Chapters Six and Seven

Hello all,
The main point of these next two chapters was relatively the same, so they will both be covered in this post.
On the second day that Jane is at her new school, she learns that life here isn't going to be all peaches and cream like she thought it would. All of the girls are underfed, overworked, treated horribly, and Jane is no exception. And yet, Jane isn't frightened by the fact that she will be living in such harsh conditions. The girl she met in chapter five, Helen, has become good friends with Jane, and patiently explains a lot of the goings on at Lowood.
Better yet, Helen is a wonderful example of patience and endurance through the hardest times. Jane mentions time and again how amazed she was that Helen could withstand being made the fool of the class over and over again without fighting back, when she knows that, had it been her being made a fool, she would have thrown a tantrum to show her disapproval of the situation.
At one point in chapter six, Helen tells Jane about the religion she practices, and about how it teaches you to love your enemies and take your punishments in silence. When Jane vehemently tries to persuade Helen that these viewpoints are incorrect, Helen won't take notice, and continues to tell Jane about her beliefs. However, while being taught her religion, Helen became very self-critical, and can only see her faults. Ironically, she can see Jane's virtues very well and praises her often for them. Jane finds herself wishing that Helen could see her own virtues as clearly as she saw others.
That's pretty much the sum of chapter six.
I find it very interesting and enlightening that this subject was touched upon in this chapter. Isn't it so true that we clearly see our own faults and not our virtues when we self-examine? And aren't we sometimes better at seeing other people's virtues and not our own?

• Why is it that we do this?
• Why would this subject have been brought up in this book?

Chapter seven provides some details about a few of Jane's experiences at Lowood in her first month there.
Most of the time that Jane is there is uninterrupted by Mr. Brocklehurst, but when he returns, it frightens Jane, for she remembers that Mr. Brocklehurst promised Mrs. Reed that he would make sure everyone knew about Jane's personality according to Mrs. Reed. Upon Mr. Brocklehurst's return to Lowood, it scares Jane so much that she accidentally dropped her slate (personal chalkboard-type thing) while he was in the room. Mr. Brocklehurst gets very angry and calls Jane careless, then forces her to stand on a stool in the middle of the room while he tells everyone that she is a liar. He then forbids the other girls to speak to her for the remainder of that day.
Jane is obviously humiliated, and when she thinks she cannot stand it any longer, Helen walks past and gives her a sly smile. This perks Jane right up, and for the rest of the day, Helen would periodically walk by the place where Jane stood to give her some more silent encouragement.
Jane finds that this experience helps her to understand a bit more what Helen means when she says she should take her punishment quietly.
That's the end of chapter seven.
The thing I noticed the most in this chapter was Jane's fear of Mr. Brocklehurst. It's almost like he is the male version of the Mrs. Reed Jane used to be afraid of. And Jane was right to fear Mr. Brocklehurst, or at least at first, for he fulfilled his promise to Mrs. Reed and tried to get Jane shunned by all at Lowood. He couldn't keep Helen away though, and this was very encouraging to Jane.
I love that Jane has finally found a friend closer to her own age. It is revolutionary for her.

• What joy would a man like Mr. Brocklehurst find in making young girls feel inferior and stupid in his presence?
• Why would anyone want to bring a child's spirit down like that?

Sorry that the posts are less in depth now than they were before; I just don't have the time to go through it sentence by sentence anymore. :)
Keep up with the blog, though! Stay tuned for the next few chapters!