The characters in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights treat class hierarchy as if it were something natural and immutable, but the author shows that the way the characters treat each other with each other is largely based on the class they come to identify with. This identity is achieved through how the characters are raised, not through anything they are actually born with. Although Heathcliff is mistreated because of his origin, he manages to move away from this position and gain a position of power. On the other hand, Hareton, son of the esteemed Earnshaw family, becomes an illiterate servant through Heathcliff's manipulation. While other characters treat them as if they belong to these positions, Brontë uses these characters to demonstrate that class is a construction, a matter of nurture rather than nature. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first clear example of class construction is when Mr. Earnshaw brings young Heathcliff back to Wuthering Heights after his trip to Liverpool. The immediate response to him is absolutely negative. Nelly, who tells the story to Lockwood and is herself a servant, initially describes him as a "dirty, ragged, black-haired child" who speaks "in gibberish that no one can understand" (26). Nelly continually refers to Heathcliff as "it", speaking of him in statements such as "They completely refused to have him in bed with them, or even in their room... so, I put him on the stair landing, hoping that may it disappear tomorrow” (27). Referring to his speech as “incomprehensible” denies him language and reduces him to the level of an animal, but referring to him as “it” also denies him a gender and therefore reduces him to a mere object. His previous quote also shows how Heathcliff is mistreated by many residents of the house. Nelly later reports to Lockwood that Heathcliff was "hardened, perhaps, to mistreatment" because he would "endure Hindley's blows without flinching or shedding a tear." (27) This suggests that Heathcliff, as a child, had already learned to internalize certain class roles and social expectations, and to act accordingly in his new home, believing that there is nothing to be done about the abuse he has faced since part of Hindley, perhaps even seeing himself. as the object others see it as, something to be used and abused without objection. These characters do not treat Heathcliff this way out of a direct desire to assign him to a lower social class. Nelly never explains exactly why they react so badly to Heathcliff and treat him this way. Their actions are simply presented as natural reactions to Heathcliff's appearance, or his perceived status: orphaned, classless, and with darker skin than they normally see. The Linton family reacts similarly when he and Catherine arrive at Thrushcross Grange. While Catherine is accepted by the family, Heathcliff is rejected. Initially they describe him as a "gypsy", then as "a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway", again raising the question of the color of his skin. After this, Mrs Linton says he is a "wicked boy... and quite unfit for a decent home!" before forcing him to leave (36). While they talk as if they are expelling him from the house for misbehaving, Catherine has also broken the law. Rather, they appear to reject Heathcliff while accepting Catherine because she belongs to a family they recognize and respect, while Heathcliff appears to be nothing more than a dark-skinned troublemaker. Also Catherine, who becomes.”