Writing a research paper on something you have spent 360 hours on and yet you still don't understand what is happening can leave you in a rut. You think you are getting somewhere and that you actually understand what is going on only to find you really have gone nowhere in your ventures.
Beloved is filled with confusing structures and phrases that force the reader to think and infer about what is happening. My research paper that has no data is along the same lines at the moment. However, while Beloved has a purpose and can actually allow readers to draw some sort of conclusion, my paper mainly only asks the same questions I'm trying to answer. Then again, I haven't finished reading the book yet. For all I know, Beloved could be the same way.
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While reading Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë, all I could think about was Mozart's famous Der Spiegel (The Mirror), or as it is more commonly known as - The Tabletop Duet. The reason it is called such is because the two violinists place the music in between them so that Violin 1 plays it facing upright while Violin 2 plays it upside down. This creates a very neat mirror effect that isn't quite the same the second time, though it does sound extremely similar. It is just like Wuthering Heights. The infamous romantic triangle between Heathcliff, Catherine, and Edgar is mirrored by their children: Cathy, Linton, and Hareton. However, just like Mozart's Duet, the mirror distorts the image so that the second round isn't quite the same as the original.
In the original triangle, Catherine and Heathcliff grew up together. On day, they were getting into trouble when they landed themselves at Thrushcross Grange. Catherine had injured her ankle causing the both of them to spend an impromptu five weeks there. It is at this point Catherine meets Edgar Linton. Edgar falls in love with Catherine, but Heathcliff was also in love with her. Due to social reasons, Catherine accepts Edgar's marriage proposal despite her love for Heathcliff. Heathcliff runs off and leaves Catherine and Edgar for five years. When he comes back, events escalate to the point where Edgar forces Catherine to choose between himself and Heathcliff. Catherine picks Edgar, but the depression caused from her separation from Heathcliff causes her to spiral to her deathbed. She gives birth to Cathy and dies shortly afterward. Cathy grows up at Thrushcross Grange without knowledge of Heathcliff or his son Linton, nor of Hareton (Catherine's nephew who is forced to work as a servant when Wuthering Heights should have gone to him as the head of the Earnshaw family). Much like the original image, Cathy gets into trouble and winds up at Wuthering Heights where she meets Hareton. Instantly they become friends, just as Catherine and Heathcliff did - the Lady and the servant. Nelly finds her and brings her back in an attempt to keep Cathy from Hareton as Edgar wouldn't be happy. Edgar then brings Linton to the Grange where Cathy meets him for the first time. Heathcliff demands his son back and that is the last Cathy sees of both Linton and Hareton for 3 years. While bird-hunting, Cathy runs into Heathcliff and Hareton again where she doesn't quite recognize Hareton. She ends up going back to Thrushcross grange to meet Linton again, though she also doesn't recognize him. Cathy mocks Linton with Hareton but writes letters in secret to him. Cathy is slowly falling into the same hole as her mother. She is caught in a love triangle but this time, the points aren't quite the same. The Mirror Duet showcases this nicely as the second half sounds much like the first half, but it isn't the same. The second half of Wuthering Heights sounds much like the first half, but it isn't the same. Catherine Earnshaw, from Wuthering Heights, starts her story at age six as the mischievous daughter of Mr. Earnshaw, master of Wuthering Heights. She is introduced to Heathcliff whom her father brought home one day as he was a "poor, fatherless child" (42). Mr. Earnshaw always put Heathcliff above Catherine as she was "too mischievous and wayward for a favourite" (42). Despite this, she was fond of Heathcliff to the point that her greatest punishments were when she was kept apart from him. After watching her father die, Cathy caused more of a ruckus and cared less about being punished until one day it got her and Heathcliff stuck at Thrushcross Grange. During those five weeks, she settled down a bit and "her manners much improved" as she became more of a Lady and less of a brat (55). Even as she started to follow social protocol, she still ignored them when Heathcliff is involved no matter how often her brother reminds them of their place. While she greatly loves Heathcliff, Catherine is - at her core - a social climber and will not allow her feelings to take charge. Hence when Linton asked for her hand in marriage, she said yes without thinking of Heathcliff until after. She brings pain to those whom love her as Linton knows she loves Heathcliff while Heathcliff has to see her marry another man. She started as an innocent, playful child and turned to an arrogant, selfish brat who doesn't care who gets hurt in the process so long as she obtains her favored status. She is also in denial of what she is as shown by her attempts to justify her actions to Nelly. Despite her flaws, she is determined and sticks with her decisions.
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