Wuthering Frights

Wuthering Heights was once said to be one of the greatest romances in literature. It is said to be passionate, empowering, and completely spell-binding, but, probably only to those who read it about 100 years ago. However, with closer research it was found that Wuthering Heights was actually rejected when it first was published, saying it was depressing and morose, and even immoral. I feel as if those are the same reactions many kids today are displaying when we first read it in school. So why is this novel on many of the top 10 "Greatest Romance" lists? I believe that many people just found comfort and excitement in the depiction of a soul mate, which made people love Heathcliff and his desire to do whatever it took to be with his beloved Catherine, even if it was to be buried with her when they both died. Everybody loved the fact that someone would go at such lengths to be with someone they loved, and probably like to imagine someone doing the same for them. I however, thought this was the farthest thing from a great romance. I can see how Emily Bronte intended for it to be a romantic novel, but I don't believe she achieved it. Heathcliff was can almost be considered psycho at the lengths at which he went to get Catherine. There definitely was nothing romantic about opening up the side of her coffin and being buried next to her. I'm sure that if Catherine was alive and knew he was going to do that, then she would probably would get a restraining order in modern times. As well, the characters were not like-able at all, so there was no one to really root for. It was as if it didn't matter if Catherine was with Heathcliff or Edgar because every single one of them had unlikeable traits. Catherine wouldn't marry Heathcliff just because others thought so badly of him, and in a good love story she would over look that and never agree to marry Edgar. In addition, even after she is married she still confesses her love to Heathcliff and tells him to be with her, but she's still with Edgar the whole time. In a true great romance, Catherine wouldn't want both men, she would choose her true love which is Heathcliff. Heathcliff also wouldn't try to get revenge on Catherine, he should be happy for her that she had found someone to marry. Heathcliff also did some psycho things like killing Isabella's dog by hanging it, and kidnapping Cathy and Nelly which is not romantic at all. Wuthering Heights reminds me of Twilight a lot. It has generally the same story line of 1 girl, 2 guys want to be with her, and she must choose who to be with. However, I believe Twilight is a much better romance then Wuthering Heights. I believe Bella made the right decision by being with Edward instead of Jacob. Although it was a hard decision, Edward was her obvious true love. If Wuthering Heights was to be a great romance then Catherine would have been with Heathcliff. I believe that to be a romance, there must be some sort of happiness and approval of the two people being together, and the closest that gets in Wuthering Heights is Heathcliff wanting to be buried with Catherine so they could be together in the after life. But that's more creepy then romantic.

Hurricanes and Fate

Today in class we argued for quite some time regarding question number 7 for the Oedipus Socratic seminar about whether Oedipus had a chance at all to relinquish the fate the oracle had made for him. This fate was that Oedipus was to kill his father and marry his mother. I believe he had no chance what-so-ever to change the fate he was given. By definition, fate is the development of events outside of a person's control. To me 'outside of a person's control' means they have no way, at all, to change the fate they were given. You may go down different pathways and choose different events along the way, but the end result is already chosen. Even if they go specifically out of their way to avoid it, them doing so is still the fate or 'plan' that was set for them. Some people said that if Oedipus' mother and father had kept him and had told him that specific fate, then it would have been avoided, but I believe somehow it still would happen. Even though marriage is between 2 people there still could have been some twisted event that could bring Oedipus and his mother together, like both of them getting drunk and accidentally marrying each other in their drunken state. Also, if Oedipus tried to avoid his father at all costs so that he wouldn't kill him, something still would probably happen like Oedipus accidentally leaving some food out that his father was allergic to. There is absolutely no way Oedipus could have avoided the fate that was already set for him, the Oracle had already seen it coming and knew that those events would occur. The length at which Oedipus' parents set to avoid the fate, and it still happening even proves that fate cannot be changed. The death of Oedipus' father and the marriage between son and mother happened in the most round-about way possible. Fate could be linked to almost any current event in society today. Many people believe that every possible thing that happens today is because of fate. There are even some cases involving the upcoming election where some people aren't even going to vote because they believe fate has already chosen who is going to be the next president. Also, regarding hurricane Sandy, some people even go to the extent to believe that it was fate that brought all the destruction and chaos in just the form of a storm, they don't believe that its just a result from intense low pressure areas over warm ocean waters.

Racism

I think question 18 of the Invisible Man socratic seminar is a very important topic to the book, and it actually surprised me that no one chose to talk about it. It talks about the significance of Liberty Paint Company in the novel, referring to how they manufactured white paints that were said to be the whitest and purest paints in all America, even though they were made from 10 drops of black dye. It is significant because it symbolizes how whites think they are superior to black people, thinking that blacks are dirty and unpure. However, the paint being made from black dye proves that blacks are a neccessary part in making the 'pure paint' and also a necessary element in society. Its also significant how before the black dye is added, the paint is a foul, milky brown substance that turns 'brilliantly white' when the black is added. This shows how society would be foul and ugly without the mix of both races. In addition, the worker who shows the narrator how to produce the paint states that the Optic Paint's pure whiteness can cover anything, like how the whiteness covers up the black dye, illustrating how blacks become obscured by white people and do and say whatever the whites want. Also it shows how whites are just covering up the issue of racism instead of dealing with it. This is still shown today with the racism that still exists in the world. White people think they are superior to blacks and walk all over them like its no one's bussiness. Some white people are even violent towards blacks over the smallest of things like property and money. We still hear about in the news how someone killed or harrassed another person just because they were of a different race. Only about a month ago, a young white girl named Jane Champion was beaten up by her own parents, David and Frances Champion, for dating a black boy. The parents showed up at the boyfriends house screaming racial abuse towards him so loud and vial that the police were called.  Before police arrived however, David Champion punched Jane in the face several times while her mother watched before punching Jane herself. The parents claim they beat up their daughter for "bringing shame to the family" which I think is completely ridiculous.  It's stupid how people today can't get over the old racist ways. I can understand how some older people in the world could still hold on to racist hatred because they've grown up with it, even though I feel like they should just accept the fact that the majority of society has matured enough to understand everyone is equal. But seeing people of my generation and even a little bit older being racist is just stupid. We've all been taught growing up that we are all equal and skin color makes no difference to who we are as individuals. People need to get over themselves and stop hating others because of something as little as what color their skin is.