Narration in Jane Eyre

Narration in Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is written from the first person standpoint. How does this affect our judgement of the protagonist Jane? Jane Eyre is narrated by its title character and so presents us with a story from a sole point of view.   When the novel was first published it included the subtitle, ‘An Autobiography,’ thereby drawing further attention to its narration by one person very much involved with the story to be told.   The nature of the narrator and their relationship with the reader has a great effect on how we judge their character, and Jane Eyre is no exception.   Jane Eyre provides us with a narration of events and dialogue, as well as an account of her thoughts and feelings. The novel can be classified as a bildungsroman, as it charts the growth of Jane from a child into a young woman.   This particular genre of the novel capitalises on the first person narrator and as a result creates a story that is extremely sympathetic to the plight of the protagonist.   As a child at the very beginning of the novel, Jane utters to herself the words ‘Unjust! – unjust!’ (p17) and it is impossible for the reader not to constantly recall these words as Jane suffers at the hands of her cousins and later at Lowood School.   By reading an account from a first person narrator we are privy to not just a narration of events, but also of internalised emotions.   In this respect, it is often easy for this type of narration to become biased and extremely subjective.   We are able to understand how Jane feels, but must rely on her perception when it comes to the feelings of others. It is true that Jane’s narration is a very personal account and as a result is often selective, with Jane recounting experiences that stick in her memory, ‘I remember well the distracting irritation I endured from the cause every evening’ (p62).   However, because of the way Bronte characterises Jane – of good moral nature and of constant character – we accept her as a credible narrator.   Our sympathy and bias towards her cause is aided by the fact that we are given an insight into Jane’s life right from her childhood.   This means that we can relate to her and sympathise with her situation, knowing where she has come from and what drives her. There is no illusion presented in the novel that we are reading an unbiased version of events.   In fact, the narrator of Jane Eyre makes the relationship between reader and herself very clear, frequently bringing attention to the our position as reader ‘True, reader, and I knew and felt this’ (p79).   The power of the narrator becomes very clear as the novel progresses, with Jane Eyre often speculating on her role as narrator, ‘A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play; and when I draw up the curtain this time, reader – you must fancy you see a room in the George Inn at Millcote’ (p95).   She draws the reader into the story and in doing so identifies the reader as someone akin to a companion or friend.   Again, this tone of narration enables us to connect and empathise with the narrator.   We experience events as Jane remembers them, and are given explanations at the same point in the story as she would have received them. Jane relies heavily on language and story-telling as a means of expressing herself, this is clear from the very beginning of the novel when our first glimpse of her comes while she is reading a book, ‘Each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings, yet ever profoundly interesting’ (p10-11).   In turn she becomes a great storyteller of her life.   This is also as a result of being confined as a child; she is rarely given the opportunity to explain herself, ‘Be seated somewhere, and until you can speak pleasantly, remain silent’ (p39).   Consequently, Jane tends to develop an affinity with those who take to storytelling like Bessie, and is repelled by those who do not, like St John.   When talking of Mary Ann Wilson, the importance she grants communicative relationships becomes clearer: ‘She had a turn for narrative, I for analysis; she like to inform, I to question; so we got on swimmingly together, deriving much entertainment, if not much improvement, from our mutual intercourse’ (109). This attitude enables the reader to accept Jane as a character telling a story as truthfully as she can through her own eyes, and also very aware of the entertainment value of a story. This limited understanding of events can become problematic with regard to our judgement of Jane when it comes to the treatment of Bertha.   Bronte had an unquestioning belief in the assumptions of imperialism, a belief that would obviously colour her views and sympathies for characters such as Bertha, as seen through the eyes of Jane Eyre.   Consequently the focal characters of the novel become Jane and Mr Rochester, forcing Bertha into the peripheral role of obstacle to the desired marriage. This pro-imperialist stance means that Jane consistently refers to the character of Bertha as bestial, irrational and violent: ‘What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight tell: it grovelled, seemingly on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal: but it was covered with clothing, and a quantity of dark, grizzled hair, wild as a mane, hid its head and face.’ P291 Such a character fits perfectly into a gothic novel and her presentation succeeds in bringing us closer and feeling more empathy for the plight of Jane and Rochester.   It is extremely easy to sideline the character of Bertha and give her little thought other than as another hardship in the life of Jane.   We see her in relation to Jane and not as a character in herself.   Indeed, she is frequently addressed as it, and we are given little insight into her life before Thornfield Hall.   When we do receive information about her, it is largely biased towards Rochester.   For example, the act of bringing Bertha back to England is portrayed as an act of duty to God and humanity.   As a character in love with Rochester, Jane is able to narrate his behaviour and actions in a positive light. Jean Rhys tackles the issue of Jane Eyre’s subjectivity and treatment of Bertha in her novel Wide Sargasso Sea.   Rhys disputes Bronte’s English assumptions about colonial otherness by writing Bertha into the story, but this time with more than a minor role.   As stated by Jean Rhys in the book Jean Rhys and the novel as women’s text: ‘why should she think Creole women are lunatics and all that?   What a shame to make Rochester’s first wife, Bertha, the awful madwoman, and I immediately thought I’d write the story as it might really have been.   She seemed such poor ghost, I thought I’d try to write her a life.’( p128) By focusing on the story of Bertha (given the name of Antoinette) Rhys is able to justify her behaviour and give her a history and character of her own unrelated to Jane Eyre.   As a result we are able to place Jane and Rochester into a bigger picture, as opposed to reading them through blinkered vision. By shifting sympathy to the character of Antoinette, it seems that Rhys is suggesting that she was previously misrepresented by Bronte.   However, given the time that Bronte was writing in and the fact that she is presenting the views and opinions of one female character, this seems a little unfair.   Bronte was focusing on providing a voice to Jane Eyre, not to the Creole female in the attic.   As a nineteenth female writer, Bronte was – like Bertha – restricted by circumstances and what could not be done in life ran parallel with what could not be written.   This meant that Bronte would not have been in a position to question a woman’s role without writing against the grain of contemporary religious beliefs and societal convention (largely influenced at the time by imperialism).   Bronte’s novel is as much a sign of the times as a personal narrative. Communication is of great importance to Jane throughout the novel, to the extent that she frequently judges other characters on their narrative ability, granting favour to those who prove good narrators.   In the same way we grant favour to Jane Eyre for her position as a credible narrator.   There will always be gaps in a story, be these knowledge gaps or selected omissions and this is particularly the case when it comes to first person narrations. But as Jane notes in relation to Mary Ann Wilson, there is always one person who narrates and another who analyses; one who informs and another who questions.   In the case of Jane Eyre, it is left to the reader to analyse and question once they have read the novel, not necessarily judging the character of Jane, but considering the issues it raises. Bibliography Bronte, Charlotte, Jane Eyre   (Penguin, 1994) Harrison, Nancy, Jean Rhys and the novel as women’s text (University of North Carolina Press, 1988

African Americans Consequence Essay

The African Americans played a major role before and after the Civil War, beginning from 1861 to 1870, which helped shape the course and consequences of the Civil War. In determining how African Americans shaped the course and consequences of the Civil War, one must assess how African Americans were given more opportunities. Politically, African Americans began to have a role in voting and to have the President and Republican Party fight for their full freedom. Socially, the African American’s class began to be looked at differently. Ideologically, the African Americans were being looked at as equal and made sure that people knew they were people too. Although African Americans had to continue to fight for their equality, they did, in fact, shape the course and consequences of the Civil War by having political, ideological, and social actions. African Americans had no rights to vote or involve themselves in politics but that changed after the Civil War. Giving African Americans the right to vote shaped the consequences of the Civil War by African American’s views being looked at as well. On August 1865, the Convention of the Colored People of Virginia was proceeded which claimed that since African Americans are free, they deserve to vote (Doc H). The African Americans spoke of being given suffrage, and then they were given the right to vote. This shaped a consequence of the Civil War because the African American’s views were no longer over looked. During the Civil War, no one J. Crespo P a g e | 2 paid attention to what the African Americans wanted but afterward, they were granted the voice to speak about what they wanted. After being heard and given the right to vote, the African Americans had participation in Constitutional Conventions. A map shows the following: the participation of African Americans and Whites in Constitutional Conventions during 1867-1868 (Doc J). Politically, the whites did not want to be overtaken by the African Americans, so they had a larger participation to overrule the African Americans. The whites wanted a powerful Democratic Party that supported their wanting. The African Americans still participated in the conventions to make sure the Republic Party was strong enough to continue to give the African American their rights. African Americans participating in the Constitutional Conventions shaped one of the consequences of the Civil War by not letting whites take over the political system. Not only did the African Americans have a consequence politically with being heard and not having white supremacy, politically African Americans were also given their freedom. African Americans were being given their freedom. Politically, African Americans were being granted a change in society. Abraham Lincoln published a letter on August 26, 1863 that proposed the following: the African Americans as a whole, everywhere, should be granted their freedom for they fought for the North (Doc C). Abraham Lincoln was trying to persuade the Whites to agree on freedom for the African Americans in the United States. African Americans were being freed everywhere instead of just the North. Politically, this helped the African Americans tremendously because they were going to be freed everywhere. One of the consequences was African Americans being freed in the North, but then African Americans were going to be freed everywhere, including the South. After the letter sent out by Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party decided to try to get an amendment that freed all African Americans. In 1864, the Republican Party’s platform stated the following: they wanted an Amendment to J. Crespo P a g e | 3 officially end slavery everywhere (Doc D). Politically, the African Americans were beginning to be seen as people throughout the nation. This consequence after the Civil War proved that African Americans were no longer going to be slaves anywhere. African Americans found their freedom with the help of the political power of Abraham Lincoln and Republican Party. Then the African Americans were socially looked at differently. The African Americans were no longer such a low class because people began to look at them differently and notice the good things about African Americans. Socially, the African Americans were being helped by the people. On July 30 1861 General Benjamin F. Butler reported to the secretary of the war stating the following: the African Americans should be free since they are a part of the North (Doc A). Socially, the North no longer presented the African Americans as property. This shaped the Civil War because the African Americans became part of the Union that fought for the North. Then after the Civil War was won and the African Americans were freed, their school system proved them socially equal and good as the whites. In March 1864, Charlotte Forten, an African American teacher in South Carolina Sea Islands, said the following: she spoke of how happy the African American children were to learn and how much knowledge they have attained (Doc E). Socially, the African Americans were no longer looked at as less smart than the Whites. The consequence of the Civil War with the African Americans socially with schools showed their equality to whites. Socially, the African Americans were no longer looked at as slaves or less knowledgeable. The African Americans, ideologically, were no longer looked as property. The African Americans were beginning to be looked at the same as the whites. The African Americans no longer were looked at as property. Ideologically, the African Americans caused a consequence of the Civil War to be looked at as people. On March 7, 1864 in The New J. Crespo P a g e | 4 York Times it stated the following: African Americans have gone through a drastic change to now be free Americans in the United States equal to the whites (Doc F). The African Americans were no longer the property they were once known of; African Americans were people just as the Whites. Ideologically, this proved that a consequence of the Civil War was the change of equality that African Americans had. After The New York Times had posted the article, Thomas Nast from Harper’s Weekly on August 5 1865 had posted the following: a picture of lady liberty standing next to an African American Union Solider asking â€Å"And Not This Man? † (Doc G). Ideologically, the picture proved that the people no longer were going to look at African Americans as property so they should be treated equal. The North wanted the South to have the same thoughts about African Americans. This set a consequence of the Civil War by having the African Americans no longer being looked at as slaves as they were when the war had begun. After the African Americans were no longer looked at as property, the African Americans made sure the Whites thought of them as people no matter what. African Americans were going to deal with racism and injustice but they made sure that the whites knew they were people also. Ideologically, the African American consequence after the Civil War was that African Americans are people, not slaves nor property. On August 20 1862 in New York during the resolution of African Americans in Newtown, African Americans stated the following: they wanted to make sure that the President knew that they were not going to leave because the United States was their country also that they were going to fight in for their freedom (Doc B). This constructed the course of the Civil War because the African Americans began fighting in the Civil War. Ideologically, African Americans were looked at as people in the nation of the United States to fight along the Whites for their freedom and country. After the Civil War, when African Americans were no longer slaves and granted their freedom, some J. Crespo P a g e | 5 whites resisted the full freedom of African Americans. In 1867 with Rebecca Parsons she went through the following: she went back to receive her kindred since she was a free slave but the owner would not allow her to because they were â€Å"his† (Doc I). Although, Parsons did not allow Rebecca her children it proved that Parsons realized she was also people because she demanded them back from him. Rebecca is no longer a slave who has to stand down, she also had rights which proved she is as equal as Parsons. Ideologically, after the Civil War this was a consequence by African Americans no longer being looked at differently because they were people also. African Americans ideologically created the course and consequence of the Civil War by being looked at as people and not slaves. African Americans shaped the course and consequences of the Civil War by ideological, social, and political reasoning. African Americans were known in the United States as slaves and property but they no longer were during and after the Civil War. They became people of equality to the whites in the United States. They no longer had no say in politics; they were given rights and opportunities to speak of their views. They no longer were viewed as property but people. Also, they weren’t the low class everyone had always labeled them as. African Americans helped the Union win the war to win themselves the freedom they deserved.

Last Shot

Who knew that from the beginning things would fall downhill fast, the other team would be such more skilled and our team being devastated and that I would crumble In my moment to save what little respect my team had left? I look across the field at the other team warming up. I can't help but notice how fluid and controlled their movements are. Halfway into the game my team's spirit is deflated. We are playing worse than we really are. We thought we would be okay but the team is playing defeated. We are down five to zero; the possibility of scoring is a thing of the past considering our attackers haven't seen the goal all game.Coach paces the locker mom speaking his face reddening as he tries to raise the burning sensation to win within the team. The eyes of my teammates light up with a spark, with hope that sparks will ignite into a flaming inferno. The last quarter of the game my mind is filled with guilt. Have I choked or was the other team Just better? Am I good enough to deserve this spot on the team? We are down nine to nothing with Just under a minute left and the other team has the ball. As the attacker comes down the field I get a nod from coach and I know it's his way of telling me the pride of the team rest on my holders.I have one Job and one Job only do not let this game get into the double digits. Number 21 comes down the ball passing it in his team begins to move the ball around the goal. Seeing the ball moving around to my left side I step up to meet the shot, then a sadden movement catches my eye to the right. In that split second the attacker released the ball, my focus lost for one moment caused my reflexes to falter. I swing my stick around in hope that I can make the save, but the slap of the net lets me know I was too late. Twenty minutes later the buzzer sounds and the game Is over s Is any pride I had left.Not only had I let down myself but equally so my coach, school and my team. I sat there In the locker room the game on my mind all tho se thoughts running circles In my mind. My emotions running wild Inside me now that I am alone all the anger, sadness, regret disgust but most of all I feel Like a failure. And In that same moment I realized If I had sat there mopping nothing would change With the determination In my heart and mind that dull spark blew up Into a flame you could see through my eyes. I picked up my stick looked at It running to the field dead to practice and prove I'm worth to hold this stick.Last Shot By Commander Due: 2/16/2011 I sit in that smelly sweat stained locker room, all I can think about is whether or not I practice hard enough or pushed myself to the limit. I change alone in my corner with as he slaps my pads when he walks by. Laughing, he asks me if I was set; grabbing much more skilled and our team being devastated and that I would crumble in my other team warming up. I can't help but notice how fluid and controlled their me know I was too late. Twenty minutes later the buzzer sounds and the game is over s is any pride I had left.Not only had I let down myself but equally so my coach, school and my team. I sat there in the locker room the game on my mind all those thoughts running circles in my mind. My emotions running wild inside me now that I am alone all the anger, sadness, regret disgust but most of all I feel like a failure. And in that same moment I realized if I had sat there mopping nothing would change. With the determination in my heart and mind that dull spark blew up into a flame you could see through my eyes. I picked up my stick looked at it running to the field

How Hip Hop Is Affecting The Youth - 1540 Words

Joaquin Hamm-Mclymont Professor Theard AFA 4370 March 24, 2015 How hip hop is affecting the youth When it comes to hip hop music and hip hop culture all together, it can have many influences on people who like the culture of hip hop. His may be from the clothes that are worn and even the lyrics a specific hip hop artist says in his or her music. But one group of people, in my opinion, that hip hop culture influences the most is the youth. Now see the youth are at the age where they look for guidance and wait for someone to tell them how things should go and what things should go. Now when you put hip hop culture together with the seeking guidance of the youth you have positives and negatives. Believe it or not the youth could also be†¦show more content†¦Even though hip hop culture in the 70s was the beginning of the attraction for youth influences I believe the 1980s was the most influential years. In the 1980s hip hop culture was at an all-time high especially attracting the youth, this is the era I will like to call the golden age. T his was the time many positives and negatives about hip hop culture was brought up. Starting with the positives first, hip hop music gave the youth the freedom of speech that was lacking in music at the time. When hip hop music was just coming out America thought that only young black people listen to this type of music, but during the first hip hop tour which featured acts like Run DMC, whoodini, and the fat boys young people that were white, black, and Hispanic sold out these shows which really shocked America. In the VH1 documentary, â€Å"Tanning of America† Jojo Simons of Run DMC said he made music for only young black people and that he was shocked that different ethnic groups came to see him perform. Hip hop also made the youth want to buy different styles of clothing. For example, Run DMC came out with a record called my Adidas to show their love of their favorite sneaker. This made Adidas the number one selling shoe because young kids wanted the shoes the rappers wer e talking about in their music videos. During this time hip hop groups such as the beastie boys, showed that white kids can be a part of hip hop