Unusual Points

The next thing to consider when discovering a Normal curve, or Wuthering Heights, are the unusual points. Although this refers to outliers in mathematics, I’m going to interpret this as something that stands out to me in Bronte’s writing.

Bronte has fabulous diction. She writes in a way that, in my opinion, literally doesn’t exist anymore. Each sentence is concise, uses the perfect words, and seems purposeful. It’s my opinion that if a contemporary author had just ONE sentence in their book that was reminiscent of a Bronte sentence, they would be the greatest author of our time. Bronte has a whole book of perfect sentences. While reading, I sometimes had to sit back and just watch her play with language.

For example, in Chapter 9, she writes, “If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.” In the same chapter, she muses, “I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind. And this is one: I'm going to tell it - but take care not to smile at any part of it.” These lines, taken out of context, are strikingly beautiful pieces of writing. Thrown in with the rest of the great language in the book, Wuthering Heights makes for a masterpiece.

Another way in which Bronte manipulates language to drive the plot of her novel forward is through the names of her characters and places. Like a good porno, the names of the characters in Wuthering Heights reveal a lot about their personalities, role in the story, and perhaps their physical features. For example, Heathcliff—the antagonist—has a name that sounds as serious and hard as the character is. A "heath" is an area of uncultivated land, similar to how Heathcliff is uncultivated in his social upbringing and rugged beahavior. A "cliff" is jagged, dangerous, and sinister-- another one of Heathcliff's stand-out character traits. It’s also fitting that he has no last name, as he is an orphan who was found in the streets of London by the Mr. Earnshaw. Other character has similar meaningful names. The repetition of the name “Catherine” is something that cannot be ignored. Both the mother Catherine and the daughter Catherine share character traits (and even last names, though not as the same time). They are obviously supposed to be parallel characters of one another and their similarities are highlighted by their shared names. Finally, the names of the respective houses helps create the environment for both places. Wuthering Heights, as the author points out, is a "significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather" (1). The name of Wuthering Heights signals the reader and prepares them for the turbulent lifestyle they'll find there. Juxtaposed with the name and nature of Thrushcross Grange, which sounds open and welcoming, the names of the two structures central to the plot of this book help Bronte create a fully-formed world. 

Bronte loves wordplay. A lot of it can just be admired for the beauty of the language, but in other cases (as with the names she chooses for her characters), she’s trying to communicate a different meaning through nuances of language. There's a lot to be learned from Wuthering Heights, particularly in the way Bronte executes her craft.

Spread

After finishing Wuthering Heights, I can certainly say that I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would.

There’s a lot to munch on this book and a lot that I want to discuss. In order to cover everything, I’ve decided to take a mathematical approach to dissecting Wuthering Heights. In Statistics, you can investigate a normal curve by describing its S.U.C.S., or its Spread, Unusual points, Center, and Shape. I will attempt to investigate Bronte’s work using similar guidelines, changed to fit a literary work, in four different blog posts.

In this post, I will explore the Spread of Bronte’s novel, especially how the story is laid (or spread) out for the reader. 

The point of view in Wuthering Heights is a bit confusing. Although the entire book is supposedly journal entries from the main character’s perspective, most of the plot occurs through second-hand narration from Lockwood’s maidservant, Nelly.  Lockwood moves into Thrushschcross Grange, a house neighboring Wuthering Heights, and sets out to meet his neighbor, Heathcliff. He finds him very disagreeable and eventually attempts to get the low-down from Nelly, who he hopes is “a regular gossip” (20). She then goes on to recount the entire history of the family, from the time the Mr. Earnshaw found Heathcliff roaming around in the city to the present-day. However, even within Nelly’s interpretation, there are many other perspectives explored throughout this novel. She sometimes utilizes anecdotes from other people, like other servants or inhabitants of Wuthering Heights or Thrushcross Grange.

The major question this lends towards is WHY Bronte chose to create Lockwood's character if she intended on having Nelly narrate most of the important bits of the tale. I can think of a few reasons for this bold choice. First and foremost, Lockwood is higher up in society and therefore more trustworthy as a narrator. Wuthering Heights deals with a lot of huge societal issues, including that of the social classes (as Heathcliff is cast aside by most of his makeshift upbringing because of his "gypsy" upbringing). Nelly is not someone the reader should respect because she is very low in class. Furthermore, the comparisons the reader sees between Lockwood and Heathcliff is very important. Lockwood and Heathcliff are directly opposite characters. Without Lockwood commenting on the plot in addition to Nelly, the book would hold far less weight.

This book deals with themes that are ubiquitous in the novels we have read so far in AP Lit Comp. Multiple layers of narration, the reliability of the narrator, and the importance of truth are all things that the reader grapples with during Bronte’s work. Should we trust Nelly’s account of Heathcliff’s history? Should we even trust Lockwood’s account of Nelly’s account of Heathcliff’s history? There are many layers to the truth.

I think Bronte made a really bold and important choice when she decided to narrate the story through a first person recount to a first person major narrator. The way the book is spread out to the reader is an important part of understanding Wuthering Heights.