Wuthering Heights - pages 3-108

I definitely think that, with the death of Brontë’s mom when she was three years old, she developed differently than if her mom had been alive for a longer period of time. Instead of being taught conventional activities like cooking and sewing by her mom, Brontë instead acted and thought unconventionally, becoming someone who held “more important values: intellectual independence, unconventional thinking,…” (page 5).

            I like how Brontë defines the word ‘wuthering’ at the beginning of the book. It seems to foreshadow events that will involve major conflicts between the characters. I have an idea of how Mr. Lockwood feels when he “was thrown into the company of a most fascinating creature, a real goddess,…” (page 27). As soon as the woman glanced over at him, Mr. Lockwood says “And what did I do? I confess it with shame— shrunk icily into myself, like a snail, at every glance retired colder and farther…” (page 27). I can somewhat relate to this experience because I’ve kind of done the same thing. I liked this girl in high school, but I was very shy, so I never actually told her how I felt. Every time she looked at me, though, I seemed to just withdraw to myself. I didn’t mean to send mixed signals but, every time the girl I liked looked at me, I would sort of retreat to myself. In addition, it’s funny how Mr. Lockwood sarcastically refers to the woman sitting at the table in Wuthering Heights as “the amiable hostess” (page 31). She doesn’t answer the door when Mr. Lockwood loudly knocks and, when he is trying to be nice to her, she either sits in her chair silently, just staring at him, or replies with short responses. As far as Heathcliff, the host, he seems to be mean-spirited. When Mr. Lockwood was attacked by the two dogs after leaving Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff laughed at the spectacle. If I was in the same situation as Mr. Lockwood, I would probably be even madder at Heathcliff for laughing. When Mr. Earnshaw says “It’s as dark almost as if it came from the devil” (page 51), referring to the boy he brought home, it made me think that maybe it’s foreshadowing that the boy is going to cause trouble for the family. Including the word “devil” also goes with the gothic genre of the book because it brings a supernatural element to the story. Another possible foreshadowing I noticed is where the book talks about the boy being christened “Heathcliff” and that “It was the name of a son who died in childhood, and it has served him ever since, both for Christian and surname” (page 52). This sentence hints at the notion that someone close to Heathcliff is going to die or maybe Heathcliff will have a son who will die in childhood. I look forward to seeing how the title of the book ties into the characters and events of the story.