"How Does Jane Survive?"

Jane Eyre's happiness at the end of her saga is a direct result of her hard work and knowledge of self. Unlike others, such as Blanch Ingram or Alele, she does not put on fake heirs in order to impress. In fact, she knows herself and her limits very well. As Jane clearly states to the reader, "It is my way - it always was my way, by instinct - ever to meet the brief with brevity, the direct with plainness (Bronte, 374)." She is aware of how she works.
To say no factor of luck was involved in her fate would be unwise. However, of more help to her than fate was Jane's determination to DO: to be productive and constantly busy. She is an avid learner at school, and later in life when she lives with the sisters she continues to study German and read. If she is not learning she is teaching, drawing, cleaning, or any number of things to keep busy. To each day she "shares it into sections; to each section apportions a task: leaveing no stray unemployed quarter of an hour (Bronte, 253)." Not only is she productive, but she does what she deems necessary to do. Though she has limited knowledge of the world Jane applies for a job away from the life she is accustomed to, because she knows she must. She is willed that she "must struggle on: strive to live and bend to toil like the rest (Bronte, 352)."