"I was amazed, more than ever, to behold the transformation of Heathcliff. He had grown a tall, athletic, well-formed man; beside whom my master seemed quite slender and youth-like. His upright carriage suggested the idea of his having been in the army. His countenance was much older in expression and decision of feature than Mr. Linton's; it looked intelligent, and retained no marks of former degradation." (pg 118)
Personally, I have really enjoyed this novel so far. I like how the characters are atypical of that of a normal love story, and I like how Heathcliff is not what one would consider a romantic hero. While it is true that sometimes I think he is overly cruel, it is also refreshing to not be able to predict anything he is going to do. The question that I keep asking myself as I read this story is which character should I pity the most. Many would argue that Heathcliff is too cruel to deserve sympathy, but I almost think that he is the one that deserves the most due to his history. If Catherine had not broken his heart at such an early age, he may have turned out completely different. I like to imagine what Heathcliff would have been like if he had been the one to marry Catherine instead, but that is equally difficult to picture. For example, if he had never run away then he probably would not have been motivated to become educated or rich. For reasons like these, I am happy to an extent that he left Wuthering Heights for a short time. Once he became educated and wealthy, Catherine had no grounds left to criticize him for.
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