some thoughts about North and South now that I've finished re-reading it for my dissertation:
I read it for the first time 5 years ago in high school and could not understand a thing about strikes etc. Now that I've started working I thought I understood more but apparently the introduction does not agree with me so uhmmm.
For example, Mr Thornton says to Margaret "look, you can't expect me to tell my hands what to spend their wages on, if they want to buy alcohol that's their right" and I thought "that makes sense, who wants to have their boss nitpicking their impulsive purchases" but the introduction basically implies that it's His Duty to make the employees better people??
This book is such a slog in the second half. It just won't finish after the first death. Also, why do so many people have to die in this novel again?
Thornton at the beginning is insufferable, I can understand why Maggie hated his guts. And I'll say one more: I'm not sure he completely redeems himself by the end.
Also, this guy is way too intense. At one point Margaret says "yeah, I'm glad I'm leaving Milton, these were the two worst years of my life" and he gets irritated because they were his best 2 years of his life because he met her and nothing would have marred that, not even his whole family dying like it happened to her. My dude, be serious.
The whole "woe is me, I told a lie and am now ruined forever" will never make sense to me but that's ok, weird Victorian morals (I do get the vibes that Maggie is the only one to care anyway)
I'm also still perplexed that Thornton thinks Maggie saved him during the strike when it was her who actively told him to go put himself in danger in the first place. I would be pissed in his place.
But I still love Margaret because my girl is God's strongest soldier and can never catch a break. I <3 you, eldest daughter.
I wish someone had kicked Mr Hale in the balls at some point or other.
