Jane Eyre Blog #1

The book that i am reading is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. So far, this story is about a young girl named Jane whose parents died before she could remember. She was living with her aunt Reed and her cousins, Eliza, John, and Georgiana. She was not treated well in this home, and suffered cruelty from her aunt and cousins, especially John who constantly abused her for no reason. Her aunt Reed always unjustly punished her for defending herself against John and treated him like he was an angel. Aunt Reed thought that Jane was a deceitful, naughty child and excluded her from all activities with the family. Her aunt Reed decided to send her to school so she would not have to be home with her and to correct her "deceitfulness." She sent Jane to Lowood Institution, which is a very strict school for girls whose one or both parents have died. It is described as a cold, miserable place; however, Jane does not miss her so called home from which she left. She meets a girl named Helen Burns, who gives Jane insight on how to treat other people whether they are kind or cruel to you. This new friendship has the potential of turning Jane's personality around.


I have just started this book and I am already falling in love with it. The plot, characters, and imagery are so intricately written, that every detail matters, there is absolutely nothing that is gone waste in this story so far. I have to say that Jane is by far my favorite character. This could be slightly biased since she is obviously the main character, but I find myself agreeing with many of the things that she says. I cannot help but take pity on her because of how cruely she is treated by her aunt Reed and her awful cousin John. She has this quiet persona, but then she bursts when she can't take anymore of her family's unjust punishments. "I was a discord in Geateshead Hall: Iwas like nobody there: I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children , or her chosen vassalage. If they did not love me, in fact, as little did I love them (16)."I like how this is completely realistic, anyone being treated this way is bound to crack. This is what makes the story so interesting, it shows how Jane can be two dimensional. She can be quiet and innocent, but if anyone decides to mess around with her then she will let you know how she feels. My favorite part in the story so far was when she told her aunt Reed how much she disliked her and that she would never call her aunt again. "I am not deceitful: if I were, I would say I loved you ; but I declare, I do not love you: I dislike you worst than anybody in the world except John Reed...I am glad you are no realtion of mine: I will never call you aunt again as long as I live...(38)." This part was phenomenal and quite honestly it blew me away, with the choice of words I could picture this perfectly in my mind. The theme that is starting to generate in this story is to treat people with kindness no matter what. When Jane meets her friend Helen Burns she notices how Helen does barely anything wrong, nothing worth the punishment that she receives and yet Helen doesn't do anything about it. She does not stand up to her teachers, she just takes it and continues on with her studies, trying her best to be as kind as she can. This boggles Jane's mind because of her experiences that she has had with her aunt and cousins. This theme was brought up again by Helen when she was talking about Charles the First and how he was murdered for no good reason. I think that in the next chapters Jane will try to be like Helen in the way that she deals with people even if they are cruel to her. I can tell already that Jane admires Helen and looks up to her through her curious questions and observations of her, which is why I think Jane will try to develop a similar personality. I think that Jane will defintely be learning new lessons from Helen. This story suggests that in this time period, children cannot stand up for themselves, they mus obey, obey, obey. Children do not have a say in what they do; if they are treated unfairly there is nothing they could do about it. In this time period, adults are extremely superior to children. So far, this novel does not remind me of any other book or novel I have seen or read. I have learned that in this time, the Bible and Christianity are very important in the lives of everyone. If you do not follow the Bible you are considered to be a terrible person and need to be corrected. I also learned how superior adults are to children, and that you cannot stand up to them without paying a high price for it. This novel has impressed me very much so far and I am eager to read more.