Philosophical Review: Whutering Heights
The figure of Hareton Earnshaw represents a turning point in the novel. Although Heathcliff deprives him of a happy childhood—raising him in a wild state within an environment of pure hatred—evil does not take root in him. On the contrary, Hareton preserves a fundamental goodness of soul. Because he was not abandoned as a child and knows no alternative lifestyle, living in the wild feels completely normal to him. Consequently, he never develops resentment toward his father figure; he is simply unconscious of his own degradation. In this sense, he is saved by his ignorance, and his ultimate renewal comes through Cathy. Hareton believes he has a good father and is living a normal life, so he sees no reason to hate him. This dynamic implies that hatred is neither hereditary nor inevitable. Heathcliff did not become a monster merely because Hindley mistreated him; rather, it was his disruptive and obsessive passion for Catherine that consumed him. This stands in stark contrast to the...
