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When Heathcliff is first introduced in Wuthering Heights, he is a sort of a blank slate. Nelly recalls, "...I had a peep at a dirty, ragged, black-haired child, big enough both to walk and talk; indeed, its face looked older than Catherine's; yet, when it was set on its feet, it only started round, and repeated over and over again some gibberish that nobody could understand" (Bronte 41). He's at the toddler stage of development, even though he's much older, and this is the time in which children are developing most rapidly. They take in their surroundings and learn from them. If these surroundings are cruel, like Heathcliff's, then there will be problems.
Although Mr. Earnshaw loves Heathcliff, as does Catherine, and Nelly, to some extent, this isn't enough to douse the bullying he suffers by Hindley's hand. He comes to be labelled a gypsy by several people, and scorned by those who first meet him. This racism singles him out from everyone else as a child. As Nelly describes him, "He seemed a sullen, patient child, hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment" (Bronte 42). He initially accepts the way people treat him, but soon turns vengeful. Nelly says, "He complained so seldom, indeed, of such stirs as these, that I really thought him not vindictive. I was deceived completely..." (Bronte 44). Often, monstrous people are made the way they are through a dismal childhood, as they become hardened and cynical in adulthood and blame those around them for their misery. Heathcliff, at this point, is not yet broken.
Whatever shroud of kindness Heathcliff has left, however, is squashed by Hindley's tyrannical behaviour upon his return to Wuthering Heights. Nelly recalls, "He bore his degradation pretty well at first, because Cathy taught him what she learnt, and worked or played with him in the fields" (Bronte 49). Once Catherine is taken from him by the Lintons, however, the beginnings of his monstrosity start to appear. Nelly retells, "Heathcliff's violent nature was not prepared to endure the appearance of impertinence from one who he seemed to hate, even then, as a rival. He seized a tureen of hot applesauce, the first thing that came under his gripe, and dashed it full against [Edgar's] face and neck..." (Bronte 61). This is his first true violent act, and it only escalates as he becomes more wronged, and in turn more bitter.
His most violent act occurs much later in his life, and it's the explosion of all of his inner hatred towards his oppressor, mingled with his bitterness towards not having Catherine as his own. As Isabella tells Nelly, "The charge exploded, and the knife, in springing back, closed into [Hindley's] wrist. Heathcliff pulled it away by main force, slitting up the flesh as it passed on, and thrust it dripping into his pocket" (Bronte 173). She adds, "[Heathcliff] kicked and trampled on him, and dashed his head repeatedly against the flags" (Bronte 173). Oddly enough, however, immediately after nearly killing Hindley, he applies pressure to his wounds and ensures that he doesn't die. This suggests that while Heathcliff is brutal, he's not a murderer. He's deeply wounded emotionally by Hindley, and when given the chance to physically exert this pain upon him, he seizes it.
Heathcliff's only true tenderness is for Catherine, and when she dies, he's in agony for the rest of his life. As he puts it, "I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" (Bronte 164). Her loss is too great for him to handle, as even though their relationship is a vengeful and unpleasant one, he loves her and wishes they could have had a better life together. This wound cuts him so deeply that he no longer exhibits any sign of morality. Sometimes, a great tragedy can affect a person so much so that they're changed forever, and never able to move on from it.
After much bitterness and violence, however, in his life, Heathcliff reaches a point where he has exhausted his cruelty. He no longer feels wronged, and instead feels righted upon encountering Catherine's ghost. He says, nearing his death, "I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing" (Bronte 306). Finally, the storm within him calms, and he becomes a completely different person entirely, enveloped with excitement and devoid of care towards his daily life. This shows that within him is the ability to be happy, even if it's a crazy sort of elation. Had Heathcliff been able to be with Catherine in the first place, he may never have become the violent individual he became. His vindictive personality stems from the misfortune and the hardship of his entire life, as it's all he knows.
Do you think people are more so the products of their nature, or their nurture? What about Heathcliff, specifically? Why do you think Emily Bronte made him such a monstrous character?