Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

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Wuthering heights

According to the dictionary 'narrative' means 'A narrated account; telling a story'. A 'narrative' is used in Emily Bronte's critically acclaimed novel 'Wuthering Heights'. From the outset we learn of our narrator, Lockwood. Lockwood is an urban, middle class gentleman, the stereotypical male of the time. We receive narrative from him alone for the first three chapters of the novel. This essay will investigate into the effectiveness of the narrative technique employed by Emily Bronte for the first three chapters of the novel. So what makes a good narrative? Firstly it should be unnoticeable to the reader, letting the story line unfold naturally. However Lockwood is far from being unnoticeable, in fact for the majority of the time he is, bluntly put, annoying. For instance he uses ridiculously over exaggerated language. An example of this is the fourth line of the very first chapter where Lockwood says 'A perfect misanthropist's Heaven - and Mr Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us'. Yet, although needless and blatant, it draws the reader as a result to almost laugh at Lockwood if nothing else. Lockwood is the outsider, coming into a world in which he finds scary and hostile, he's a your average gentleman of the time who has stumbled on a primitive uncivilised world which he doesn't understand, but which fascinates him. In the novel Lockwood presents the situation as he sees it, the reader is thus brought closer to the action, seeing it through the eyes of the narrator himself. The presence of Lockwood in the book allows the author the author to begin the story near the end and work backwards and forwards in time with little difficulty. The opening three chapters of the book are narrated by Lockwood and provide the reader with their introduction to this early 19th century world. The format of Lockwood's narrative is that of a personal diary, which allows the development for the reader of an easy intimacy with an impartial character whose style - self-conscious, a little affected and quite rude is nicely worked to make us feel sympathy, while allowing ground for the reader to be highly amused, and/or even annoyed, at the narrators expense. As the narrator is an unreliable one, it means that the reader has to look deeper between the lines as Lockwood's judgement is clouded and the way he is portrayed he is not to be trusted.

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