Similarities Between Jane Eyre And Huckleberry Finn

"Adolescence is when the very worst and best impulses in the human soul struggle against each other for possession” according to the psychologist G. Stanley Hall, the founder of adolescent psychology. Adolescence is defined by Hall as a time when younger individuals experience emotional and behavioral confusion, prior to establishing stability and reaching adulthood. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain serve as examples of Bildungsromans, where the protagonists lack the ideal, care-free childhood filled with innocence; Huck faces an alcoholic father, and Jane encounters cruelty from her aunt. Both characters combat conflicting impulses influenced by society as well as their consciences, leading
As a headstrong little girl, Jane lacks proper nurturing family relationships, causing her to dispute anything she feels is unjust such as oppression of women and distinct social classes. The orphan Jane receives constant reminders of her social inferiority from her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her cousins as John Reed verbally attacks Jane by saying “you are a dependent, mamma says” (Bronte 8). Even the servants of the house acknowledge Jane’s slave-like position as Miss Abbot scolds Jane in saying “And you ought not to think yourself on an equality with the Misses Reed and Master Reed, because Missis kindly allows you to be brought up with them” (Bronte 10). Jane protests these concepts by physically attacking John Reed and lashing out at Mrs. Reed for calling her Jane is fully convinced that her protests against these notions are righteous and says “When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard” (Bronte 48). “Jane cannot fit Mrs. Reed's expectations, Mrs. Reed will treat her as an abomination, an unnatural child.” (Ellis 6) However, Jane cannot grasp this reality, leading to her disinclination to mold to that expected of her by Mrs. Reed. Consequently, Jane has a cruel childhood as she cannot mold to the Victorian society’s ideal child, so she simply rebels against
Although Jane was able to use self-reflections as young girl, her inner thoughts become more reasoned and controlled toward the end of the novel. Once Jane reaches Lowood, she meets Helen Burns and Miss Temple, two characters who will serve as the mother figures Jane received at Gateshead. Jane beings to follow Helen Burn’s philosophy of “love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you and despitefully use you” (Bronte 49). “Jane Eyre, motherless and economically powerless undergoes certain traditional female temptations, and finds that each temptation presents itself along with an alternative-the image of nurturing or spirited woman on whom she can model herself” (Rich 1). When Jane visits the dying Mrs. Reed, she is given temptations to chastise Mrs. Reed for her wrongdoings; however, Jane models her behavior after that of Helen and instead says “love me, then, or hate me, as you will, you have my full and free forgiveness” (Bronte