To Be Determined - Essay Example

Order 296664 Topic: To Be Determined (Suggested topic: Religion is not the view, but the way of life!) Perhaps God loves those children most, who are destined to undergo intense suffering right from the start of their life. Jane’s journey of life was difficult. She struggled from childhood to discover her real God, to find the equitable balance between moral duty and secular pleasures, between obligations to her spirit and to maintain the bodily requirements.

Her life was a great combination of trials, tribulations on the one side and duty and beauty on the other side. Her mind always remained at cross over the issues to be done and not to be done. Half-hearted pursuance was her undoing, or was it the compulsion of circumstances? She grew up within the ambit of various religious influences, but internally, Christ in the heart was more important to her, than cross on the neck! Even though it is not correct to say that the three religious figures she encountered in various stages of life, influenced her thought processes, the interaction of Mr.

Brocklehurst, Helen Burns and St. John Rivers, helped her intellectual growth. But they failed to impact her deeply and crystallize her religious beliefs. They were offered to her as religious syllabus, which she rejected. She evolved her own ideas about faith and principle. She came to the conclusion, that which is not practical, can not be religious or spiritual either. Practical consequences of an idea were more important to her. Her different types of spiritual/religious inclinations could be observed right from her childhood.

She observes, “Of these death-white realms I formed an idea of my own: like all the half-comprehended notions that float dim through children’s brains, but strangely impressive.”(Bronte, 1997, p.7) Religion! And what sins are committed in the name of religious practices! Is the hypocrite act of Mr. Brocklehurst subjecting his students to privations and humiliations in the name of purging their pride, a Christian Act? He instructs to trim the curly hair of one of Jane’s classmates to make it straight.

These acts can be compared to the ragging practice among the modern college students, which all the right-thinking people condemn! He was not working for the glory of the Evangelical movement. On the other hand, Jane is disappointed with Helen Burn’s meek type of Christianity. The true surrender to God needs to be dynamic and not weak. Jane personally loves and admires Helen Burn but she will not adopt his passive type of Christianity. This is not the type of individual who can lead the Christian masses to the glory of true Kingdom of God!

The Christianity as propounded by St. John Rivers also disappoints Jane. His principles are fit enough to be adopted by a top executive of a multinational company in this materialistic civilization. He advises followers to be ambitious, work for glory and to enhance self-importance. His advice to Jane is,--bury the emotional inner world for fulfilling the moral duty, and a life that would be self-defeating, directionless and destination-less from the point of view of that individual! Jane rejects it.

Her confidence, self-esteem and the willingness to face the challenges of life is evident when she states,” ‘Sir, I answered, a wanderers repose or a sinners reformation should never depend on a fellow-creature. Men and women die; philosophers falter in their wisdom, and Christians in goodness: if any one you know has suffered and erred, let him look higher than his equals for strength to amend, and solace to heal." (p. 192). She strongly believes that one is one’s own friend and one is one’s own enemy.

An individual is responsible to build or break one’s life! Either for growth or for decay!Whereas Jane rejects all the three models of religion, she remembers God at every step of her life. Spirituality is far ahead of religion. When she faces trouble on the eve of her wedding she remembers God. She stakes her survival in the hands of God as for her health, poverty and through starving. She condemns Rochester’s immorality. She remains ever thankful to God, for giving her strength to remain steadfast as for her moral life.

Ultimately she realizes that self-knowledge is the supreme knowledge, and absolute faith in God is in itself the greatest reward for a human being. That state is bliss! ============= Works Cited:Bronte, Charlotte: Jane Eyre Paperback: 480 pages Publisher: Signet Classics; Revised & updated edition (July 1, 1997) Language: English ISBN-10: 0451526554 ISBN-13: 978-0451526557