Summative Journal

I have decided to submit my second formative journal as my summative journal.
Through reading the journals of my fellow group members, I learned that we share very similar connections and viewed the book in similar views, but we all had our perspective input in it. I learned that Heathcliff is very much like an animal in all his actions. He even had the thoughts of an animal, when he is in rage or desperation. This was something I never saw myself as I just took him for a tortured soul. I feel like sharing journals greatly widen our perspectives and understandings and develops our skills for future use. 




As the classic novel of Wuthering Heights proceeds and dives deeper into its own tale, the characters reveal more than before and we, as the readers, realize that not all the characters have true intentions to do the best for others and themselves.
The story continues as Mrs Catherine Linton falls ill due to the sudden enlightenment of Heathcliff and Isabella's so called love. She is beside herself and bed stricken from grief while Mr. Linton doesn't know what to do and seeks books for comfort and security. Because of Heathcliff's abandonment, Catherine seeks attention from everyone she can get it from, especially the husband that is suppose to love her so much. On page 138, Catherine exclaims her disbelief for her husband. "'Among his books!' she cried, confounded. 'And I dying! I on the brink of the grave! My God!does he know how I'm altered?'" This is just one of the many examples of how Catherine, although she seems like a reasonable adult, is an irrational child at heart that will become upset at every little thing that does not go her way. As well, due to this, Catherine is feared to have "permanent alienation of intellect" (pg.150). This is also solid evidence of how easily Catherine is influenced by her surroundings and her, like every one of us, is so easily influenced from our surroundings and the environment around us. A connection that could be made through this experience and behaviour of others depending on their situation and the environment around can be linked directly to the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. Because he grew up in a time of war and toil, he saw the humankind in need of a higher power to govern them or else all would end in disaster. If Hobbes did not grow up in such an age, and he could live a quiet life full of peace, he might not have come up with such a theory and commenced the age long debate of Nature vs Nurture.
As a group, we discussed what kind of love existed between Heathcliff and Catherine. It started off as a childish friend sort of love, but as the years progressed, as they were lengthened from each other, the love itself became very different from that which it started from. When Catherine decided to marry Edgar Linton, she revealed that her soul and the soul of Heathcliff was the same, but she could not express herself as Heathcliff freely did. She was also constricted by her gender and the stereotypes of the time. During that time, women had to live by the unwritten rule of living like a lady and acting like one to attain a certain position in society, to gain respect. She is similar to Madam Curie, who was constricted by her gender and the lack of respect from the science community. Unlike Madam Curie, who reached beyond the expectations of others, Catherine immersed herself in these expectations and lost who she truly is.
Previously confounded by this strange love that flowers between Heathcliff and Catherine, the later chapters reveal that it indeed was more than just a family and friendly love between them. She earned and needed him as he did everything he could to make her miserable for abandoning him. I brought up the concept that it was a love that was undeniable, but they could not live without each other, nor could they live with each other. Others mentioned that it was yet to be determined because Heathcliff played the whole hot and cold game with Catherine; visiting her every day at the Grange, marrying Isabella to make her miserable, returning to Wuthering Heights to be in proximity with her, and the list goes on.
In my group, I see myself using post-its more to pinpoint interesting points in the novel as well as being able to see deeper layers due to the different understandings of my fellow group members. It has become a fairly easy novel to understand, yet, like how others mentioned, like a soap opera throughout all these conflicts and relationships that flourish.