Jane Eyre Reflections

So we're finally done with Jane Eyre! Woo!

No but really, the book was very interesting. I think it was probably the first text I've attempted to read from that period, and I was pleasantly intrigued.

There were many things that allowed this book to 'work' as a whole. The biggest thing, I think, is the fact that Jane had to make a very important decision with such little experience in life and at a young age. She was twenty by the end of the book, and eighteen when Rochester first asked her to marry him. I mean, I'm eighteen. I could never make a decision like that without "living" a little first (Nor would I want to be married anyway that young). The book worked by doing this, however, because it is an excellent way of illustrating Jane's different stages of growing up.

There were also some things that I though didn't work. The first example I can think of is Jane finding St. John. This was a nice little additive to the book, as it forced Jane to make an important decision. However, I think that this pushed the limit a little too far as far as credibility goes. I would have liked it more if he wasn't her cousin, but just a newly met friend. This would add more tension internally for Jane I think.

The book is perfect for our coming of age unit. It is also an interesting opportunity to learn about the victorian period, which was a lot different than I thought it was. The book should stay in college literature I think. It is quite advanced I think, but I guess that's why it's called college literature. It is also littered with motifs and other literary elements, which makes it interesting to discuss in class. I enjoyed hearing different perspectives on the same text from other people.

My last thoughts? The book is interesting, intense, yet mellow at the same time. I liked how a lot of the conflict was internal. That made it different from most other fiction I have read. I would like to see/read other fan-fiction-esque texts about Jane Eyre.

Peace,
Johnny

The Positive Correlation Between Times Read Catcher In The Rye and Murders Committed

I think it's interesting that Catcher In The Rye is so often challenged for it's content. It seems that not too often books are challenged like that, but what's even more intriguing is it's apparent influence on some people to commit murder. This blog will try to socially/phsychologically analyze the people who commited these crimes and why they had such strong ties to the book.

First, and most likely most popular, is Mark David Chapman's 1980 murder of John Lennon. It is important to understand the mental stability in this person's brain in order to comprehend where he is coming from. Chapman was diagnosed at a young age with a rare, yet severe form of autism. His father, an Air Force general, was physically abusive to both him and his mother, and furthermore, and possibly the most disturbing, is that he fantasized about having a god-like power over a group of "little people," not specifying what this exactly means. It should also be noted that Chapman was experimenting with hard drugs by age fourteen, ran away from home often, and was the subject of much teasing. After noting all of these factors it's difficult to determine whether or not Catcher In The Rye had a monumental influence on his instability. It appears as if this was just one of his strange obsessions. He was most interested in Holden's hostile stance against "phoniness." Some think that he was fed up with John Lennon being a "phony."

Another murder committed by a die-hard fan of Catcher is John Hickley Jr., best known for an assasination attempt against Ronald Reagan. This is another case of someone very mentally unstable who just happened to be obsessed by this book. He said that he shot the president in order to get the attention of actress Jodie Foster, whom he had become obsessed with after seeing her in the film Taxi Driver. He felt that this was the only way to gain her attention. He was later found not guilty by reasons of insanity.

And so, we are left to make a conclusion here. Does reader Catcher automatically make you a murderer? No. Is there a discomforting amount of mentally unstable people who became obsessed with the book and forced them to commit murder? Oddly, yes. However, this is not enough reason to think that banning the book in places will limit violence.