Mr. Healthcliff, wincing, stops him mid sentence,
“ Thrushcross Grange is my own sir,”
Here Mr. Heathcliff cuts him off quite abruptly, a command that most people would understand and would react to, pursuing the questioning no further. However, Mr. Lockwood responds quite differently, showing a weak side to his character early on in the novel. Heathcliff seems to dislike the company of others, he enjoys living in a country place, where quiet and peace is welcomed. Lockwood seems amused that Heathcliff is more extreme and ignorant of social graces; he’s amused that he shoved his hands into his pockets to avoid shaking hands. This I think is a telling sign of Heathcliff’s rude manners and ignorance.
After reading this first page, I was intrigued by Mr. Lockwood’s character. He missed all the obvious signs that Heathcliff did not want to invite him into his home, that he was not comfortable speaking to him or that he had an unfriendly nature. Lockwood, who comes from a more domesticated region of England finds himself in a less sociable area. My impression is that Lockwood is interested about the people and about the setting, he wishes to learn more about them by how he shows curiosity.
“ I felt interested in a man who seemed more exaggeratedly reserved than myself.”
Once Lockwood has been granted permission, grudgingly by Heathcliff, he enters his house. He encounters an incident with some of Heathcliff’s dogs, although Heathcliff did warn him about them, to which he pulls faces provoking them to attack him, to which neither Heathcliff or the servant Joseph seems to bother about. Fortunately for Lockwood, a female servant comes and shoos the dogs away. Although Lockwood is not injured, he appears to sulk in a childish manner, resulting in Healthcliff making up for this incident when he sees how angry Lockwood is. Wine is offered, and a conversation is brought about. Lockwood’s foolish character analysis and bad judgement of Heathcliff prompts him to think of returning to Thrushcross Grange the next day,
“ I was encourages so far as to volunteer another visit tomorrow.”
Lockwood appears slightly foolish, over friendly and childish,
“ Its astonishing how sociable I feel myself compared with him.”
Mr. Heathcliff offers him no encouragement of a return visit, still he decides that he will visit again and talk to the man who makes him seem friendly in comparison.
Another point I have gathered about the character of Mr. Lockwood is that he maybe doesn’t understand love, or is afraid of showing emotion; he thinks about his own solitude. He had a chance at love one summer by the sea, was once in love with a beautiful woman, but unfortunately cost his chance by never telling her. When she figured out how he felt and returned his loving glances, he withdrew in a way that one would consider heartless. In my opinion, Mr. Lockwood decides to give Mr. Heathcliff the benefit of the doubt in regards to his cold behaviour. I think he tries to imagine various reasons for Mr. Heathcliff’s cool demeanour, before realising his landlords reasons for his behaviour may be quite different from his own.
Mr. Lockwood, a somewhat vain and presumptuous gentleman deals very clumsily with the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights. He finds himself at a loss when he witnesses the strange household’s disregard for the social conventions that have always structured his world. As a narrator, his vanity and unfamiliarity with the story occasionally lead him to misunderstand events. His initial visit to Wuthering Heights, in which the mysterious relationships and lurking resentments between the characters create an air of mystery, in particular Lockwood’s ghostly nightmares, during the night he spent in Catherine’s old bed. I think that many of the events that happen in the opening chapters of the novel prefigure many of the events that are to come and show the qualities of the character Mr. Lockwood.
