Social outsiders are often treated in a cruel and unjust way. Explore the presentation of outsiders in the light of this statement. In your response, you should focus on Wuthering Heights to establish your argument and refer to t

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Topic: “Social outsiders are often treated in a cruel and unjust way.”

Task: “Social outsiders are often treated in a cruel and unjust way.” Explore the presentation of “outsiders” in the light of this statement. In your response, you should focus on Wuthering Heights to establish your argument and refer to the second text you have read to support and develop your line of argument.

Outsiders is a big theme in both novels Wuthering Heights and The Color Purple. Wuthering Heights is described as a gothic novel and outsider is a key figure in the Gothic novel. An outsider lives beyond the bounds of conventional society or on the borderlands of it, he or she is seen as a suspicious and threatening entity, someone who must be excluded for the safety of society at large. Brontё’s Wuthering height explores outsiders in three different ways. The first and obvious example is of Heathcliff, the character that was an outsider until his death. The second is of Isabella Linton, whom has been taken from Thrushcross Grange to be become an outsider in Wuthering Heights. Finally but not least the third main outsider is Hareton, where Brontё here explores how a character being an outsider could transform into an insider.

From the moment Heathcliff was introduced to the Earnshaw family, as an orphan that was found in the streets of Liverpool, Heathcliff was claimed to be an outsider and treated as one. In her description of Heathcliff, Nelly Dean, narrating Heathcliff’s story to Mr. Lockwood the new tenant of Thrushcross grange, she refers to him with the personal pronoun “it”. This is deliberately done to emphasize how much Heathcliff was unwanted in the house, to the point where “Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out of doors”, and Heathcliff was also degraded him to the status of a thing. In his first night the poor child was not accepted by the two children to sleep, or even share their rooms. Nelly, not being any kinder let Heathcliff sleeps on the landing of the stairs.

During the remaining life of Mr. Earnshaw, Heathcliff was treated as an outsider by Hindley and named the “gypsy”, but he enjoyed the protection of the old master. When Mr. Earnshaw died, Hindley became the master of the house and because of his hatred of Heathcliff; he started the process of degrading him. Hindley “drove him from their company to the servants, depriving him of the instructions of the curate, and insisted that he should labour out of doors instead”. This goes on to show that outsiders to Hindley are just like servants “compelling him to do so, as hard as any other lad on the farm.”

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During this stage Heathcliff was close to Catherine Earnshaw and she “taught him what she learnt, and worked or played with him in the fields.” When Heathcliff and Catherine were at Thrushcross Grange they laughed together at the spoilt behaviour of the Linton children, and at this point they are social outsiders together to Thrushcross Grange. The residence of the Grange lunched their “bull-dog” at them, which caught Catherine’s ankle.  Although Catherine suffers physically, being attached by the dog, the Lintons realise their mistakes, and take Catherine in to attend on her, because Catherine is no social outsider to them, ...

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