Amityville Heights

The use of a modern reference has eluded my blogs, and I feel that this novel is becoming a perfect example of such. The more I read, the more I begin to see parallels between the two stories.

For example, the characters that dwell within the house seem to be bitter or mischievous. Catherine and Mr. Heathcliff are examples as such. Mr. Heathcliff is bitter towards their guest even from the moment he enters the home. "You'd better let the dog alone," growled Mr. Heathcliff in unison checking fiercer demonstrations with a punch of his foot. (5) It seems strange that he's so fierce and "scowly". You can sense something dark about him. A mystery soon to be unraveled, a plot so thick that it might be weighing upon his sanity.

Even Mrs. Heathcliff seems to be a mix of darker forces. "I'll show you how far I've progressed in the Black Art..." (12) It seems to run in the family, or perhaps it is the house itself? I may be asking questions that could easily be answered as I read, but I find that this house has a darker nature to it that tempts the people who live within it, no matter the age.

Catherine for example is a mischief maker. She pushes the limits of her father, and pushes the limits of her boundaries. She breaks rules, and falls into the web that Heathcliff strung. The two together are fairly innocent, but when they are apart, Heathcliff grows very much distant, and even when Catherine returns he is vengeful upon everyone, going as far as to throw a cup of hot tea in the face of an innocent offspring of another family.

While apart from the house, Catherine seems changed. Cathy stayed at Thrushcross Grange five weeks, till Christmas. By that time her ankle was thoroughly cured, and her manners much improved. The mistress visited her often, in the interval and commenced her plan of reform by trying to raise her self-respect with fine clothes and flattery, which she took readily; so that instead of a wild, hatless little savage jumping into the house, and rushing to squeeze us all breathless, there alighted from a handsome black pony a very dignified person with brown ringlets falling from cover of a feathered beaver, and a long cloth habit which she was obliged to hold up with both hands that she might sail in. (41) She's been influenced (or cured) by the family, dressing in a fair manner, and being polite and courteous, and going out of her way to help her companion (Heathcliff) when he is in a situation of dire need. Even her apparel seems to affect her dignity, which is a definite parallel to Heathcliff who is quite unkempt and dirty.

Although I see the story unraveling, and clues to the past being revealed, I feel the house is a huge part of the story, so much so that it is a character in itself, and the more I read, the more I feel convinced of this fact. But onward I go...