Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Resolution & My Thoughts Duo

"His eyes met mine so keen and fierce, I started; and then he seemed to smile. I could not think of him dead; but his face and throat were washed with rain; the bed-clothes dripped, and he was perfectly still... when I put my fingers to it [his skin] I could doubt no more: he was dead and stark!" (page 412)

To be honest, I thought that after reading so in depth about these characters' lives, the novel itself ended somewhat abruptly and left the ending so that the reader could interpret it how he or she wished. The entire novel is focused around love: unrequited love, forbidden love, love that cannot be acted upon, anguished love... the list is long. What most astounds me is Heathcliff - as hateful as he is, he never stopped loving Catherine throughout his entire life and feelings never once changed for her. He spends half of the novel talking about how we wishes for nothing more than to join her in death in order for them to be together again, and at the end Nelly narrates his eventual demise. Essentially he caused it himself because he decided not to eat for four days, but who's counting anyway? As the novel progressed, Heathcliff kept getting crazier and crazier; the ending was not surprising to me how he finally decided to give up on life. The way he died seem sort of uncomfortable, but it wasn't my death so I guess my opinion on the matter isn't the most imporant factor as it is. To me, I didn't really feel as though many of the conflicts had been resolved in this novel before its endings. Heathcliff was still crazy, and two characters died while still pining for Cathy. The only dynamic change that I can sense is Mrs. Heathcliff and it involved her total transformation in her treatments towards Hareton. If they were to end up together it would make this whole novel seem worthwhile because a love story have actually worked out.

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