liked when he is described is the following: “his reserve springs from an aversion to showy displays of feeling… He’ll love and hate equally under cover” (4). I think that sums his personality quite well. He shows nothing but dislike concerning both Mrs. Heathcliff and Mr. Earnshaw, who both seem to dislike Mr. Heathcliff in return. I also got the impression, though I’m not sure, that both his wife and his son are dead. I think it’s also important to notice how Zillah seems to be the only compassionate person of the house and how Joseph really hates and fears Mrs. Heathcliff and apparently her mother as well. But I think that the other characters can also be compassionate and nicer, they are just covering it all up with some sort of anger or grudge form the past. I’m also curious to understand how Mr. Earnshaw fits in the story. Because he is neither Mr. Heathcliff’s son, nor Mrs. Heathcliff’s husband, nor is he a servant. So I’m curious to understand how he connects to the others. The last thing I should note is that Mrs. Heathcliff, who by the way is about 17 years of age, is apparently kept in the house. It seems that she is prohibited to leave the property, which makes us – the readers – wonder why.

I think the story is getting more interesting, as the story becomes more complicated. But so far it’s still not very entertaining. It still seems like one of those books that a few months after you finish reading, you already forg

Rafael’s Comments on Chapter 1

First, because the author of the book is a woman, I automatically assumed the narrator was a woman, so I got a bit confused at the beginning. Once it was established the narrator was a man called Mr. Lockwood and that he had just moved in to a house called Thrushcross Grange, things became a little more clear. From what I understood Mr. Heathcliff owns both Wuthering Heights, which is where he lives, and Thrushcross Grange which is where Mr. Lockwood is currently living. So the story basically starts when Mr. Lockwood comes to introduce himself and meet his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff.

From what I read at the back cover of the book, and from the description given of Mr. Heathcliff, I think the story isn’t really about Mr. Lockwood. I’m not sure but I got the impression that the story is much more focused on Mr. Heathcliff’s life. He just seems like one of those mysterious characters that have been through a lot in their lifetime. I think his life story will slowly be discovered by the narrator. I guess I’m trying to say that this book will probably be like The Great Gatsby, in the sense that the narrator isn’t really the focus but the characters around him are what the book is really all about. Maybe even more to the extreme than The Great Gatsby, something like The Virgin Suicides, or somewhere in the middle of those two, narrator-involvement wise. Besides that, I think this is one of those stories where the past of each character is extremely relevant, in the sense that most of the real “action” already occurred, and now people are just living the consequences of their past actions.
So far the book hasn’t been very enticing, it’s just mildly interesting. There are some passages which can be very tedious - especially when Lockwood starts describing the house -, but I guess they are very important to set the correct tone of the story, and I have the impression that it’s one of those cases in which the house and the environment in general tells a lot about the characters, but I confess I haven’t thought that much about that yet. I mean besides the fact that both the house and Mr. Heathcliff are rather old and have the appearance of having being through a lot in their time, I haven’t made many connections between the house and its owner. I guess the weather and the location of Wuthering Heights is also important, but this will probably be clearer afterwards, when more about the characters is discovered. Regardless of the importance of the house description, I still got very lost at some points; I guess the vocabulary and maybe a few of the long sentence constructions got in the way of my understanding. I tried to picture the house, but sometimes I just couldn’t. For example, the following passage on page three was quite confusing for me: “One end, indeed, reflected splendidly both light and heat from ranks of immense pewter dishes, interspersed with silver jugs and tankards, towering row after row, on a vast oak dresser, to the very roof. The latter had never been underdrawn: its entire anatomy lay bare to an inquiring eye, except where a frame of wood laden with oatcakes and clusters of legs and beef, mutton, and ham, concealed it”. I could be very wrong, but I’m guessing the first part is just a bunch of piled dishes, but the “frame of wood” and “cluster of legs and beef” sections are really confusing, and I honestly have no idea what was meant. But so far vocabulary hasn’t been that much of a problem, except in a few sections. Obviously in a first reading, things can be very confusing, but after reading a couple of sections a few more times, things get clearer.

Rodrigo: Page 30-60

In the last few pages of Chapter 3 nd the first few pages of chapter 4 the reader is presented with a very real description of Heathcliff and his wife and their very rugged,cold and rude personalities. The author sets out to explain Heathcliff's past along with Lockwood and Cathy, so that the reader can have a very complete psycological evaluation of all the characters to understand why they are the way they are in the present. This is a very important characteristic of Realism along with the depiction of the normal civilian in its raw state of being, in his/her every day life. By describing the character's past, the reader is presented with a broad psycological analyses of the character giving a very real perspective of why the character is the way he/she is in the present. In the first few pages of Chapter 4 I started to consider Heathcliff and Mrs.Heathcliff very rude people, however after reading in the following pages about their past as children(Heathcliff, Lockwood, Cathy and Haerton) I began to sympathise with Heathcliff because of the way in which he was treated as a child. The reader starts to sympathise with Heathcliff because we start to see the Social values present at that time and the racism present against people of darker skin color such as Heathcliff. The thing that I dont enjoy about Wuthering Heights is the long style of narration which means that it takes a very long time to say anything. As opposed to the the first 30 pages, I felt that Chapter 4 to the middle of Chapter 7, presented more of a explanation of why Heathcliff and his associates are as angry and disspationate about anything as they are. So far, Wuthering Heights has been very similar to portuguese Realism novels, in many characteristics considering the amount of characters present and the importance placed on describing the psycological state of mind of each character. So far, I have no idea what to expect, but I believe it is going to be something good.
P.S: I wont be able to post for the next two weeks because I am going to be in NYC and I wont have access to a computer. So I will post three times on the week we get back. Have a nice spring holiday everyone.

Up to Chapter 8

By reading the first few pages I already got the feeling that this novel will be filled with supernatural happenings. One moment has already happened with Catherine's ghost appearing to Mr. Lockwood in pages 25-26. However on this part I did not really understand how
he supposedly got cut when seeing her ghost. He said the window was closed hoever she grabbed his arm, but kept asking to let her in?!Then he started to bleed.....how is that possible if there was no where for him to cut himself since the window was closed and the ghost was outside???\this is why I really do not appreciate supernatural happenings for I usually find incongruency in it. Any ways, the story is now starting to become clearer for the characters are clearer now. I was only able to really understand the relationship between the characters of Wuthering Heights after Mrs. Dean explained them. One thing I found really similar to the portuguese realism novels is the great amount of characters. For example in the book O Cortiço there are more than ten very important characters, and in this book although the main story is about Heathcliff and Catherine there are various characters that contribute to the story and should be taken note of. Anyways I still think that the book will become more interesting by the middle when a climax is biult, at least that is what I hope for. The start has not been that much catchy for me at least I don't about you guys but I prefer real life story and not supernatural happenings.
P.S. Is anybody else having a little of a hard time reading Joseph's lines???Sometimes even after reading aloud I can't understand all the words!!
See you in two weeks!!!

Pages 0-20

I completely agree with you Rod. I am also very lost....I got so confused that I had to stop reading for a while or else I would end up giving up! In the first pages I truly did not understand what was happening because at first it seemed like a meeting, then I understood as a conversation about some kind of military subject...anyways I am still in doubt about the narrator....what is the relationship of the narrator with Heatcliff????will I discover this soon???
I really did not like the way the characters were introduced because i was very confused mainly when he is talking about Mrs. Heathcliff...even after he discovers that the women he is describing is Heathcliff's daughter in-law the narrator continues to call her Mrs. Heathcliff. I think I will have to read a lot further still to get a hang of the story....or else i will be filled with doubts!!

Page 0-30:Rodrigo

I read up to page 30 during class, and I dunno I found it rather confusing in the beginning with the language that was used by Bronte to caracterize both men. At first I did not know for sure who was Heathcliff and who the other man was, until around Page 5. I guess that the beginning of all novels/books are kind of boring which would make this one normal. I don't like the way that Bronte introduces each character because she introduces them during a scene where there is a lot going on making it confusing for the reader to know who is who. This can be seen when all of the characters are gathered together in the general living room at Thrushcross Grange by the fire. Lockwood is asking Heathcliff for a guide to get back to his house, but Heathcliff denies him one because of the harsh weather outside. This is when young Catherine and Hareton are introduced, and they are described as being very bitter people. Then when Lockwood is allowed a room in Thrushcross Grange, in the room where the older Catherine supposedly dies, there begins to be an explanation of why the room is haunted when Lockwood reads Catherines diary. When Lockwood falls aslep during reading the diary, he starts to see her ghost and becomes very afraid. He screams in his sleep and calls Heathcliff's attention. When Heathcliff comes into the room and sees that Lockwood is staying in the room he becomes angry because the room is off limits. Lockwood then explains that it was his servants that put him up in the room and then Heathcliff becomes angry once again but Lockwood goes to explain that the room truly is haunted and that he saw Catherines ghost. Heathcliff then calls out to Catherine in hopes of seeing her again and telling her how much he loves her after all the years that she died. By this part of the novel, things start to get more interesting because the reader is introduced to who Heathcliff really is and about his background involving Thrushcross Grange and the people around him. I know that from now on the story will get more interesting as it goes along. Emily Bronte's style of writing is very different from that of the Romantics and of any other style of writing that we have seen, and personaly I do not enjoy it but the story is very interesting.
Rodrigo

Hey....I'm just confirming I can post!!!

Hey Guys!

Hey guys this is just to get our blogg started. I would say that each of us should go at their own pace but ofcourse should post at least once per week. It doesnt really matter when just post. If you want to post more than once thats fine too. Also, when you post if you could just add what page or chapter you are on, so that each of us knows where the other is regarding pages. See ya later!