Saturday, April 23, 2011

Wuthering Heights By: Emily Bronte

The story of Wuthering Heights is thought out to be a book about romance and love but once reading it you find out it has more to do with revenge. Heathcliff is the main character and he was an orphan long ago but was then raised by Mr. Earnshaw, who was the owner of Wuthering Heights. He is brought into the family and is raised with other kids named Catherine and Hindley. Catherine and Heathcliff like each other and spend much time together but Hindley does not like Heathcliff due to Heathcliff taking Hindley's place. We soon meet Edgar and Isabella who belong to Thrushcross Grange and live completely different lives from Catherine and Heathcliff. They welcome Catherine into the Thrushcross Grange but do not really like Heathcliff. Catherine and Edgar start to spend much time together and this upsets Heathcliff and makes him jealous because he truly loves Catherine. Catherine realizes that she could never marry Heathcliff and he then goes off for 3 years. Catherine ends up marrying Edgar. Heathcliff comes back and tries to get revenge on Edgar any possible way that he can. Heathcliff even ends up marrying Isabella, but for all the wrong reasons. Catherine gives birth to her daughter, Cathy, and soon dies after this. Heathcliff does not stop his revenge on Edgar until he dies. Heathcliff does not become satisfied with his life until he is dead because now he can reunite with his soul mate Catherine.

Discussion Questions

1. In the story social class has effects on the decisions that some of the characters make, such as when Catherine decides to marry Edgar. Do you believe today that people marry just for social class and security rather than real love and happiness? Is it right to do so?

2. Do you believe revenge is the right thing to do, or should you just move on with your life in given situations?

36 comments:

Hannah L 13-14 said...

To answer your second question, I think that revenge isn't worth the time. You should really spend your time moving on because revenge will just make you think about the situation that much longer and will only continue to make you feel worse, when you could be trying to move on with your life and find other things that will make you happy.

Anonymous said...

1. people marry for all different reasons in todays messed up society. i think most people marry the people that they feel to be their true love but there are some people who marry for money and such. marrying for reasons other than love is frowned upon in todays society but i dont feel its wrong. i think its stupid but i cant make decisions for other people.
2.revenge is usually brought up through hate and anger. trying to get revenge only further fuels this rage. moving on is the best thing to do because it makes you the bigger and better person.

KatherineS13-14 said...

1) Today people normally marry for love rather than security. Of course it is right to do to, love is important in a happy marriage. Although, people that marry for security sometimes have the necessity to do so, so it is the right choice for them.

Jacci L. 11-12 said...

when it comes to revenge, in the long run, it will only make people unhappy. because if alll your life your just aiming for revenge, what will you do once you've achieved your revenge? desiring something so much can corrupt someone and they will forget all the other things in life that they should be experiencing instead of wasting it on the determintation to get revenge.

Jacob B 11-12 said...

Moving on is always the best solution. Revenge just causes hate of a person to grow and solves no problems.

Mike B 13-14 said...

Revenge is never a good option. Revenge solves nothing and only creates more problems. Revenge cause hate and causes people to bad things. Revenge is a circle that will not end until one side realizes revenge solves nothing.

tyler k 13-14 said...

answering question one, i do believe many people marry for social status. They're countless examples of a person marrying a celebrity so they become famous. I don't find this just or right at all.

Bojana Duric said...

1. I think that more people marry for love and happiness today than they did in the past. Back in the day, the whole point of marriage was to advance one's social status. Even in today's society people still marry for social class and security. I don't think that this is the right thing to do, because I would not be happy. However, I do think that it is a smart thing to do.

Kali D. 13-14 said...

I agree and think that in today's society more people marry for love rather than security. If you marry for love i feel that you will be happy for a life-time and you wont have regrets on marrying for the wrong reasons. I think in the past a lot of people married for security because they believed that's what you were suppose to do and also to live a stable life.

SeanK56 said...

2. If you are bent on trying to get revenge on someone, what they did to you is constantly on your mind and just making you more angry. But I think there are 2 different types of revenge, making yourself better so the other person gets jealous, and actually directly hurting the other person. The first option is great because it directs that anger in a new way that is positive for you and other people around you, and it makes the other person realize what they missed out on.

Heather M. 13-14 said...

To answer the first question, i dont believe that people marry just for social class. A select few people may marry for this reason, but i belive that most people marry for love and to be happy. If you only marry someone for social class, you will most likely end up regreting your decision since marriage is a life-changing and future-changing decision. Marriage, in my opinion should only occur for love, and not forthe desire to belong to another social class.

Kenneth C.M. 13-14 said...

If someone hurts my family or friends I will not hesitate to take revenge. But if someone like stole my pencil revenge isn't worth it.

Dana D 11-12 said...

2. Revenge maybe isn't the "right" thing to do. But at the same time some situations call for it. If someone does something to hurt the people you care about then they deserve what's coming to them. But that being said the mature thing to do would be to move on.

SeanK56 said...

Ya see Ken I'm the opposite way. My family can fight for themselves, but my pencil is just a pencil, and can not move on it's own or anything. I will fight for that helpless pencil, even if it meant death.

Kenneth C.M. 13-14 said...

Dude if they steal your pencil then they can sharpen it and STAB YOU. How're you supposed to fight against that its so unfair so i just let it go abecause i dont want to be stabbed especially by my own pencil that got stolen from right underneath me you know man?

SeanK56 said...

No. You clearly did not read my response. "I will fight for that helpless pencil, even if it meant death"-Sean Kennedy. I'll die for my pencil, I'd go through any pain. I hate to see someone abuse such a helpless, harmless piece of cheap wood.

Kenneth C.M. 13-14 said...

Dont do it mayn its not worth it because you can make more if you just learned how to so if it got stolen you can make one or something please dont sean.

Kali D. 13-14 said...

I think revenge is a bad thing because after its all said and done, you don't have anything to show for it. After it's all done, you will just feel guilty. You might feel good about the situation for a little while but eventually you will feel upset again.

SeanK56 said...

You just don't get the pride I have in my possessions and defending them. Kennedy Honour Code states: "Thou shalt not giveth thou belongings away without thou's own permission. Thou shalt smite takers of Thou's possessions, or be smited in Thou's conquest of retrieving said possessions"

Kenneth C.M. 13-14 said...

Dude man adopt me bro cuz that code is SOOO raw i want to have the kennedy honour code represent me too SO cool gonna be the new rage across mentor im sure everyone will think how cool it is too

SeanK56 said...

I should sell it. We could be on corners pretending to sell illegal dr*gs then people walk up and be like "Yo can I has some" and we say "Ya your now part of our club and you will die if you try to exit"

Kenneth C.M. 13-14 said...

first rule dont talk about it second rule dont talk about it. how cool man! cant wait gonna get rich off da corner except legally how cool!

SeanK56 said...

I hope people think that we are cool after this. I want friends REALLY BADLY. Maybe people who are just walking by we could pay to be our friends with the money we make from selling the code?

Tyler C. 5-6 said...

Revenge is so easy to get now because you can go to the store and buy a few household items, mix them together, and make a bomb that can blow a house up. And right about now I want to blow up Sean's house and Kenny's house because they're so annoying.

SeanK56 said...

Well both of us hate you.
(KennyHate+SeanHate>StupidTylerHate)

Kenneth C.M. 13-14 said...

tyler revenge isnt good youll regret it because we're your only friends and if you blow up our houses i'll either not be your friend anymore or stay at your house and annoy you for revenge hahaha

Tyler C. 5-6 said...

According to ACT scores, my mental capacity and efficiency is higher than both of yours, therefore I am able to hate you both more than you are able to hate me. There's no way around that, I hate you two. If you two were driving down Mentor Avenue seperately and hit each other head on and something horrible happened, I wouldn't care. And if one of you stole my pencil, I'd buy a box of 100 lead pencils and bombard the lead with alpha radiation and let you steal those and wait until you grow an arm out of your forehead. Then I'd laugh and cut the 3rd arm off and beat you to death with it. BECAUSE I DON'T CARE.

SeanK56 said...

Ya he clearly wasn't thinking. And plus who would he get revenge on if we were gone? Everyone else avoids him

SeanK56 said...

31+30=61
36 is the highest score, 36 is less than 61

Kenneth C.M. 13-14 said...

Tyler thats not even possible stop making stuff up to seem smart cuz its not workin lolol plus im not your friend anymore that was mean.

Tyler C. 5-6 said...

you'd actually average them... (30+31)/2=30.5<32. Sorry Sean. You just sounded pretty stupid.

SeanK56 said...

No I clearly stated us added together. I didn't say if we had a baby because thats impossible

Tyler C. 5-6 said...

Two people working together are only as smart as the smarter one. One smart person is as smart as that one person. And I'm smarter than the smartest person in the two that I'm against, so I'm smarter than the group. According to ACT scores.

SeanK56 said...

Ya see the thing is, we're going to beat you and give you multiple cuncussions before the arguement, and you will underperform.

Tyler C. 5-6 said...

I have a titanium skeleton, my skin is made of carbon fiber, and my intelligence is kept in a microchip outside of my brain somewhere hidden and protected in my body. You can't hurt me.

Kyle P. 13-14 said...

2. I dont believe revenge is the right thing to do, but usually people need some sort of closure and they cant just move on with their life.