Please read the following poem, brought in by 3rd hour's Matt Tharp,
We're the unmended, the untended,
Cold soldiers of the shoe. We're the neglected,
The never resurrected, agonies of the few.
We're the once kissed, unmissed and always refused.
Because we're the unfinished
And feared and we're never pursued.
And just that easily, on my behalf,
I come around. Because I'm buring.
the beasts of war feeds only on the meats of war.
And now I'm for the carnage.
Here's how my anguish frees.
Destroy everyone of course. Because I'm unwanted
And unsafe. And I'll take tears away with torments and rape,
Killings and fears not even the dead will escape.
Encircling the guilty, ashamed, blameless and enslaved.
Absolved. Butchering their prejudice.
Patience. Their value. Because I'm without value.
I'm the coming of every holocaust. Turning no lost.
Rending tissue, sinew and bone. Excepting no suffering.
By me all levees will break. all silos heave.
I will walk heavy.
And I will walk strange.
Because I am too soon.
Because without her, I am only revolutions of ruin.
Because I am too soon.
Because without you, I am only revolutions of ruin.
I'm the prophecy of prophecies past.
Why need dies at last.
How oceans dry. Islands drown.
And skies of salt crash to the ground.
I turn the powerful. Defy the weak.
Only grass grows down abandoned streets.
For a greater economy shall follow us.
And it will be undone.
And a greater autonomy shall follow us.
And it too will be undone.
And a greater feeling shall follow love.
And it too will blow to dust.
For I am longings without trust. The cyclodial haste,
Freedom from Hailey forever wastes.
Dust cares only for dust.
And time only for us.
Consider this poem while answering Kyle Burton's (3rd hour) question,
"With the loss of Catherine, Heathcliff becomes a cruel and vioent man, showing no remorse for his atrocities. Does Heathcliff truly have a conscience or is he, at heart, a psycopath?"
12 comments:
That poem seemed more like a metal song, really.
I think Heathcliff is just a very broken-hearted man who didn't know how to deal with the death and loss and supposed rejection of the only good thing in his life.
"Because without you, I am only revolutions of ruin."
The whole poem seems to deal with this enormous energy just running wild and destroying everything. It's not that the energy can't stop destroying without Her; but it is more like it doesn't have any desire to stop without her.
Heathcliff has a conscience. He could quit ruining everyone elses' lives, but he doesn't really care to. The only thing he really cares about not destroying is Catherine, so why would he not destroy everything else? He is a selfish man who only sees himself and his own wants, but he is no psycopath.
Who else notices that although Linton cares for Catherine and his daughter and everything, he really isn't any better off than Heathcliff? Sure, he got Catherine, but that was a money issue. He didn't beat Heathcliff by love and caring. He gets a little more happiness than Heathcliff because of his care for his daughter, but what else? Heathcliff isn't so much worse off for all is carelessness than anyone else in the story. At the very least he's high above Hindley, and nobody talks about how Hindley doesn't even care about his own son.
There is way too much going on in Heathcliff to just consider him "broken hearted". If your broken hearted you tell people to get off your lawn, you don't set you own dying son up with his cousin just to get his land when he dies for your personal amusement.
I saw a quote somewhere about someone wondering if "Creatures such as Heathcliff should ever be created". That's what Heathcliff has become, he is "without values"
It's true Heathcliff is not a person, he's a force. His actions and thoughts affect everyone one, his reach seems almost endless. It's almost like he has become all powerful. He is the "Coming of every holocaust". He tries to get back at people even if they are already gone through their children("Killings and fears not even the dead will escape").
The thought of Heathcliff as timeless is also in the poem. "How oceans dry, islands drown. and skies of salt crash to the ground", Even as the elements morph the moors, Heathcliff reamins static.
If I were to stumble across this poem I would think of Heathcliff right away. The way I would descibe Heathcliff is psycopath.To me it seems like Heathcliff has tunnel vision. He only sees his reward of getting land and plots to get it in any means nessarcy. He obviously doesn't who he hurts in the process.
The only person he shows any kind of affection towards in the whole book is Cathy1 and even then it's not what you would call romantic. I think heathcliff is a complete lunatic. He rapes Isabella, beats Hindley until he is inches from his deth, punishes Hearington by treating him like dirt, take Linton away from Edgar and shows him zero compassion, and takes Catherine2 away from her father while he's on this daeth bed. The man cares nothing for others he only sees revenge and Cathy1.
Honestly, I believe heathcliff is a psycopath because he shows no remorse for what he doese and doesn't think twice before he doese them. When heathcliff dies I wish he and Cathy1 wouldn't be together, but then again they deserve each other.
Ah Ha! I have found a kindred spirit in Mr. Tharp with our shared love of Mark Danielewski's work (The poem is from his second novel, the follow up to the glorious, weird, and wonderful House of Leaves, Only Revolutions) and what better example is there to...well, exemplify the sheer madness of passion (and more than likely chemical imbalance) in Heathcliff than this excerpt.
There is no doubt old Heathbar has some issues. That goes without saying. What exactly is going on in that dark swarthy head of his is what is up for debate. So let us weigh the options shall we?
(1)Heathcliff is batshit crazy- Maybe dear Heathy is just not wired correctly in the noggin making him violently unstable and not in control of his emotions when it comes to his love for Catherine and his hatred for everyone else. Hmmmm? Possible but let us keep going.
(2)The overwhelming power of love has made Heathcliffe batshit crazy- As many know, love is a powerful force that is often times more painful than a kick in the crotch, so potentially Heathledger might just be a poor innocent victim of head over heels infatuated love with dear Cathy, which due to her also being quite an imposing force of strong feminine nature, would cause Heathcliffe to act rather irrationally as a psychotic man would. Also, not a bad hypothesis but let's try one more.
(3)Heathcliffe got the worst parts of all the dictating forces in his life- He was raised from when he was very little in abject poverty as a minority. He then caught a break and was brought back to live at Wuthering heights (A significant jump in social status and the only good time in Heathcliffe's existence.)Heathbar then went on to forge a very deep connection with Catherine, his soul mate, and then had to watch her stomp all over his heart continuously by gettin all proper like and runnin' round like a hussie with all them young mans (A severe kick in the crotch) Oh yeah, and did I mention that that dude Hindley is making Heathcliffes life hell.
I have complete and total sympathy for my little Heathykins. He has had his heart torn, his name disgraced, his intelligence mocked, he has been spat on, used as a slave, and rejected by almost everyone but yet we still sit and wonder how a man that had to endure so much turned out the way he did...a psychological unstable wreck.
FIN
Beautiful Poem.
Reading the above posts I am amazed at how most everyone believes Heathcliffe is a psychopath and there is no way a broken heart brought him to his vengeful state. Really? Has no one seen a film in the past year? How many stories center around the main character suffering a loss and then completely falling apart mentally??
Now I will be honest and say that Heathcliffe was never the model gentleman. Therefore I don't think this all came from a broken heart either.He had more on his plate, than just losing Cathy. After all he was always put down by Hindley and the Lintons, oppressed by his social status. No doubt, Heathcliffe's malice and revenge is a byproduct of his upbringings, not a chemical imbalance of the brain.
And besides if he was a psychopath, why wouldn't he just get it all over by killing Edgar and Hindley, rather than obtaining the satisfaction of slowing destroying their lives? Heathcliffe wanted them to walk a mile in his shoes. I just think it is so sad he used the second generation to obtain his goal.
Wow I don't know if there are many words that can sum up the effect this poem had on me. It's a perfect description of Heathcliff. Almost as if he wrote it himself. I don't think I would call him a psycopath. I believe that what happened to him when Catherine died would happen to any of us if one of our love ones died. I just think that Heathcliff expresses his emotions physically rather than keeping them to himself like most of us would do. So in that sense he can seem like a psycopath. Heathcliff and Catherine's relationship was so strong that if Heathcliff didn't react this way then I would definitely considered him strange. The entire time I was reading I could literally feel the power and tension between Catherine and Heathcliff. Even after her death, Heathcliff continues to hold that power within him until it finally makes him snap. That power after her death is radiated onto Linton and Catherine's relationship. Heathcliff can't be anyone else unless he is drastically afftecting others lives whether it be good or bad. Can we say that psycopath is a relative term?
There was one word that really stuck out to me while I read the poem and it was patience. I think this is the best adjective to describe Heathcliff because all of these years of living on the moors there were only two main things he wanted to do. One be with Cathy which couldn't every happen until he died. And two get revenge. All of those years he was subtlety able to just play the characters like chess pieces in order to get what he wanted. Just like a game he had to have a strategy and put it into action. If Heathcliff would not have taken his time to maneuver the characters he would have never achieved revenge. He was a mastermind more than a psychopath.
This poem in truth left me breathless. There was so much emotion and feeling being expelled. I think it relates perfectly to Heathcliff's character and personality after Catherine's death. I felt the same feeling when I read Wuthering Heights. Completely amazed at the intensity and passion.
From the beginning Heathcliff always seemed a little unstable. But who could blame him? He was treated as a servant his whole life. When he finds a connection with Catherine and in the end, loses her, he has nothing else to live or care for.
So when asked if Heathcliff is a psychopath, my answer is no. Losing the one thing that kept him sane caused his pent up anger and revenge to flow freely. This doesn't make him a psychopath, this makes him human. The only way he knew how to deal with his grief was to take it out on everyone else.
In my mind Heathcliff was never a psycopath. Yes, he did have the components to become one, but he overcame them with the love of Catherine. He was an orphan on the streets of Gimmerton until the Earnshaws brought him into their home. The only thing that saved him, I believe, was the love of Catherine. His rough background and the abuse from Hindley could never shake his love for Catherine as well. Being the only thing he had left in life, it was very hard for him to deal with the loss of her, but I believe he still had a conscience and was not a psycopath. The line "Because without you, I am only revolutions of ruin" don't mean that without her hes deranged or anything of the sort. Anybody would fall to ruins if everything we loved in life was crushed. Like I, Cassandra said Heathcliff is just a very broken-hearted soul.
Alexis: :)
I agree. He is brilliant. :)
Seriously, he is like Gatsby (ugh I feel like Mrs. Coleman right now...) Gatsby just happens to inherit all his money and he plays the big gentleman role, holding big parties and having grand possessions just to achieve one goal: Daisy. Heathcliff comes back into the story and gets possessions and manuevers people not only for revenge, but also because it makes him feel equal to Cathy.
Remember what Cathy said that made Heathcliff leave? He felt like nothing. He was worthless. He feels like owning property and being in control of people separates him from the boy Cathy couldn't accept.
Everyone has heard of people beating animals and nobody can even fathom why they do it. I think that is a good way to understand Heathcliff. From the beginning we see that Heathcliff was manipulative. Like when he blackmails Hindley into giving Heathcliff his horse. So my guess is that Heathcliff was abuse by somebody stronger his whole life, so when he finally found someone weaker then him he jumped at the opportunity to abuse. He is emotionally abuse by Cathrine 1. She often toys with him and Edgar. So he takes that out on Cathy 2. He is physically abuse and hinder by Hindley. So he takes that out on Hareton. He is abuse by Edgar when Edgar steals his love with his wealth, so he takes it out on Linton. He is like the boy that's abused by his father and as a result abuses his dog because he is stonger than that dog. Heathcliff is only a pyshco because of the pychcos he is surrounded by.
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