Final Reflections on Jane Eyre

1. Jane was presented with a very tough decision, whether or not she should stay with Mr. Rochester. If I was Jane I would have probably stayed with Mr. Rochester, because she really doesn't have anywhere to go. She doesn't have a family or any amount of money that's going to last her long. He really did seem to care about her and the situation with his wife would put him in a tough position. I know Jane is a very stubborn individual and leaving obviously was the best decision for her, but I couldn't stand the idea of wandering the streets with no money and no place to stay.

2. After reading Jane Eyre, I was surprised because I actually like the story. The first hundred pages were slow and I wasn't sure I'd actually finish it, but once it got going it was good. I really liked the love story behind it, it was something you wouldn't expect, especially around that time period. Relationships between a master and his governess were rare and I think it worked contribute to the overall read. Also, I didn't think I would like the Old English writting style , but as the story went on I got used to it and it actually started to grow on me.

3. I think this book should be taught in College Literature, because it does go well with the whole 'Coming of Age' theme this quarter. It shows what life was like for a teenager in the 1800s, it's a much different perspective then what we're used to. It also is written in a different text then most people are used to. In college we're going to have to read plenty of books written in Old English and I think that this was a good introduction to get us ready for college, before were thrown into it.

Archtypes

In class we were talking about archetypes and how it is repeated over and over again stories plot lines. The most common of the archetypes is the heroic.

It usually follows this general pattern:
-the character beginning in a land that's secure and dependent
-call to adventure
-involves divine helpers/guide
-many tests/challenges
-gains treasure
-then the ultimate challenge
-sometimes death/resurrection
-returns home victorious or with a new sense of self-realization

Many of today's movies follow this plot line closely, if not exactly.

I recently finished reading the book Twilight and noticed that it had almost the same structure as the heroic archetype.

It started out with Bella living in the small town of Forks with her dad. Her life was secure, but pretty boring. So when the mysterious Edward Cullen came into her life things changed from boring to exciting and when she began to discover the secrets behind Edward, that he indeed was a vampire, a whole new adventure unfolded. Bella decided that she too wanted to become a vampire and certain members of Edward's family helped guide and support her in her choice, while others disagreed with her choice and tried to influence her in the opposite way. There was also the Volturi that proved to be a huge obstacle that Bella had to overcome. She also had to battle with the fact that she would never be able to see her parents again, but she made her decision anyway.
In Twilight I'd have to say that the treasure she ultimately gained was Edward. The climax in the book, or the ultimate challenge, was when Bella was finally bitten by Edward. Not all heroic archetypes have the seventh step, death or resurrection, but I'd consider the transformation Bella went through to be the same thing in a sense. Although in this book, Bella doesn't return to her actual home in Forks with her dad, but rather finds a new home with Edward and his family.

Fire and Ice

We talked about all the different motifs in Jane Eyre and I don't know maybe I'm not a very close reader, but I rarely picked up on any. The only recurrence I found was fire and ice, so I figured Charlotte Bronte must have really wanted the reader to pick up on it, if she made it obvious enough for even me to pick out.

When fire and ice are used together, I typically interpret fire to represent passion and desire, while I assume that ice represents just the opposite. Likewise fire is often grouped with love, while ice represents hatred.

The main character, Jane, seems to have the fiery personality of anyone in the book. She's passionate about her schooling as well as her job, which allows her to quickly excel. She's also fiery in the way that assaults John Reed in a time period where something like that is unheard of. Shortly after that, she yells at Mrs. Reed yet again proving her feisty personality. Not only does the scene show the fire that Jane has, but the ice/ hatred she has for Mrs. Reed. Jane shows hatred towards most of the residents at Gateshead (all except Bessie), but the love that Jane also possesses comes out in Lowood and Thornfeild. She shows fire in the way she cares about Miss Temple, Helen Burns, Mrs, Fairfox, Mr. Rochester, and Adele.

Mr. Rochester becomes a main character in the book upon Jane's arrival at Thornfeild. On their first encounter he seems arrogant and icy towards Jane, but as the book goes on his regards to Jane quickly soften.

I don't think that Charlotte Bronte intends for her characters to be strictly firey or icy, but for them to have a combination of traits to make them different from each other and show the way different character interact.

What inspires people to kill after reading Catcher and the Rye?

I know we talked about it in class, but I just don't understand why people are inspired to kill after reading this book. It has happened on a few occasions...

-Mark David Chapman's murder of John Lennon
-Winona Ryder was convicted of murder, stealing, and kitten-huffing? I don't know.
-John Hinckley's attempted murder of the president
-Robert John Bardo's murder of Rebecca Schaeffer

After these murders were committed, investigators found reference to the book Catcher in the Rye.

Initially after reading this book, I was confused on how it could ever drive someone to kill. But after I thought about it, Holden is pretty negative. He always seems to be depressed, never happy. He's always talking about how everyone around him is fake and how he needs to just get away. Whenever something happens, it "kills him". I guess I always took that as a figure of speech, never literally.

One particular blog I found interesting was talking about how when Mark Chapman shot John Lenning, he was trying to save him from all the phonies. The blog compared this to how Holden wanted to save the kids from falling off the cliff at the edge of the field of rye.

A lot of the other sites had the same comparisons we had: being depressed, negative, always swearing, living with phonies and how everything kills him. Holden's also always smoking and drinking. Neither are good for you and can also act as a depressants, which obviously isn't going to work in his favor.

He also seems to have a pretty big sex drive. Most girls don't seem interested in him or see him as just a friend. And if a girl does seem interested in him, he considers her a phony, along with everyone else, and disregards her.

As girls don't like him, he doesn't seem to like much of anyone either. There's only a few people in the book that he ever really talks highly of-- Allie, Pheobe, and Jane. Everyone else is just a phony. He doesn't really seem to fit in or have a tight group of friends, which would be really hard. He also doesn't seem to really care about anything, especially school. I just think his day-to-day life would be hard to live.

Blog on Holden

"I'm thinking... Uh. Jean Gallagher."
Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that.
"Jane Gallagher," I said.
(page 31)
"Jane Gallagher," I said. I couldn't get over it.
(page 31)
"Jane Gallagher. Jesus."
I couldn't get her off my mind, I really couldn't.
"I oughta go down and say hello to her, at least."
(page 32)
I kept thinking about Jane.
(page 34)

I chose this scene to write about because I found it odd how interested Holden was in in Jane. He doesn't seem to care that much about anything, let alone anyone, so I found it surprising that he was sorry worried about Stradlater and Jane's date.

After reading this, I was just confused on why Holden was so hung up on the fact that Jane was going out with Stradlater. I know that they had been friends in their childhood years and maybe for that reason he felt like he should protect her from Stradlater, because he doesn't seem like the best guy. It also did say how Jane didn't have the best childhood growing up, but that doesn't mean that she shouldn't be able to go out or go on a date.

Maybe Jane and Holden have history, because that might explain some of the reasons why he's so protective over her. It also isn't just something that he thinks about for awhile and it blows over. Jane is an on-going character in the book, even though you never actually get to meet her. He's always talking about how he wants to call her and see how she's doing, but he's not in the mood. I just found it kind of weird, but then again it's Holden.

What I think of Catcher and the Rye

I hate it.


I don't know if I'm not used to reading books like this or what. I just really, really don't like it and I have a tough time sitting down and reading it every night. Maybe it's the annotating I'm not used to or maybe it's the fact that I can't do it on my own time because I have deadlines. I don't know, whatever it is, I'm almost done with it and I'm glad.

I know some people disagree with me, but I feel like nothing ever happens. He's always sad, swearing, crying, complaining, or getting drunk. He's never happy.

I also think it's weird how he's always asking people to go and have a cocktail or go to dinner with him when he doesn't even know them. Especially when he asked the little girl at the park to get a hot chocolate with him. I just found it kind of weird, but maybe it's just him being friendly.

Another reason I don't think I like it is because I'm not very good at picking up on the underlying messages. I read and I think I understand it, but when we get to class everyone starts talking about the little repetitive things that keep getting brought up. The windows, for example, I never would have caught on my own. I have started to warm up to it a little since we've started talking about it in class, because I'm starting to understand a few things.


Well that's all I really have to say.

Visions of Childhood

Childhood memories are depicted several different ways among the four short stories we've read. I believe that the Sutton Pie Safe was trying to get across that as a kid you have to work for what you want. He did want his father to make him a belt, but he didn't let his dad know and for that reason the opportunity was taken away. In Every Little Hurricane, I believe that the lesson that was to be learned was that although your family can sometimes feel distant, they are always there as a support system. I think that Connie's story showed that while your young you sometimes feel invincible, but anything can happen. I think that Bottlecaps was trying to in cooperate caring. He had several cans of bottle caps and even though, they were important him, he let his brother use them for his insect graveyards. Letters to Esme showed that age is not a barrier between friendships, and they can develop at any age, any place.

Letters to Esme showed maturity. Esme acted years older then she really way, while Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been showed immaturity, because of the way she presented herself and how she lied to her parents about what she was doing. They all showed the difficulties kids encounter during their teenage years and the different ways of dealing with them. Some of the stories are more accurate, while others over-do what it's like to be a teenager. The Sutton Pie Safe for example showed that, as a child, you have to make your voice heard to get what you want. Other stories were true to a point. For example Connie's story showed that teenagers lie and don't always make the best decisions, but it doesn't always end in tragedy such as Connie's story did.

I think that for the most part, the stories show the struggles that a teen goes through during their teenage years. Although some may have been a little inaccurate, I'm sure everyone could relate to them in some way.




Growing up, I always watched Full House. In case you didn't know, it's based on a family that consists of 3 daughters, a dad, and their close-knit extended family. I found it portrayed a lot of good life lessons for girls in particular, although guys could get something out of it too. It's based mainly on the struggles the daughters encounter in their teenage years and the different ways they deal with them. The girls are all different ages and even though they are sisters, they are all very different personality-wise. They deal with their problems in completely different ways. Their is a lot of disagreement, but the big picture this show incorporates is family. It sends a message of how important family is in your adolescent years and even into your adult years. It isn't much like any of the short stories we've read, but it shows childhood the way it really is.