" 'You needn't have touched me!, he answered, following her eye and snatching away his hand. 'I shall be as dirty as I please, and I like to be dirty, and I will be dirty'" (55).
             In Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, the reader gets the impression that the malevolence and evilness in Heathcliff's character is greatly caused by the maltreatment he experiences during his youth. Thus it is his degradation to the position of a mere servant, the denial of his love to Catherine Earnshaw, and the brutal abuse by Hindley that causes him to become a "fierce, pitiless, wolfish man" (103). Hareton, however, who has been brought up with the "same wind to twist [him]" by far doesn't turn out as "crooked" (187) as Heathcliff. In contrast to Heathcliff, Hareton is able to preserve a noble character, and against all odds, manages that "all his rudeness, and all his harshness [deserts] him" (314) at last. Through/ With/ By the example of Hareton, the novel suggests that the character of a human being is not completely determined by his environment, but that each individual has a choice, to a certain degree, how to respond to the way they are treated. Whereas in Hareton's case, abuse cannot destruct what is originally good natured, Heathcliff's response to abuse is spending the rest of his life trying to "pay...back" the evil to those who denied him, "[hoping] that...[he
             •ll] not die before he [does]" (61).
             From childhood on, this difference in their characters can be detected in their behaviors. Even in situations as insignificant as when Heathcliff is mocked because his hair are like a "colt's mane over his eyes" (58) and Hareton is similarly laughed at because of his "wetted hair" (218), this difference is suggested. Whereas Heathcliff displays his "violent nature" (59) and "[dashes]...