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Essay / The importance of narrative techniques in the novel Wuthering Heights
In Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë employs a complex narrative structure in which the characters' stories are transmitted through a chain of narrators until eventually being recorded in a diary through a stranger. perspective. This stranger is Lockwood, a character who, like the readers, meets for the first time the mysterious inhabitants of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. An impatient Lockwood begins to hear the first-hand account of what happened in these two houses from Nelly Dean, who may not be the most reliable narrator due to her allegiance to certain characters and his hatred towards others. To fill in the gaps in Nelly's story, Brontë introduces other narrators, who recount parts of the narrative that Nelly did not witness. Brontë uses this complex network of narrators to present multiple perspectives of each character so that readers get the most objective and credible version of the events that occurred in Wuthering Heights. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The perspective Lockwood gives readers of the characters in Wuthering Heights is muddled and confusing. He is mistaken in his description of the people he meets, calling Heathcliff a "good guy" and mistaking Cathy for his daughter (1). Eventually, Lockwood notes that he "began to feel decidedly out of place in [the] pleasant family circle" at Wuthering Heights (9). Yet Lockwood's inability to convey factual information does not alienate him from the reader; rather, it makes it more relatable because Lockwood's feelings of perplexity and confusion mirror the readers' own feelings at this point. By placing Lockwood and the readers in the same situation (both being introduced to the characters at the same time), Brontë establishes a narrator that readers can trust and rely on to tell them an honest story. Through Lockwood, Brontë also influences the reader's emotions. When Lockwood begins to hear Nelly's story, he doesn't want her to stop and begs Nelly to "sit still for half an hour" when she decides to take a break (44). By showing how Lockwood is eager to continue the story, Brontë also makes readers curious about what Nelly will say next. After Lockwood becomes fascinated by Nelly's story, Nelly becomes the main narrator of Wuthering Heights. Nelly witnesses the majority of the events she describes, which would make her seem reliable at first glance, but because Brontë tells Nelly's story the way she tells it to Lockwood, Nelly is able to cherry-pick the details. to tell Lockwood. and, therefore, readers according to what suits one's own agenda. Nelly makes it very clear where her allegiances lie. Before beginning her story, she says that "Miss Cathy is [the last] of us, I mean, of the Lintons" (24). Because Nelly sides with the Lintons, she tries to skew her audience's perception of the characters so that they perceive the Lintons positively and anyone who opposes them negatively. This is where the other narrators that Brontë introduces throughout the novel come into play. These other narrators add dimensionality to the characters in Wuthering Heights by giving readers a different perspective than Nelly. This allows readers to form their own opinions about the characters based on more than just what Nelly has to say. Introducing Heathcliffas narrator, readers are exposed to some of the Lintons' negative qualities. Heathcliff describes looking out the window into Thrushcross Grange and seeing the Lintons "[arguing] over who should hold a pile of hot hair" and "looking for entertainment by shouting and sobbing and rolling on the floor" (35). This image that Heathcliff's description evokes makes the Lintons appear snobbish and superficial, qualities that Nelly would not have highlighted on Edgar and Isabella and which present a much richer image of the Lintons. Additionally, other narrators are also needed to provide a more objective perspective on Heathcliff and the Earnshaws. Near the beginning of the novel, Nelly implies that she disagrees with the Earnshaws' treatment of Heathcliff upon his arrival at Wuthering Heights. After leaving Heathcliff to sleep on the stairs because Catherine and Hindley did not want to share a room with him, Nelly sarcastically states that she was banished from the house for her "cowardice and inhumanity" when in fact she had given Earnshaw's treatment. Heathcliff as such (27). Nelly's sympathy for Heathcliff and her disdain for the Earnshaws, particularly Hindley, become more evident after Heathcliff is forced to work as a servant. To balance Nelly's primarily negative portrayal of the Earnshaws, Brontë introduces Isabella as narrator. Through her narration, Isabella shows Hindley as, just like herself, a victim of Heathcliff's cruel tricks. She emphasizes the fact that Hindley will do anything to get back what Heathcliff took from him by saying that "[Hindley] can't help but come up [to Heathcliff's room] with [a gun] every night and try his door. If once [Hindley finds it] open, it's screwed!' » (103). This perspective of Hindley makes him a character that readers can pity. Isabella's narration also serves another function: providing Lockwood with information about events that Nelly did not witness. Heathcliff's cruelty towards Isabella is a key point in the story that would have been left out if Brontë had not chosen to include Isabella as the narrator. The same could be said of the other characters who have a minor narrative role in Wuthering Heights. Cathy and Zillah, for example, both give Lockwood and readers insight into life in Wuthering Heights with Heathcliff in charge through their narrations. Furthermore, Heathcliff's description of how he dug up Catherine's grave was part of the story only he could tell. When Heathcliff says, "I was sure I should see [Cathy] there, I was sure she was with me, and I couldn't help talking to her," he is describing feelings that no one of the other characters could not sense or feel. understand (212). If readers are to fully understand how much the loss of Catherine affects Heathcliff, it was appropriate that this segment of the story be told in Heathcliff's own words. The fact that Nelly chose to recount the events she was not expected to witness using the exact words of the character whose experiences she was recounting rather than simply summarizing what she was told makes these second-hand stories instantly more reliable. and credible. If Nelly had summarized the experiences of the other characters, it would be difficult to tell if there was more to the story that Nelly was hiding to serve her own purpose. However, using exact wording erases any doubt that there is something missing from the story. Ultimately, even Lockwood uses this tactic to demonstrate that he is a trustworthy narrator. After a few weeks in Wuthering.