But I've been trying to think of a blog post that relates to social justice in my book - I usually post blog entires a few days before, always eager to type up a new idea. But this week, I was a bit stuck when faced with this assignment. But when that Sonny and Cher song played, it all sort of came to me.
The song is basically about these lovers who are like "we're sort of poor, and people are telling us that we're too young to love each other, but we're happy because we have one another". Aw, so cute. But this made me think of the main theme of Wuthering Heights - love. And the importance of it. We've just been introduced to Isabella Linton and Heathcliff's son, Linton - a sallow, sickly, spoiled creature who sits in his furred cloak by the fire all day, wallowing in his own self pity. His mother, Isabella, has never mentioned Heathcliff to Linton because they're not together anymore. But Isabella dies, and Linton has no place to go but to his stranger of a father, Heathcliff, who he's quite afraid of.
This is definitely not the first time we've seen issues like these in novels and stories, but I am always appalled at them whenever a story mentions it. I can barely comprehend what it must be like to never know your father or mother, and then to suddenly meet them without any warning. To me, it is absolute cruelty for a parent to hide a child's relations from them. A relation is more important than many people think - especially someone as close to you as a mother or father. To keep a child away from that is to deprive them of the knowledge of where they came from and who they came from and what qualities have been passed down from father or mother to son or daughter.
A parent's love is like none other - it cannot be duplicated, forged, or found anywhere else besides its inhabitance in the heart of a mother or father. No matter how much you try to separate father and son, there will forever be a link between the two souls that won't break, because this child is a part of you. It's disturbing to think of Linton's situation with Healthcliff - he must have been absolutely appalled to find out that this gruff, vulgar man was his father. If only he had been raised with Healthcliff, Linton would not have to suffer the metal torment instilled upon him by the shock of meeting his father for the first time.
Isabella has hidden Heathcliff's identity because she is disgusted by his behavior and ashamed of the fact that she created a child with him. That's understandable, but I don't think she's making any attempt to see the situation from Linton's point of view. I think that the entire trio of characters would all be much better off if they had all known each other from the start - for several reasons. Heathcliff would have raised the child in a better way, and kept it from turning into a pale, slimy weakling as Isabella has done. Little Linton would not have the surprise of such a man as his father, and can you just imagine the mental state the poor child must be in? He's so weak already.
In short, I believe that one of the big social issues in this story is the separation of child and parent. It can be incredibly upsetting and troubling for both the son and the father, or daughter and mother, to meet their child which they have never even seen before. As Sonny and Cher express in their song, love is utterly important and extremely powerful. Especially the love of a parent. It's a bond that will never break and must not be disguised. To deprive a child of the knowledge of their family is the cruelest form of torture, and can be such a harrowing experience to a family as time goes one.
Know your parents.
I really like how you wrote a story with your post. It was cool how you connected that song through your post and wrote off of it. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything Scarlett said :)
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