Heights 4

Passage:

"Afterwards, they dried and combed her beautiful hair, and gave her a pair of enourmous slippers, and wheeled her to the fire; and I left her , as merry as she could be, dividing her food between the little dog and Skulker, whose nose she pinched as he hate; and kindling a spark of spirit in the vacant blue eyes of the Lintons - a dim reflection from the her own enchanting face. I saw they were full of stupid admiration; she is so immensley superior to them - to everybody on earth, is she not, Nelly?"

This passage is significant to the work as a whole because it shows Healthcliff's love for Cathy. This is the first time that his character voices his admiration for her. It shows how Cathy is so important to him - because she is the only one who treats him nicely. Even though Healthcliff is hated by Hindley and seen as a gypsy by all other characters, Cathy's love for him allows his character to see good in the world.

In this passage, Bronte uses a lot of words that relate to light when she refers to Catherine (fire, spark, kindling, reflection). The passage is being spoken by Healthcliff, which shows how he sees Catherine as the only light in his world. When his character is described now that he is alone, it is very dark, solemn and depressing. Throughout the entire novel so far, Catherine has been created a symbol of light and hope in Healthcliff's life. The use of the semicolon to connect all the sentences about Catherine together show how as he is describing the event, Heathcliff can not think about anything but Cathy - all of his thoughts of her are drawn together, just as she draws him in with her light.