Wuthering Heights
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Character: Hindley Earnshaw
Actions: Against Heathcliff (an orphan who his father has taken in)
[pg. 38 and 39]: beats Heathcliff
[pg. 46]: after Mr. Earnshaws death, Hindley returns and treats Heathcliff as a servant. He denies him education and relegates him to manual labor.
[pg. 47] locks him out of the house
[pg. 53] groups him among the servants when Catherine returns home from Thrushcross Grange
[pg. 58] forbids him from playing with Catherine, Edgar, and Isabella
Sympathy:
[pg. 38] Hindley is jealous of Heathcliff because his father loved Heathcliff more than him.
HOW: We know prior to most of Hindleys actions that he is jealous of Heathcliff. But it is revealed in a way that causes the reader to empathize with him. One by one, Hindley looses his allies. First Catherine begins to take to Heathcliff, then his mother [who had distrusted Heathcliff] dies, and lastly, Nelly Dean begins to like Heathcliff.
Actions:
[pg. 65] According to Nelly Dean Hindley becomes “tyrannical” and abandons his newborn son, leaving Nelly to care for him. Falls into alcohol and is prone to drunken rages.
[pg. 73-74] Threatens to kill Nelly for not killing his son and instead trying to hide him.
[pg. 139] Is determined to take Heathcliffs money and life.
[p. 172] Tries to ambush and kill Heathcliff with the knife-gun.
Sympathy:
[pg. 64] Hindley is grieving over the loss of his wife.
HOW: The reader learns how much Hindley adored his wife and he struggled to comprehend her death/how she could be taken from him.