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A review by shreyas1599
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
5.0
I’ve never read a book with as much drama and misery packed into one book as this one. It’s filled with instances of trauma, specifically generational trauma that never seems to disappear.
It’s the story of how a villain is born. How a lifetime of injustices and discrimination makes him want to exact revenge from the brethren and filials of those who grievously wronged him. It’s almost hard to read the floggings, the ill-treatment and the repeated reminders that one is unwanted and merely allowed residence in a moment of weakness by the master of the house to lay sympathy on an underling he found abandoned on the road. The initial depictions of Heathcliff are so venemous that I almost thought for a while that I was an animal that Earnshaw had saved!
You do feel sorry for Heathcliff in the start and almost sympathise and empathise and possibly even justify some of his initial behaviours.
But as the book progresses, you can no longer feel sorry for him. He’s pushed off the path of life so far across, and revenge consumes his entire existence. So much so that his own son is also an equally prized lamb he is willing to slaughter to meet the generational trauma he wants to inflict.
There’s also copious amounts of gaslighting and self-gaslighting that permeates every nook and cranny of this book. At times, it did prove a little difficult to continue reading and a break was warranted.
In my opinion, the only true love story in this book was in the end:
The one between Hareton and Cathy
Heathcliff’s and Catherine’s story was very likely to have not transpired. There was just something about it that made you think it was destined to not take shape.
At several times, I wanted Heathcliff to win and when he goes too far astray to exact his revenge, you can’t tolerate it anymore and start questioning why you ever wished him well in his desires. It made for a painful read in several instances.
All of whatever was depicted was natural human emotions, and what can happen to those desires when wronged and how far one is willing to go to the deep end to compensate for what was inflicted upon them.
I do have a special hatred for Joseph and only wished to have seen his death or him kicked out of the house.
It’s the story of how a villain is born. How a lifetime of injustices and discrimination makes him want to exact revenge from the brethren and filials of those who grievously wronged him. It’s almost hard to read the floggings, the ill-treatment and the repeated reminders that one is unwanted and merely allowed residence in a moment of weakness by the master of the house to lay sympathy on an underling he found abandoned on the road. The initial depictions of Heathcliff are so venemous that I almost thought for a while that I was an animal that Earnshaw had saved!
You do feel sorry for Heathcliff in the start and almost sympathise and empathise and possibly even justify some of his initial behaviours.
But as the book progresses, you can no longer feel sorry for him. He’s pushed off the path of life so far across, and revenge consumes his entire existence. So much so that his own son is also an equally prized lamb he is willing to slaughter to meet the generational trauma he wants to inflict.
There’s also copious amounts of gaslighting and self-gaslighting that permeates every nook and cranny of this book. At times, it did prove a little difficult to continue reading and a break was warranted.
In my opinion, the only true love story in this book was in the end:
Spoiler
The one between Hareton and Cathy
Heathcliff’s and Catherine’s story was very likely to have not transpired. There was just something about it that made you think it was destined to not take shape.
At several times, I wanted Heathcliff to win and when he goes too far astray to exact his revenge, you can’t tolerate it anymore and start questioning why you ever wished him well in his desires. It made for a painful read in several instances.
All of whatever was depicted was natural human emotions, and what can happen to those desires when wronged and how far one is willing to go to the deep end to compensate for what was inflicted upon them.
I do have a special hatred for Joseph and only wished to have seen his death or him kicked out of the house.