Chapter Thirty-Two through Thirty-Eight (THE END!!!)

Hey everyone! We're in the final stretch for the blog! I really wish there had been more participation with it, but what do you do, right?

In chapter thirty-two, Jane admits to liking her job a little bit more. The students are becoming quite attached to her. There is a lady that works there named Rosamund, who Jane believes is in love with St. John. One day, Rosamund asks Jane if she will paint a portrait of her. While Jane is painting the portrait, St. John comes in. While he is observing Jane's portrait, he suddenly gets a strange look on his face, tears a small corner piece off of Jane's paper, and leaves.

• What do you think St. John saw on the paper?

Chapter thirty-three has a big twist in it. Not nearly as big as the twist during the wedding, but still very notable.
One evening, while Jane is reading a book, St. John comes in. He tells her a sad tale of a young orphan who became the governess at Thornfield Hall (0.o) and then disappeared after nearly marrying Edward Rochester. Jane knows the story is about her (well, duh), and confesses to St. John that she is Jane Eyre, the girl in the story. St. John tells her that he knew, and shows her the scrap of paper. It had her signature. St. John also reveals that John Eyre had recently passed away and left his entire fortune (which he DID find) to Jane. St. John then tells Jane that they are cousins. His Uncle John (who he was named after) was Jane's uncle, too. Jane is thrilled to have found family at last, and decides to divide her inheritance equally between herself and her three cousins.

• Wow. Did you see that coming? How coincidental is it that Jane would happen to stumble to her own cousins' home that evening when she had nowhere else to go?

In chapter thirty-four, St. John and Jane spend a bit more time together during the Christmas holidays. St. John had asked Jane to help him learn "Hindustani" with him as he prepared to go to India on a mission. Jane helps him, but is left feeling unhappy almost always. She finds St. John to be far to involved in his faith. Soon, St. John asks Jane to come with him to India and to be his wife. She vehemently declines, saying that they are not in love. St. John storms from the room, proclaiming that her denying his marriage proposal was the same as her denying the Christian faith.

• Overreact much, St. John? Why do you think he reacted so poorly?

Chapter thirty-five pretty much consists of St. John ever pressuring Jane to marry him. One evening, as he is saying the prayer over dinner, he prays for Jane. She is so overcome by his powers of speech that she briefly considers marrying him. All of a sudden, she thinks she hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling to her from a great distance. St. John's spell over her ends, and Jane readily believes that something fateful has happened.

• What fateful thing could have happened?

Where is Mr. Rochester now?
In chapter thirty-six, Jane contemplates what she experienced the night before. Truly convinced that Mr. Rochester is in trouble, she boards a coach to Thornfield, which, to her shock, she finds is a charred ruin. She goes to the Rochester Arms to find out what happened. Someone there tells her that Bertha Mason had set the house on fire a few months previously, and that Mr. Rochester had bravely saved all of the servants from death. When he tried to save Bertha, she flung herself out of the window and died. On his way out of the house, Mr. Rochester was injured, loosing a hand and his sight. Jane also learns that Mr. Rochester is living deep in the forest with two elderly people, John and Mary (VERY common names back then).

• So, I wanted Bertha gone, but not quite like that. What are your reactions to the incident?

Chapter thirty-seven finds Jane traveling to the house where Mr. Rochester lives. From a distance, she sees him stick his hand outside of the door to check for rain. When she sees the expression on his face, she is saddened, for he looks desperate and disconsolate. Jane approaches the house after Mr. Rochester leaves, and Mary answers the door. Jane carries a tray to the room where Mr. Rochester is, and sets it down before him, knowing he cannot see her. Eventually, Mr. Rochester recognizes Jane's voice, and at first, he thinks it is a spirit there to torment him. She tells him that she is real, and he takes her in his arms, overjoyed to be with her again. Jane promises Mr. Rochester that she will never leave him again. The next morning, they go for a walk in the woods, and Jane tells Mr. Rochester about what happened to her in the last year. Mr. Rochester again proposes to Jane, and she accepts, for Bertha is no longer a problem. Mr. Rochester admits to Jane that a few nights earlier, he had been so depressed, that in a moment of desperation he called out to her and thought he heard her answer. Jane deduces that it was the same night that she heard him calling for her.

• Wow. Totally unexpected reunion, right? Now that Mr. Rochester is "disfigured" should Jane love him any less? Why or why not?
• Do you think that Jane and Mr. Rochester really heard each other that night?
• Are you happy that they have reunited, or should Jane have ended up with someone else?

The moment of reunion between Mr. Rochester and Jane is so dear to me, that I wanted to share a clip with you all so you could envision it better.

So it's got a lot of artistic changes in it, but it is relatively the same. I do love it anyway. :)

Chapter thirty-eight...the end of the book. :'(
Jane and Mr. Rochester get married, the only witness being the clerk who performs the ceremony. Jane says that she is writing her story after being married to Mr. Rochester for ten years, and they are blissfully happy. She says that after two years of being married, Mr. Rochester began to regain some vision in one eye, and that when their son was born, Mr. Rochester could see him.

What a beautiful ending to a wonderful tale, don't you agree? This book continues to be one of my most favorites. :) I hope you all enjoyed following along with me!
Thanks for all your participation!
THE....END... :)