lRiEnAeDs

Jane Eyre- Final book blog

2008-12-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

Comment on the perspective from which the book is told and how the author’s choice affects your relationship with the book’s content.

Charlotte Brontë has Jane Eyre tell the story 10 years after the majority of the story takes place, and even longer than from the beginning of the story. As much as I like this story, I wish it hadn’t been a re-telling of the story and instead just as the story was happening. It’s harder to believe a story that includes memories from when the character was 10 years old. I also wondered how Jane was such a well mannered and statured child when she was treated so horribly by her aunt and cousins, and know I wonder if she actually wasn’t and instead chose to remember herself that way. But I have to believe everything Jane says or else the whole story would be unbelievable, and I like the story too much to believe that it is made up.

I do like the little twist in the story about Mr. Rochester already being married. It was surprising and original. Most stories now would have had Jane freak out about being married and that’s why she would have left. I thought I read the book wrong or missed something when St John asked Jane to marry him.

“ ‘God and nature intended you for a missionary’s wife. It is not personal, but mental endowments they have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love. A missionary’s wife you must – shall be. You shall be mine: I claim you – not for my pleasure, but for my Sovereigns service.’ “

This passage did a very good job of evoking a strong emotion from me, which is very hard for books to do to me.
The ending was a little weird. The conclusion of the story went very fast compared to the rest of the story. And what happened to Rochester and his home was a little too much of an easy solution, that his wife died and he was all of a sudden free. Anyway I was happy that Jane finally gets to marry Rochester and finally not be poor and depend on other people.

“I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest—blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh.”

This part at the end is a beautiful description of her love for Rochester and it really shows how much Jane loves him because she is usually such a dependent character. Happy endings are always good but this ending shocked me. I was expecting something more awing or meaningful All in all I had a good relationship with the book and I would read it again.

Jane Eyre- Charlotte Brontë

2008-11-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

The book goes through fazes of Jane's personal thoughts and descriptions of her surroundings to the parts of the book that move the plot along. I can't help but get a little bored when Jane stops explaining the plot because I keeping wondering what happens next. Again, for a ten year old Jane is surprisingly level headed and intelligent. When she is accused of being a liar she just stands there quietly and takes it. I expect her to throw a fit or at least cry, especially with all the abuse she has had. Sometimes it ruins the story a little when Jane foreshadows things like when her best friend at Lowood dies. "You came to bid me good-bye, then: you are just in time probably, (p.108)" (Helen to Jane). But I was worried that Jane would remain a child through the whole book so I am relieved that she grew up,it was just odd that it happened so fast. I was expecting more of a transition instead of a clear background introduction to the main story.

Questions:
1. What is a pinafore?
2. What year is the story in?

Jane Eyre- Charlotte Brontë

2008-10-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not that far into the book but I already really like it. It's a fast read and the story flows along at a good pace. The descriptions of things, rooms and people are so detailed that I can actually imagine them. Even more amazing are the descriptions of Jane's feelings. She describes them in a way that I can personally relate to. I am surprised however about how calm and intuitive Jane is for a 10 year old. She doesn't overreact or throw tantrums, even sometimes when she should like when her cousin beats her up. Jane is a very articulate, straight to the point, and surprisingly good at showing Mrs. Reed her downfalls. "People think you are a good woman, but you are bad, hard-hearted. You are deceitful!"
I can tell just from the beginning that this story is going to be exciting in some way. Jane starts to fight back against all her years of misery. "I resisted all the way:a new thing for me, and a circumstance which greatly strengthened the bad opinion Bessie and Miss Abbot were disposed to entertain of me. The fact is, I was a trifle beside myself; of rather out of myself, as the French would say." It's always gives the reader a sense of relief when the heroin of the story finally stands up to there abuser, especially when it is in such a truthful and undisturbed way.

Questions
1. What does sotto voce mean (page 8)?
2. If Jane Eyre in uneducated, how is she so knowing at such a young age?

Dracula- Bram Stoker

2008-10-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

The book I thought was good over all, but the ending was a little disappointing. The climax wasn't at one definite point. Reading the beginning it seems like the book is going to be filled with action and surprises one right after another. But the beginning is fast and then the book slows down a lot. I think the fact that the whole book is different people's diaries takes away some of the shock and surprise because the characters are writing about it themselves so you can predict how some things are going to turn out. However, having the story told in first person, and from many different people makes it exiting. It's kind of like a murder mystery and you have to figure out how the different stories fit together. But this also makes the story full of dramatic irony. I was just expecting more of an 'awe' factor at the end. I was satisfied with the book until the end.

Dracula- Bram Stoker

2008-09-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

"Jon 17 uly, yesterday, one of the men, Olgaren, came to my cabin, and in an awestruck way confided to me that he thought there was a strange man aboard the ship (82, Stoker)."(In a log of the captain of the ship.)

This passage shows how mysterious Dracula is and frightening. In more of the captain's log, he talks about how some men have gone missing, and the captain is found tied to the wheel, alone, and dead when the ship docks. The book is being told all from first person which makes it better to get to know the characters. The chapters switch back and forth from letters and multiple people's diaries and journals. It can get confusing at times because it starts to stray away from the original story. However, this also makes it more interesting. I don't feel like I'm being set up for an obvious ending.

Questions:
1. Why did Dracula have to sneak into England?
2. What happened to Jonathan?
3. Other than these, I genuinely don't have any clue where this story is going.

Dracula- Bram Stoker

2008-09-18T17:48:00.001-07:00

The first few chapters of the book are Jonathan Harker's diary. In the beginning he is on his way to Dracula's castle. I was surprised to learn that it was to talk more about a home Dracula wishes to buy in London. Dracula is described older and more repulsive than I would have thought. Jonathan still does not know that Dracula is a vampire even with all the strange things he's notice happen.

"When I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling came over me. I rushed up and down the stairs, trying every door and peering out of every window I could find; but after a little the conviction of my helplessness overpowered all other things. When I look back after a few hours I think I must have been mad for the time,for I behaved much as a rat does in a trap(27 Stoker)."

In this passage is when the story starts to gain momentum. Jonathan has been staying out of courtesy but then he realizes that he has no choice. Before this, the story seemed as though it could be going no where, but then he indulges the audience's curiosity of what's in the rest of the castle. He finds all of the rooms locked except one. And then the first people other than Dracula and Jonathan are seen inside the castle. Jonathan lays awake but motionless while one of then bites his neck, which is an unusual reaction because most people would scream in pain.