Monday, December 14, 2009

Forgive and Forget

When it comes to forgiving someone, it takes a lot of courage and love. When it comes to forgetting, you must make sure that it’s what you truly want. In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, this concept of “forgive and forget” is well portrayed, especially through Jane Eyre herself. Throughout her life, she struggled to get what she wanted, but she was patient and finally found happiness. Jane has proven herself to be courageous and lovable, and she knew what she wanted. She forgave so many times as she was growing up and in the process, she moved on.
As a child, Jane was treated with such cruelty by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her cousins as well. She never had anyone to comfort her and to love her as a child, and that’s probably one of the most important things a child needs all throughout his or her childhood. Jane’s aunt placed her in the red-room for something her cousin, John, did. After this event, Jane held so much hatred against her aunt and her cousins. When Mrs. Reed finally decided to send Jane to Lowood, Jane was happy to finally get away from all the cruelty. Before departing to Lowood, Jane spoke to her aunt and reassured to her that she hated her. “I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to see you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty,” (36). These are the harsh, yet liberating words Jane told her aunt as a child. Although she says she will never visit her when she is grown up, Jane comes back eight years later. Mrs. Reed is now a dying woman, and Jane finally forgives her for being such a cruel woman to her as a child. As Jane tries to fix things with her aunt, Mrs. Reed keeps refusing to straighten things out. What caused Mrs. Reed’s hatred towards Jane was what Jane had told her as a child before she went away to school. This stayed with Mrs. Reed all these years. In her blog, “Forgive.”, Liszette says “…I couldn't believe that Jane, when she was still a young girl, said something to Mrs. Reed that stuck with her for so many years. Mrs. Reed kept in all this resentment towards Jane; she never forgave her. Jane said she would always hate Mrs. Reed, but ended up forgiving her when she saw all that had happened while she was gone. Yet, Mrs. Reed, a grown woman, was still cruel to her after all these years.” I too, was surprised by this. But Jane had the courage to go back to Gateshead and forgive her aunt. Jane moved on. Although she never really forgot about her horrible childhood, you can say she never let it affect her again. She forgave and she forgot; she did her part.
Later on in Jane’s life, she stumbles upon the love of her life—Mr. Rochester. After knowing each other for a long enough period of time, they decide to get married. The two individuals are deeply in love, but on the day of their wedding, everything falls apart. Jane is betrayed, once again. The one thing she didn’t know about Mr. Rochester is that he was already married to crazy Bertha Mason. This broke Jane’s heart severely. Although she was hurting inside, Jane knew she loved Mr. Rochester. He loved her enough to apologize to her, but at first she hesitated to forgive him. When she finally forgives him, she decides to leave Thornfield, for better or worst. “You are going, Jane” “I am going, sir.” “You are leaving me?” “Yes,” (323). Jane knows that in order to forget about everything, she must leave. In Ana’s blog, “The risk in running away,” she states “Running away from your problems isn’t a very good idea…” Here she is talking about Jane’s leaving Thornfield and then later coming back because she “…realized that she couldn't run away from her problems that she had left behind in Thornfield….” True. Jane didn’t necessarily forget about all the drama caused by Mr. Rochester, but she forgave him for everything he ever did. “’God bless you, my dear master!’ I said. ‘God keep you from harm and wrong—direct you, solace you—reward you well for you past kindness to me.”(324) Jane forgives him; she loves him no matter what and she wishes Mr. Rochester the best.
Jane had to face many obstacles throughout her life, but every time, she over came them. It must’ve been hard for her having to forgive the people who hurt her the most, but Jane is a strong woman; she can handle almost anything, and like Erika says in her blog, “Leaving it all behind,” “Becoming a new person and forgetting your past requires hard work and dedication. You have to mean what you say and be loyal to the decisions that you make.”

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