Discuss Nelly Dean's account of Heathcliff's Arrival in terms of what it reveals about the contrasts Between Hindley and Catherine and what it Reveals about Heathcliff's character As a boy.

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Gregory Andrews 12S

Discuss Nelly Dean’s account of Heathcliff’s
Arrival in terms of what it reveals about the contrasts
Between Hindley and Catherine and what it
Reveals about Heathcliff’s character
As a boy.

         In Chapter four, Nelly Dean begins her narration of the novel. Lockwood, who is still confined to his bed at the time, begins a conversation with Nelly that leads to her detailing the events of Catherine and Heathcliff’s childhood, including Heathcliff’s initial appearance at Wuthering Heights and the subsequent events leading to his inclusion into the family.
        Mr Earnshaw left on a business trip to Liverpool, promising to bring his children gifts on his return. When he does return he brings with him an orphan boy, Heathcliff. The children’s hopes are dashed, as the presents that were promised to them have been broken or forgotten to accommodate Heathcliff.
        From early in the chapter we can tell that there is a definite dislike for Heathcliff on the part of Nelly, who has no real reason to dislike him except for a lack of tolerance and possible increase in workload. This comes across quite plainly in Nelly’s narrative. Hindley and initially Cathy share this dislike for him, as he is leeching their father’s attention from them.
        Heathcliff’s initial description does not paint a positive image of him. Nelly describes him as ‘a dirty, ragged, black-haired child’, reinforcing the image of Heathcliff as a street urchin. This presents us with an immediate class difference between Heathcliff and the other children. He is a child who has been taken from his natural environment and introduced to a new, much different one.

         It is not only a different environment, but Heathcliff is presented as a completely different kind of child. Not only does he have a darker hair colour and deeper skin tone but is described as repeating ‘over and over again some gibberish that no-one could understand’. We are given the distinct impression that Heathcliff is foreign, and as his background is completely unknown but to him, it is also believable. He was discovered in Edinburgh, which at the time was a major port, so there would have been a lot of different nationalities and cultures mixing there.
        They seem to find it hard to acknowledge Heathcliff as being a human boy, often referring to him as it instead of he, as if he were some form of subspecies.
        “…Wash it, and give it clean things, and let it sleep with the children.”
        The children however would not allow him in the same room, and as Nelly has no liking for him, he is left to sleep on the landing of the stairs. The general feeling of most of the family is to try and ignore Heathcliff, hoping that he would just vanish and they would have nothing else to worry about, which is a very negative attitude to have towards a young boy who’s life has just been changed irrevocably. This way of treating people as if they don’t exist, therefore they are no longer a problem, is a common attitude by the upper classes towards the homeless and people in similarly low situations in society. We can assume Heathcliff has already gone through, allowing him to better handle the situation.
        As well as the different appearance, there is a huge contrast in his behaviour to that of the other children. When he arrives at Wuthering Heights, he brings with him a huge wave of anger and jealousy amongst the other children.
        “So, from the very beginning, he bred bad feeling in the house…”
        As well as giving the image of a very negative childhood environment, it also seems to foreshadow the kind of atmosphere in Wuthering Heights that is indicative of Heathcliff’s presence later in the novel.

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         He, however, remains uncharacteristically calm and collected for a boy of his young age. Even in the face of violence on the part of Hindley, he remains neutral, allowing Hindley to take out his aggression on him.
        “He seemed a sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment…”

         We could expect this kind of attitude from a homeless person, who would quickly become hardened to a tough lifestyle on the streets. In an environment where emotions are best not shown as there is rarely any one to form emotional contact with, it is best to put up a barrier and remain ...

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