Suffering comes to all of us, in ways that vary, of course. We often believe that the way we handle different kinds of suffering define us, meaning the actions we take due to the obstacle faced creates our destiny. After all, our choices determine the events that will occur later in our lives.
In Wuthering Heights, a gothic novel recently read in class written by Emily Brontë, all characters within the novel experienced some kind of lost leading to their suffering. From the very beginning of the novel, Heathcliff is brought to a new home, revealing the loss of his own family and later the rejection felt from his newfound home. Later in Brontë's novel, characters such as Catherine and Heathcliff endure sufferings through their love for one another. Catherine was stuck between two lovers, her love for Edgar was described as “the foliage in the woods(60)” that will evolve over time. On the other hand, her endearment towards Heathcliff which “resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary,(60)” certainly, Catherine knew which of the two she was the most fond of, but Heathcliff's background and the idea of him never being able to fully take care of her financially helped her make up her mind. Although choosing Edgar meant she could never have a chance with Heathcliff, she chose Edgar who could help her afford a luxurious lifestyle. Edgar experienced suffering as his wife passed away leaving behind Cathy, giving him no heir (meaning his territories will be usurped by Heathcliff). Heathcliff's suffering, I believe was the most intriguing (as weird as it sounds) his endearment to Catherine transformed him into a character hated by almost everyone who surrounded him. As evil Heathcliff seems, his love for Catherine was so profound that he wished she would haunt him as “the murdered do haunt their murderers.(124)” Heathcliff among other characters died from their suffering, revealing how suffering indeed plays a significant role in everyone's life whether in literature or in real life.
I will certainly not go more in depth on that matter, (I know you wish, but I won't! I refuse to). Wuthering Heights is one of the most intriguing and compelling novels I have ever read. Although I will not lie, at first I had a hard time keeping track of who the narrator is or different concepts used within the novel and why they are important. I have actually recommended this novel to a friend of mine in Florida and so far she loves it!
Many would argue that understanding this novel can be tricky, so feel free to get help from the audio version (to keep track of who's the narrator or what is going on). Try to keep in mind that good readers/writers are not only the ones who read a work of literature and get it the first time, good writers are as well among the ones who find obstacles and get help from friends, through different types of research to grasp a clear understanding of a work of literature!
I really like your post. I love how you talked about the suffering of many people and how they're motivated by obstacles to act out in response; whether positive or negative. I really like how you connected Cathy and Heathcliff in this blog post because after all, Cathy must have suffered the worse because she forced herself to marry a man to protect and save Heathcliff. That means she had to face his resentment right? Anyways, really nice post! However remember, you were given the opportunity to do anything about this novel so maybe next time when given the same assignment, take a different approach. Don't just make a blog you know? Make it more fun and interactive. Other than that, nice job!
ReplyDeleteYour post was so interesting to read! I never actually thought about how loss is really the common denominator for all the characters in the novel until you mentioned it. I really now am starting to understand how all the pieces are coming together and how she uses loss as an aspect to tell her story by. In addition, I love that you take your time and use quotations to make your points and to show that you defiantly understand what was going on in the novel. I found that as I kept working hard in order to understand what was going on it eventually started to come to me. I have also recommended it to some of my friends as I think it is a challenging book, I feel it is a great way to introduce someone to Gothic Literature. In your future blog posts do not be afraid to analyze some more and really take a risk in thinking and trying to get inside the authors head. Throughout the novel I kept questioning myself whenever I got confused, what was she trying to say. There is a reason the book is the way it is and thus I feel when you treat it like a mystery you come out understanding it more.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this take on Heathcliff and everyone else's sufferings and how they play an important part in the novel. Many people (according to the discovery education video) truly resent Heathcliff for what he did, but personally, I do not, and this theory backs me up on it. However, I do agree with Nique that this should be a little bit more interactive and entertaining. You want readers to enjoy coming back to these every week! Not just reading through something and having it be just a blog. And remember, when parentheticsl citation comes along, close the quotation marks, write the page number and then use the period.
ReplyDeleteYour post started off really nicely and was interesting, but I was a bit disappointed by the second paragraph. Not because it was terrible, it was really good and informative for anyone who has never read the book, and there was not a lot of plot summary, and it only focussed on the important parts. However, the way it started, it sounded as if you were writing a formulaic introduction paragraph, and that took away from it being a blog post, because it felt as if I was reading your WH essay. I enjoyed your take on the novel and how you went into depth about Heathcliff and how he was treated. Also telling your readers who have never read the book or is currently reading the book to also use the audio book was nice, and it showed that you really want to connect to the people reading your blogs. I am looking forward to your next post.
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