Shadows

"When I awoke it was day; an unusual movement roused me; I looked up; I was in somebody's arms; the nurse held me; she was carrying me through the passage back to the dormitory. I was not reprimanded for leaving my bed; people had something else to think about. No explanation was afforded to my many questions; but a day or two afterward I learned that Ms. Temple, on returning t her own room at dawn, had found me laid in the little crib; my face against Helen Burns' shoulder, my arms round her neck. I was asleep, and Helen was--dead."

Envisioning this situation was simple. A poor, neglected, ten-year old Jane Eyre who awakes to find her first true friend in this world limp and pale by her side, the tremors of consumption rumbling through her body until she fell silent and cold. But to truly empathize with Jane Eyre, who has so ripely lost her one and only friend? I struggle to do so. Jane has been spurned, disregarded, paid no heed her entire life. She is finally given her first drops of sublime, sweet attention by Helen, who becomes her companion at the new boarding school she is forced to attend. The boarding school is for orphaned children, such as Jane Eyre, yet it is found to be an establishment of the highest quality in comparison to the horrific and cumbersome lifestyle endured at her Aunt's house, where Jane was no more than the punching bag for her "family" to abhor.

Will this experience affect Jane negatively and impact her life greatly, or will the loss of this first friend be only minor, a small bump in her life filled with mountainous horrors. Yet it is my belief that while this event may prove to be traumatic for Jane for the time being, it will only be a minor glitch, or setback, in what will prove to be a dark yet fruitful life of this bright young girl. The deaths of her parents will always overshadow Jane's life and whatever accomplishments she makes, as will her torturous years living in her Aunt's house, so I feel as that the death of Helen will not take as big of a toll on Jane's life.

To me, this idea of having your best friend die is such an enormous shock and would create such disarray and havoc in my life that I can barely imagine. It is a foreign idea to me, having the death of your friend be comparatively small to the other occurrences that have happened in your life. It is my hope for Jane Eyre, however, that she will be able to grow past this shadow of death and grief that has plagued her life so terribly, and will soon be surrounded by her accomplishments and successes. But then, how quickly does the shadow of death fade?