How Jane Survives

In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Jane acts as one of the narrators. She is remembering and commenting on her own life. She is able to look back upon her life with positive thinking despite all of her hardships, because these struggles are what make her who she is. Growing up Jane was forced to fend for herself against her abusive cousin, John Reed, who "bullied and punished [her]" (Bronte, p.8) constantly and also having to live with an aunt who held no compassion for her. After growing up and 8 years in a school, Jane experienced very little love or nurturing and as a result saw every little act of kindness as a paramount occasion. This allowed her to go into life being able to cope with very difficult situations and appreciate the little things. The culmination of these two attributes are the underlying reasons for Jane's happiness at the end of the novel. Because of these characteristics, Jane sees her job as a governess in Thornfield as a blessing, but is also strong enough to run away from her love of Mr. Rochester with a "cry of [her] heart as [she] left him" (Bronte, p.320). Although Jane has many things in her life to be sorrowful about, she ends up happy because in order to reach happiness one must work to obtain it, which is unique in Jane's character compared to the others. -Elliot Palestine