Loss Of Innocence In Jane Eyre

Against crashing rain and crackling thunder, the sapling grows. This sapling does not wither, it does not fade, but it matures against the harsh conditions and blooms into a great perennial flower. In Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, Jane evolves from a sapling that begs for the acceptance of others into an independant blossom that develops knowledge through ill-treatment. Jane receives hatred and mistreatment and shifts her experiences into the knowledge to defy persecution and flourishes past standards set by herself and society. Jane Eyre’s main purpose during her time at Gateshead and Lowood was to find love and a sense of belonging. However, Jane faced many troubles in her search for love due to the lack of love and respect she received during her …show more content…
Her persecution started with Mrs. Reed and her children’s unfair treatment towards Jane at Gateshead. Jane is treated as an animal and is sent to Lowood where she is abandoned by Mrs. Reed and further mistreated by Mr. Brocklehurst. “‘I should be glad if the superintendent and teachers were requested to keep a strict eye on her, and, above all, to guard against her worst fault, a tendency to deceit”’. Her abandonment of Jane at Lowood symbolises how much she actually cared for Jane and why Jane was in search for love and acceptance. Jane’s troubles and misfortunes as a child, ironically end up being better later on for Jane as she befriends Helen Burns, one of her first and only true friends.In Jane’s eyes, Helen is seen as a martyr that saves her when she is on the pedestal in the middle of the class. “It was as if a martyr, a hero, had passed a slave or victim, and imparted strength in the transit. I mastered the rising hysteria, lifted up my head, and took a firm stand on the stool”. Helen plays a large role in the growth of Jane because she was Jane’s sign that life is not how she sees it and that there are friendly