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I think that she ends it with St. John because he is the one loose end that needed to be tied. It says that he is going to India, but the end kind of sums it all up again as well as adding a strange final insight into life and life after death. The whole book is a Biblical allegory and the end has to be finished with Revelation, not a happy wedding scene. The final words are the final words of the final book of the Bible. Also, most of the people of Bronte’s time would have related most with St. John so it only makes sense to end with him. His death would have hit closer to the reader’s heart than that of any other character. What character do people these days best relate to? Why?
RE: alexandraemily96
I think that her life was best the way it ended, married to Mr. Rochester. I think this because he does make her happy and he needs her, without her he doesn’t have the will to live. Also, she is always helping somebody get better, she’s a nurse at heart. She loves Mr. Rochester and he loves her. St. John did not love Jane, he loved that she was strong willed and whatnot. The true love also plays a vital role in my opinion.
Personally, I agree with the second blogger on the theory of why Brontë ends the story with St. John rather than Jane Eye. It would make sense as to why the author would have an underlying meaning about the ending rather than a straight forward one as dhe has been doing all throughout the book. For example, Jane’s second painting appeared to be nothing that truly deserved speculation but we later find that the entire plot of the story lies inside that painting before Jane even knows that some of the characters that exist in the painting (Blanché, Bertha). Undelying and hiddden meanings have characterized Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre from start to finish and it seems quite logical for the author to continue her same pattern. Not only that but also the symbolism of what is mentioned in the passage talking about St. John. Though it may not be fully true, all of the symbolism coincides quite well with the rest of the novel. My question would be: What did this blogger say in his or her passage that either confirmed or countered your argument? Explain why.
Re: hockeydude8
I think it would be easy for many people, especially teenage girls, to relate with Jane Eyre because it appears as though everyone experiences the joy and struggles of a first love which Jane has in Mr. Rochester. Your firsy love appears to be the one that makes your heart ache the most and it truly did for Jane. Jane is also relatable in the fact that she goes through countless trials and tribulations that really end up making her stronger and the same goes for modern day people. Overall, Jane seems to be the character that most would be able to identify with because she resembles the life of a typical modern day person and is in most ways average, which is how most people feel.I strongly agree with the blogger that talked about the illnesses and how they played a major role in the ending of “Jane Eyre”. St. John’s illness at the end of the story is caused by his own doings, not the doings of others. Jane comforted Helen and Mrs. Reed when they were ill, but she could not reach St. John to comfort him or even save him from his illness. I believe that Charlotte Bronte ended the story with St. John in order to emphasize the moral that she wanted her readers to take from her book. The moral is centered around religion to show the extremes of St. John’s character. Jane could not possibly endure the extreme ideas that St. John had in store for her (marry him, etc). If St. John was completely taken out of the book, which character do you think Charlotte Bronte would end her story with?
hockeydude8: To answer your question, I think that the people of Bronte’s time would best relate to Jane because she isn’t perfect. She is a seeker and questions God constantly, which is what we all do everyday. We would all love to be like Helen and follow her ideas of heaven and God; therefore, we are like Jane because we strive to be that way. Sadly, we won’t get even close to being the ideal Helen Burns.
Craazykat, Jane could have become a widow, but more importantly, would not have been able to live with herself. Jane would have been continents away from Mr. Rochester. However, it is possible that with her help, St. John would not have worked himself to death.
I believe that Charlotte Bronte decided to end the story with St. John for two reasons. One, because. like we have discussed in class, the objective was that the last line be the last in revelation. And two, she needed to bring the gospel back into the story, and use a character that had that that was still alive (even though she says of how he died, but he died from working so hard for God). I also think she ended it with St. John because it shows the life Jane could have lived, but that she decided not to live. It shows the descision she made and how she chose Rochester over St. John. So, basically it tied up loose ends and gave insight to what could have been that wasn’t.
Do you think it is a possibility that she ended with St John because she had feelings for him? Why?RE: rachnelson55
your question: Who do you think influenced Jane’s faith more: Helen or St. John?
Okay, I believe that Helen started to make Jane think about believing, but St. John provoked it. With Helen she was on the borderline, like “should I cross? I don’t know… maybe.” I think St. John influenced her more with it. But, you didn’t mention Rochester who I think beats them both out because at the end of the book he is quoting scripture. I think he is the one who, after Helen borderlined and St. John provoked, made it real and come alive because she is also believing at the end of the book.Now both blogs have very good points about why Jane ended her life story with St. John but I agree more with the second blogger. His influence was very powerful and impacting in Jane’s life that she did think that his work in India was more interesting than her own happy ending with Mr. Rochester. I think this is because she was going to go to India with St. John but disagreed with the idea of getting married because she knew it wasn’t for love. She also knew that he was really the only one that she knew that could do this certain work for God the right way. But still, his “threats” and guilt trips made a huge impact on her life that she just had to mention him at the end of her story along with his death for Christ. Meeting St. John was definitely no mistake for Jane. My question: what do you think was the strongest action or word of St. John that impacted Jane the most?
Bronte ends with the death of St. John because she wants to reiterate the truths of Helen Burns. She wanted to show that there is more to live for than just earthly happiness. It also shows what “could have been.” If Jane had chosen to marry St. John and not gone back to Rochester, the story would continue, but it would not be such a happy ending. But St. John, though he did not marry Jane as he wanted, died doing what he loved and what he was called to do. He finished well, not in the same sense that Jane did, but he finished well spiritually. St. John reminds the reader that you don’t have to die married and wealthy to have lived a good life.
If Jane had married Rivers, after he died, would Jane have stayed and done missionary work, or would she seek out Rochester?
RE: julianarenee72
If Bronte had completely taken St. John out of the book, she would have probably ended with a quote from Helen Burns. She would still want to show that there is still hope for people even if they did not die wealthy. Helen Burns was one of the people that was there throughout the entire book through Jane, and it would only be logical to remind the reader of her contributions in the end.
rachnelson55:
Your question is a very critical one, to begin with. To answer it, I believe that St. John actually influenced Jane’s faith more. He was the one who caused her to accept Christ and pray because of his request and spiritual influence. Yes Helen did impact Jane’s faith but I think that she did more of the foundation than the building. The foundation is very important but it takes a great effort to finish the job which is what I feel that St. John did.I believe that the novel Jane Eyre ends with St. John because Charlotte Bronte wanted to show how unselfish Jane was, she was more concerned with her own cousin/friend than her own married life.
I believe that the reason “Jane Eyre” ended with the result of what happened to St. John is because she was striving to push the reader into deeper thinking in dealing with God. Most of Charlotte Bronte’s audience can completely relate to St. John and feel a certain connection with him. Once Jane Eyre leaves Marsh-End the reader begins to wonder what would have happened if Jane had chosen the opposite. Sure St. John is somewhat obnoxious and cold but that doesn’t mean that the reader doesn’t care about what happens to him. It is strange that after learning all about Jane’s life and her feelings the reader has to suddenly switch to St. John and end the story like that, but Charlotte Bronte had a hidden meaning behind it, which is faith. Through out the book she plays back and forth between the Bible and Jane’s life. Bronte was trying to get her last word in before her audience grew bored. She wanted to obviously put Christ out there so there was no denial of her belief. I believe she used St. John to bring her point across because, like I said above, he is the one everyone can relate to.
If Charlotte Bronte had ended with a different character, other than Jane and St. John, do you think that her reader would still end with the same feeling?
Re: alexandraemily96
To answer your question: “Do you think Jane’s life would have been better is she went with St. John or stayed with Mr. Rochester?”
I definitely do not think that Jane’s life would have been better if she had gone to be with St. John. If Jane had went with St. John than, as it says in the end of the book, he would have died leaving poor Jane Eyre with nothing (once again). Although St. John did love Jane it was not the love that Jane needed in her life, what she needed was Mr. Rochester. Also if Jane would have married St. John than she would live her entire life thinking about how Mr. Rochester is doing and how much she really loves him; that evidently does not seem like a good way to live. For me the clarity of who Jane should end up became extremely obvious when St. John asked for her hand in marriage and the first thing Jane thought of was Mr. Rochester. That proves right there that Mr. Rochester has left his mark on her and she will never be able to let him go because they were made for each other.
I believe that Charolle Bronte ended with St. John as her last point because she wanted to show what life would of been like if she had married St. John. He died just shortly after he started his missionary work and if Jane would of married him she would of been a window in short notice. She basically showed Jane an anology, “if you would of done this, this would of happened.” She also incorperated the Bible through the whole book from start to finish. She wanted to end on a strong Biblical character so she could stay with the theme that she had planned to write about. If Bronte ended on a different character, who would that be and why?
I believe that Charolle Bronte ended with St. John as her last point because she wanted to show what life would of been like if she had married St. John. He died just shortly after he started his missionary work and if Jane would of married him she would of been a widow in short notice. She basically showed Jane an anology, “if you would of done this, this would of happened.” She also incorperated the Bible through the whole book from start to finish. She wanted to end on a strong Biblical character so she could stay with the theme that she had planned to write about. If Bronte ended on a different character, who would that be and why?
jacclewis, I think if she had went with St. John to India and he died there she would of went to find Mr. Rochester because she could not live without him, She was hearing his voice on the wind and talking to it. that is just really weird and i think if she did not try and seek out Mr. R she would of gone crazy, not as bad as Bertha but still bad.
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