persuasive essay

                                                  Make Me Want to Read 

Many people have read the classic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and there has been much debate over the legibility, and themes stated in the novel.   Many people believe that Bronte has made this story of love, hate, and destruction of lovers, difficult to follow, and believe it does not effectively convey one theme; when this is clearly not the case. Though the book may be difficult to follow the first 50 pages it soon after gets easier, she also uses strong literary devices to help convey her theme of revenge and selfishness.

The novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is in fact difficult to follow but only for the first 50 or so pages. Soon after we realise that it is the journal of Mr. Lockwood (a new tenant at one of the estates) and that he does not have all the details of what has happened. We get a more clear idea of what truly happened and how the character really were when Nelly begins to tell the story from what she experienced and saw while she was working for each of them.

Bronte also uses many literary devices to effectively convey her themes and help the reader understand where the story is headed.  I found her use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and allegory very helpful in deciphering and understanding the language used in the book.  Symbolism appears throughout the book with the moors, and appearances of ghosts; the moors help create a mood in the book, they are wild, and Catherine and Heathcliff spend a great amount of their time there symbolising the wildness that they too hold within them. The appearance of the ghost symbolise how the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are haunted by the past events. Catherine’s ghost also represents foreshadowing; it tells us that Catherine will die in the future; again helping us see that everything we see may not be what is real.  Lastly allegory is shown in culture vs. nature; the moors are associated with Catherine and Heathcliff because they are wild and untamed, like Wuthering Heights. Where Thrushcross Grange is full of culture shown with Edgar Linton; by the end of the book we see Cathy (daughter of Edgar and Catherine) gardening showing culture but something natural as well, this is the way we see her tame nature, putting its wildness at rest but maintaining its beauty.

The use of literary devices helps convey her main theme of revenge, and the main theme lets us easily understand the motives behind everything the characters do. It helps us see why Heathcliff is as cruel as he is.  For these reasons I would strongly recommend this book. Bronte effectively kept my attention throughout the book with the revenge stricken characters and odd way that Catherine acted for that time period. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in revenge, coursed love, and loss. Together with her use of literary devices, themes and way of clearing up what we have difficulty understanding this book becomes captivating, intriguing, and full of wonder.