This question is based on Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. I'm trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back…

Analyze the question: You are asked to identify who speaks the quoted lines from Wuthering Heights. The speaker is plotting to "pay Hindley back" and is willing to wait as long as necessary.

Explain the concept: In the novel, Hindley Earnshaw is Catherine's elder brother. After their father, Mr. Earnshaw, dies, Hindley becomes master of Wuthering Heights. He takes revenge on Heathcliff, the orphan his father adopted, for having been favoured as a child. He degrades Heathcliff by making him a servant, denying him education, and treating him cruelly.

Step-by-step solution:

1. The speaker has a grudge against Hindley and wants to "pay him back", which means revenge.
2. Edgar Linton has no quarrel with Hindley. He is a gentle, refined man.
3. Lockwood is the outside narrator, a tenant at Thrushcross Grange. He is not connected to Hindley's past.
4. Isabella hates Heathcliff later, but she has no history of mistreatment by Hindley.
5. Heathcliff is the only character who was abused by Hindley and who spends the novel patiently planning revenge. He says this to Nelly Dean (Ellen) after Hindley's cruelty, when he is wounded and humiliated, especially after being kept from Catherine. His wish that Hindley not die before he gets revenge matches his obsessive character. He later gains control of Wuthering Heights by encouraging Hindley's gambling and drinking.

Correct answer: A. Heathcliff

Exam tip: In Wuthering Heights, "revenge" quotes almost always point to Heathcliff. Remember the sequence: Hindley mistreats Heathcliff, then Heathcliff takes revenge on Hindley, then on Hindley's son Hareton, and then on the Lintons.