Significance of Catherine’s diary

Lockwood, the tenant was compelled to stay at his landlord Heathcliff’s house
due to severe snowstorm. In Wuthering Heights he was offered a room to spend
the night. There he discovered a personal diary written approximately 25 years
earlier and it belonged to Catherine Earnshaw. Lockwood reads an entry that
describes a day at Wuthering heights shortly after her father’s death. It tells about
Hindley, her cruel brother who never liked Heathcliff the orphan raised by Mr
Earnshaw. Catherine felt attraction for Heathcliff but this amiable relationship
was hated by Hindley. While going through the pages of diary Lockwood falls
asleep and experienced a nightmare. He found the ghost of Catherine Linton. He
was shaken with fear and let out a loud cry. His nightmare was gone but the
thought of Catherine Earnshaw made him curious to know about Wuthering
heights. And thus the entire story came to be revealed.

Lockwood’s first night experience

Lockwood was compelled to stay at his landlord Heathcliff’s house due to severe
snowstorm. He was provided with a bed room for that night .This unused
bedroom was once belonged to Catherine who was dead. As he was reading a
diary of Catherine discovered by him, he fell asleep and had two nightmares. In
his first night mare he saw a fir branch tapping on his window pane while in
second dream he tried to get hold of the branch. But he held the ice cold hand of
Catherine Linton in place of the branch. The ghost of Catherine asked him to let
her in but the fear stricken Lockwood wanted to get himself free from the hold.
He screamed and solicited bitter response from Heathcliff. Lockwood’s dream in
Wuthering Heights is a complicated interplay of psychology and literature. His
first night experience especially his nightmare in wuthering heights plays a vital
role in setting the tone of the novel. It also prepares the mind of the readers to
experience gloomy nature of the incidents.