Guys I'm so excited about our book club! I've finished the first four chapters and here are some of my thoughts on Jane so far...
It seems like the book starts at a point in Jane's life when she can no longer handle her horrible living situation at Gateshead quietly and starts fighting back; the specific turning point being when John Reed threw the book at her. I think she's a pretty confident little girl despite how much she is put down by everyone around her. I also think she's pretty smart I think Jane is a little girl who stays true to herself. I think she's smart and not afraid to think for herself or come up with her own conclusions, even though her living situation seems like it would really oppress self esteem and free thinking.
She proves her confidence in lashing back at John Reed a couple of times, calling out Mrs. Reed about how poorly she treats her, and I also noticed her confidence when Mr. Brocklehurst, the man from Lowood, asked her if she liked Psalms. She said that she didn't, then he explained why she should, and she still replied by just saying, "Psalms are not interesting." I would have thought that she would be trying to impress the man from Lowood, seeing as she wanted to go away to school, but she was true to herself and her opinions and freely shared them regardless of what anyone else around her thought or wanted her to think.
I thought it was interesting how she reasoned not wanting to be poor. She would rather endure the physical and emotional pain of growing up at Gateshead to provide her with more opportunities later on in life than go to live with poor relatives, and also because she couldn't see how poor people could be kinder to her than those at Gateshead. Jane said, "I was not heroic enough to purchase liberty at the price of caste." I had to look up "caste" in Wikipedia: A caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, tribe affiliation and political power. Culture, education, opportunity, learning...basically creating a successful life for herself was important to Jane and she was willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary to get herself there.
One page 32 (in my book) Jane talks about her mom and dad. We learn that her mom went against her friends' and family's wishes and married Jane's dad, even though he was a poor clergyman. It's a short little description of her parents, but I think it shows that she got at least one powerful trait from her mother; the confidence to follow her heart and stay true to herself regardless of what others think.
Toward the end of chapter four when Jane reacts to Mrs. Reed calling her deceitful, I was surprised when Mrs. Reed didn't really react. I don't know if it's because Mrs. Reed thought what Jane was saying was true, or because she just didn't care enough to react because she knew she would be rid of Jane in a couple of days. Either way, Jane starts to regret what she said to Mrs. Reed. Jane needed Mrs. Reed to fight back to feel validated in what she was saying. I think it's pretty true to life to feel a lot more justified in saying mean or harsh things to someone when they react negatively, or when they fight back. When the person being attacked doesn't say anything to retaliate, no matter how true your words are or how justified you are in saying whatever harsh thing you said, you still start to feel sorry, or a little guilty about what you said. I know this has happened to me. I was trying to think of a personal experience to use as an example but I can't think of one off the top of my head. Anyone else ever experienced this?
Sorry this is so long. Feel free to not read it all, but it's Thanksgiving, and we're all just sitting around watching Hallmark movies, and we all know how great Hallmark movies are.
Hi Britt! I was also struck by the fact that Mrs. Reed didn’t have a stronger reaction to what Jane had said. (Chapter 4, page 36 in my book). I don’t think Jane was looking for an all-out brawl, by any means, but any reaction more than what Mrs. Reed had given her would have maybe prevented Jane from feeling remorse for her words. Jane said something along the lines that the feeling of vengeance was like an “aromatic wine, on swallowing, warm and racy.” However the aftertaste of the words said gave her the sensation that she had been poisoned. Jane should not have felt one ounce of regret, because everything said was true, and needed to be said. Frankly, Mrs. Reed deserved a lot more than a long-overdue, verbal beating!
ReplyDeletePS—It’s so fun reading a book, knowing that my closet friends are reading along with me. I love it!