The ground was hard, the air was still, my road was
lonely; I walked fast till I got warm, and then I walked
slowly to enjoy and analyse the species of pleasure
brooding for me in the hour and situation. It was three
o’clock; the church bell tolled as I passed under the belfry:
the charm of the hour lay in its approaching dimness, in
the low-gliding and pale-beaming sun. I was a mile from
Thornfield, in a lane noted for wild roses in summer, for
nuts and blackberries in autumn, and even now possessing
a few coral treasures in hips and haws, but whose best
winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose. If
a breath of air stirred, it made no sound here; for there was
not a holly, not an evergreen to rustle, and the stripped
hawthorn and hazel bushes were as still as the white, worn
stones which causewayed the middle of the path. Far and wide, on each side, there were only fields, where no cattle
now browsed; and the little brown birds, which stirred
occasionally in the hedge, looked like single russet leaves
that had forgotten to drop.
Why I Chose this excerpt:
I think, one challenge that writers face in a book that lacks a lot of action like this one, is making sure that it is realistic enough for the audience to connect to. Because they can be at times boring to read, there has to be some sort of investment in the book. Bronte partially accomplished this with her breaking of the third wall (discussed in the previous blog), but another way she forces the audience to care about the story was by making it realistic to the point that the audience could physically put themselves in the position of the character. Readers do this all the time while reading but when the character feels as real as Jane did in this story, it takes on new layer of investment.
The passage above was not singled out for any reason, and there were plenty of other passages that would have worked. This is true because I want to look at the wording chosen for Jane's description of the scene around her. The diction used throughout this passage fits Jane to a tee. She is clearly educated based on lines such as "but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose". An english peasant would not use "delight" or "repose" in their descriptions. But with this, you can also tell that she is not of the highest education because of the opening line, "The ground was hard, the air was still, my road was lonely". I would imagine a university graduate to say something along the lines of "The compact earth, the air halcyon, my passage empty." This happy medium that Bronte found makes Jane a much more realistic character and a much more relatable character. Without this aspect of the book, I highly doubt it would be as nearly as successful as it is. There is little plot (of interest anyway), and the story is fine at best, but the book connect with it's readers. You not only observe Jane's horrible life, you experience it with her.
Why I Chose this excerpt:
I think, one challenge that writers face in a book that lacks a lot of action like this one, is making sure that it is realistic enough for the audience to connect to. Because they can be at times boring to read, there has to be some sort of investment in the book. Bronte partially accomplished this with her breaking of the third wall (discussed in the previous blog), but another way she forces the audience to care about the story was by making it realistic to the point that the audience could physically put themselves in the position of the character. Readers do this all the time while reading but when the character feels as real as Jane did in this story, it takes on new layer of investment.
The passage above was not singled out for any reason, and there were plenty of other passages that would have worked. This is true because I want to look at the wording chosen for Jane's description of the scene around her. The diction used throughout this passage fits Jane to a tee. She is clearly educated based on lines such as "but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose". An english peasant would not use "delight" or "repose" in their descriptions. But with this, you can also tell that she is not of the highest education because of the opening line, "The ground was hard, the air was still, my road was lonely". I would imagine a university graduate to say something along the lines of "The compact earth, the air halcyon, my passage empty." This happy medium that Bronte found makes Jane a much more realistic character and a much more relatable character. Without this aspect of the book, I highly doubt it would be as nearly as successful as it is. There is little plot (of interest anyway), and the story is fine at best, but the book connect with it's readers. You not only observe Jane's horrible life, you experience it with her.
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