Charlotte Bronte's narrative style for Jane Eyre is first person and this means that we see everything through her eyes and so what is written will have a bias, however, because it is an autobiography it will also be honest even though it's a fictional one. Because of its profound honesty especially regarding Jane's feelings along with the bias, the reader feels sympathy for Jane depending purely on how her situations are described by Charlotte Bronte, who mainly focuses on the more depressing aspects of her life, and so her choice of material is selective because of these aspects.When Bronte explains select good things in Jane's fictional life she does it in such a way as to create further sympathy for Jane from the readers. She does this on three occasions; the main one being at Christmas when at first you believe that this will be one of the few days she should be accepted into the Reed family and be included in the celebrations, however, this is not to be the case as Jane ends up alone. She then "sat with her doll on my knee till the fire got low, glancing round occasionally to make sure that nothing worse than myself haunted the shadowy room"; clearly indicating that her solitude was painful to her, and the empty room and her isolation from all of the merriment downstairs worried Jane, her vivid imagination creating chilling fears in the back of her mind. The dwindling fire, the main source of light in the room may represent the diminishing hopes for Jane's happiness.
Charlotte Bronte also creates sympathy in the early part of Jane's life by describing painful moments both physical and emotional. Physically painful moments that cause sympathy are the moments which are the best described by Bronte on how she is physically feeling a good example of this is at Lowood when Jane feels "ready to perish with cold". Bronte uses subtle but constant references to hunger and cold during Jane's life at Lowood which is one of the main ways Bronte renders the readers sympathies.Emotionally painful moments in Jane's life which once again call upon the reader's sympathy's for her and her situation and make the reader feel emotionally involved with Jane's situation as they may have felt similar to how Jane is feeling in a different situation in their own lives. An example of this is when Helen Burns dies.
Bronte describes Jane as feeling desperate and sad. "I experienced a shock of horror, then a strong thrill of grief, then a desire, a necessity to see her." The reader may be able to sympathize, understand and feel more involved with how Jane is feeling as the chances are everybody knows what it is like to loose someone.Sympathy for Jane also comes from Jane's moments on isolation.
The first time we see Jane, she is sitting on her own, on the window seat in the drawing room "escaping" into a book and identifying herself with the "dark", "gloomy" and "bleak" room. This happens a second time when she is banished into the Red Room and so, is once again left alone, this reoccurs a third time at Christmas. This, without doubt renders the most sympathies from the reader as Christmas is about family's and she is left completely on her own in the cold without her only true friend Bessie or even the fire which burns out.In my opinion Jane overall situation of being an orphan with a benefactress who has no wish to take care of her and is simply doing it because it is the wish of her late brother and she feels she has too is unbelievably cruel on Jane as she is because of this left feeling unappreciated. She is always compared unfavorably too her benefactresses' son and daughter and this urges the reader to dislike Jane's cousins because we see Jane's point of view and so sympathize with her and the situation she is in.
Jane is also bullied by her benefactress and her son John who beats her, she is even treated as an inferior by the servants. This is upsetting from the reader's point of view as they feel like Jane is unfortunate and deserves better and so by creating John as a character Bronte has the readers sympathizing with Jane very early in the novel.The next milestone in the fictional autobiography of Jane Eyre is when Jane makes her first move away from Gateshead too Lowood. But even before she moves too the school she is confronted by Mr.
Brokelhurst regarding her move there. Mrs. Reed speaks unkindly of Jane to him and causes there to be a special attention paid to her and stronger discipline used against her by all the teachers which prevents Jane from having a fresh start the readers want her to have, this once again, creates even more sympathy. The hypocrisy of Mr. Brokelhurst regarding how children should be plain when his are not and the references to Jane going to hell causes readers to feel anger towards him as he is frightening Jane, at the same time readers also feel sorry for Jane as she is damned and now fears Mr.
Brokelhurst and her start at Lowood.From Jane being a pupil at Lowood, to becoming a teacher their there is an eight year gap. This means Jane is in a completely new situation she is well educated and loved by her pupils, however, even thought at this point in the novel things seem to be going well she has been at Lowood nearly all her life so far and Bronte creates sympathy from the reader for Jane by making them long for Jane to make a change and move on.
