Bronte also uses metaphors and they play an important role in “Jane Eyre” so much so that Bronte uses them straight from the outset. When Jane is reading a book illustrating how the “northern ocean boils round the naked melancholy isles.” This is a metaphor for the isolation that Jane feels as she too is surrounded by harsh elitist assailants. Metaphors also play a big role in Jane's first meeting of Mr. Brocklehurst, as he is “a black pillar” and a “Stony stranger”. These metaphors give him an image of massiveness, imperturbability, callousness and a rigidly harsh character.
Elaine the central character in “Cat’s Eye” is a victim of savage and unrelenting bullying. She is betrayed throughout this in such a manner that there are various views that the audience will take. The view that one chooses to adopt governs the amount of empathy they will feel for Elaine. I presume that this most probably stems from how one will relate to Elaine in accordance to their personal character. Our first impression of how Elaine reacts when in the company of Cordelia comes when they meet for the first time. Elaine is dumb-founded by Cordelia’s ostentatious greeting and is “shy” of her families and her own “grubbiness”. This gives the reader the impression that Elaine; is not a dominant person, lacks confidence and is a girl who is naturally a little quiet and does not react very well in uncomfortable situations. Yet at this point Elaine seems no different from many other girls her age, as it is perfectly normal for a young girl to be shy when outnumbered and in a strange environment.
However our first impression of Jane is incredibly different as Jane’s personality is the absolute opposite of Elaine’s. This is immediately obvious from the outset as Jane illustrates the scene of Mrs. Reed reclined on a sofa with her “little darlings,” “clustered round her” this is said in a very sarcastic tone as Jane says “for the time neither quarrelling nor crying.” Elaine would never feel any sort of contempt towards her oppressors yet Jane readily derides the Reed family and notices their faults. This gives the reader the distinct impression that Jane has a strong sense of justice.
We arrive at a clearer picture of Elaine and her “friends,” when she is buried in initially a “hole.” This “Game” is a façade and is obviously seedier than it first appears, indeed Elaine preliminarily thought “it was a game” then when she “Can’t hear.” the voices of her friends above her on the other side of planks and “sodden earth.” she feels “sadness and a sense of betrayal” once she realises “It is not one.” (Game), This is a turning point for Elaine as this is the first instance that she has become a victim of Cordelia and the others, yet it is worth noting at this point that she feels the same emotions that most other people would feel. This is not the difference between Elaine and most other people; it is how she reacted which is the significant point. After being released from her underground prison, “The game or another game continued.” This portrays Elaine to be “Spineless” and this would be uncharacteristic for most of the audience. It makes us feel anger towards Elaine, as she is being foolish for permitting herself to be manipulated, ridiculed and humiliated. Elaine makes a profound comment at the end of this paragraph as she describes this as the “point at which I lost power.” This comment is very perturbing and it portrays Elaine as a powerless victim. Although she is decisive about the above comments she also very unsure and confused about the exact details regarding the burial incident. This leads the audience to believe that the episode was so terrifying that it has been erased from her memory. Elaine is depicted as being confused. This is also the case for her ninth birthday party when all that she can remember “Is a sense of shame and failure.” At this point I felt very little compassion for Elaine although I did feel increasing amounts of contempt for Cordelia.
Similarly there is a single moment in Jane Eyre when the audience realise the character and calibre of the person that Jane is and I believe that this is the red room incident, which has its similarities to Elaine’s burial incident. On Mrs. Reed’s instruction Jane was “borne” to the red room as she “resisted” all the way like a “mad cat” after Jane hit john Reed in defence after he repeatedly struck her. This shows the first major difference in the two girls dispositions as Elaine was freely led into her hole whereas Jane did everything in her power to prevent the anticipated incarceration and so was physically dragged. When Bessie and Abbot “thrust” Jane “upon a stool” it was her “impulse,” “to rise from it like a spring.” This portrays to the audience that Jane is a spirited and resilient young girl and the complete antithesis of Elaine. Eventually when Jane was imprisoned it becomes apparent that the red room is very frightening for Jane as this was where Mr. Reed had died. This did not stop Jane’s adrenalin from running after the previous battle as she felt like a “revolted slave” this feeling was followed by a torrent of questions and injustice as she felt “forever condemned.” Once again Jane is questioning her persecutors whereas Elaine remains a compliant and willing victim.
However the room began to take its toll on Jane and she like Elaine started to feel inadequate, as she was not a “handsome, romping child.” Her courage began to sink as time drew on and her spirit dissipated away. This was unlike Elaine as she never had any courage and so had none to loose. Jane’s spirit descends so low that she begged her oppressors to be freed and this was most uncharacteristic of Jane. However her Plea for mercy was ignored causing Jane to have “a species of fit.” This was a common response for Elaine as she too had tendencies to faint and so became an escape mechanism.
As a result of the burial incident and Cordelia’s persecution Elaine describes her “wrong memory” of how lethal deadly nightshade can be, and it is apparent for the first time that she has a preoccupation with death. The audience later realises that Elaine also resorts to self mutilation “in the endless time when Cordelia had such power over” her as it gave her something “definite to think about.” This new discovery provokes the audience to perceive Elaine in two major different ways. The first that she is a disturbed and very badly affected young girl because of the bullying thereby provoking sympathy and heartache; yet others may feel that she is foolish for hurting herself and purposely damaging her body because of bullying that could easily have been stopped by almost any elder, if she had confided in them.
Contrastingly Jane was affected by her ordeal in a very different way although she as well as Elaine also suffered from memory loss. Jane immediately confided in the first possible person regarding her ordeal, which would be completely unimaginable for Elaine. This person was the apothecary Mr. Lloyd, usually employed for the servant’s medical needs and had come to visit Jane. She also confided in great detail to Helen Burns later on in the book. Although she too did suffer from some long-term effects as Jane admitted that she still felt “reverberations to this day”
Elain’s state deteriorates throughout the novel she becomes a mutilated wreck due to the relentless oppression. Cordelia’s methods of keeping the bullying covert are hugely successful as letting anyone in on the goings on would be “unthinkable.” Elaine is such a willing victim due to a multitude of reasons that are all intertwined. She believes that the bullying is for her “Own good because they are,” her “best friends” who are just helping her improve. This serves to make the audience feel that she is foolish, yet for others it will make them feel compassion for the obvious pain and injustice that she has to endure. She is also “terrified of losing” her “best friends” as she has “never had any before” Elaine obviously wants to feel like she belongs and is wanted by her friends and it is chiefly this feeling that keeps her silent. Another contributory factor is the relentless bullying is not black and white as it is not physical or involving obvious “hatred” Elaine feels that if she were to confide in anybody they would not understand as she had not had any palpable harm caused to her. This fear was confirmed when her mother confides that “She wishes she knew what to do.” Elaine does not confide in anybody about her mistreatment because she believes that it is her “own fault, for not having more backbone.” This seems irrelevant to the more mature reader who can clearly see the distinctive differences between friends giving constructive criticism and a group of protagonists degrading a self-conscious young girl. Elaine is possibly like this because of her lack of self worth and her craving for friendship.
Jane is not affected by her persecution in any similar way to Elaine; she would never consider self-mutilation as Jane has a wealth of esteem. Mr. Lloyd the apothecary did proclaim that Jane's nerve’s “were not in a good state” yet this did not affect her sense of humour as Jane exclaimed that she was credited with being “an infantine Guy Fawkes.” Jane also kept her fighting spirit as she “levelled” “as hard a blow” as her knuckles could inflict onto Jon’s nose. This would be tremendously uncharacteristic for Elaine.
Our first impression of Cordelia the foremost oppressor in the victimisation against Elaine is not a good one and this view only becomes worse with time. The opening sentence of chapter fourteen describes how Grace and Carol wave and how the “First girl doesn’t wave.” This antisocial and abnormal behaviour instantaneously draws negative attention towards “The third girl.” The initial description of Cordelia is typically in detail but a lot more so than that of Grace and Carol. Cordelia is said to have a “lopsided” mouth and the top lip is “a little askew.” This imagery shows Cordelia to have an almost permanent scowl, which gives her an aura of deviance almost like she has a crooked view of the world, as she is a damaged good. Cordelia introduces herself to Elaine in a very pretentious manner that shocks Elaine. She is said to have “A grownup’s,” handshake “as if she’s learned it.” This portrays to the audience and Elaine that Cordelia adopts a façade. Instantly Elaine is made to feel inferior and shy by Cordelia’s peculiar mannerism. After the farcical welcome Cordelia starts disparaging Elaine as she says “There’s dog poop on your shoe.” She then goes to envelope Elaine so that it is a one to one situation as she “creates a circle of two.” This behaviour towards Elaine portrays to the audience that she is arrogant and elitist. At this point the audience already feels great contempt towards Cordelia This later becomes pity as her true character becomes apparent, as her shallow nature and feelings of inadequacy become apparent.
Jane also has several persecutors: the two most prominent and influential being Mrs. Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst. I believe that because Jane’s oppressors are adult they are far worse than Elaine’s peers as they should know how to behave in a more dignified manner. Mrs. Reed was the reluctant benefactress of Jane, which is ironic as she did not genuinely care for Jane and her treatment of her was reprehensible. Bronte portrays Mrs. Reed to be a ruthless, callous oppressor with great effect. She uses her eyes as the window to her ice-cold soul as Jane observes that she has an “eye of ice” Yet I believe that more importantly Bronte exposes Mrs. Reed’s true moral fibre through her appalling victimisation of Jane. The second predominant tormenter is Mr. Brocklehurst, he is a strict and military like man who is implacable, cold and callous. He is described as a “black pillar” which is synonymous with death, giving him an aura of deviousness. Mr. Brocklehurst is the managing director of the lowood charitable institution for girls. It transpires that Mr. Brocklehurst runs the school with an iron rod to the point of being barbaric. His merciless nature is revealed through his actions. As Jane and all of the other girls at the “Institute” were supplied with so little food it was “scarcely sufficient to keep alive a delicate invalid.” Mr. Brocklehurst’s philosophy is to make the girls “hardy” he does this by depriving them of every slight luxury and supplying them with scarcely enough food, clothing and warmth to stay alive. This attitude of his is very hypocritical as his own two daughters wore elaborate hats “that were then in fashion” and expensive furs with immaculately styled hair. Jon Reed the eldest son and heir to the estate is four years older than Jane and is a “wicked and cruel boy.” He physically and verbally assaults Jane to the point where every nerve Jane had “feared him” this illustrates well the immense effect his constant relentless victimisation had on her.
The second most prominent bullying incident for Elaine came when she was ostracised from the group whilst watching a parade as she is left to “have the window-ledge” to herself as she is left to “think back over” the entire day to pin point “the wrong thing” that has caused her to become an outcast from the group and to feel like a pariah. Elaine excuses these by believing “They want to help,” make her a better person. I believe that the notion of three inexperienced young girls taking it upon themselves to “improve,” a “Friend,” in such a manner is fiendish and abhorrent. The secrecy that Elaine covers this with is proof that she too realises that what they are doing is wrong yet she is still powerless to oppose it. It is at the fair that we realise how calculated Cordelia’s behaviour is as she instantly adopts a farcical façade to keep her bullying covert. This in my eyes proves that Cordelia is completely aware of her own actions and that she is a vindictive dictator with obvious character problems of her own.
After Jane's Red room incident things changed very little regarding the horrific victimisation by the Reed family. Yet on Mr. Lloyd’s recommendation Jane was to be sent to school. Obviously Jane would not attend the same top quality schools as the other children would. Instead Mrs. Reed contacted the “lowood Charitable Institute for girls” and Mrs. Reed was so vindictive that not only did she find it necessary to send Jane to such an inadequate school but she also blackened Jane’s name ensuring that she would be victimised and scrutinised even when not under her own command. In doing so she received nothing but gratification in knowing that Jane would not be happy. This made me personally very angry and it really did prove to me that Mrs. Reed new exactly how badly she was treating a little girl so alone in the world and that she cared not for Jane even the slightest bit.
Elaine is constantly under close scrutiny from the three girls and this encroaches onto the weekend as she is compelled to go to mass and to “Come and play,” because of the control that Cordelia holds over Elaine. Elaine finds a little salvation in a job pushing Brian Fernstein around the block for her next-door neighbour. This makes her feel wanted and appreciated, everything she should be getting from friends. Yet Cordelia snatches this little bit of happiness from Elaine in a way that only a person with so much power can. Elaine is forced to give up her job due to the anti-Semitism rife amongst the girls and she feared the girls so much and thought that they were so ruthless that she was frightened for Brian’s safety. I think that even if Brian had not been Jewish, then Cordelia would still have disapproved. She would not have allowed the independence from her and the esteem that Elaine would have got from doing an appreciated job.
Jane is allowed no luxury or solace when in the institute as predictably Mr. Brocklehurst carries out the every desire of the devilish Mrs. Reed by ensuring that on his first opportunity he put Jane on a “pedestal” and branded her as a liar, vicious and impure. In doing so he certified that Jane could never “rise more” and left the little girl who “had meant to be so good” “Crushed and trodden on” once again. This evoked a lot of contempt in me towards Mr. Brocklehurst and again in Mrs. Reed. Yet I did feel better knowing that Helen Burns offered Jane some support and defiant companionship which was something that Elaine always craved, this was very much against Helens character who was similar to Elaine painfully willing to accept anything that people inflicted on her. Jane also finds a friend in Miss Temple who allows Jane to “Prove herself” and does not like the abhorrent Mr. Brocklehurst whole-heartedly believe only one side of the account. Miss Temple counter-acted all of Mrs. Reeds and Mr. Brocklehurst attempts to victimise Jane by saying, “ be a good girl and you will satisfy us.” I felt that by saying this Miss Temple was acting like Jane's saviour and this pleased me very much.
Cordelia devises a system that enforces her improvement scheme involving ten stacks of plates representing ten chances that Elaine had. This is a terrible form of psychological bullying as Elaine is living in constant fear of doing something wrong as Cordelia will proclaim “Crash” This denotes that a chance has gone, yet “Nobody
Ever says what will happen if all of the stacks of plates fall down.” Once again this keeps Elaine on tenterhooks and takes away all power over her own destiny. I feel contempt toward the bullies for doing this, as it is now obvious that Elaine is incapable of defending herself and they are simply doing it to derive a perverse pleasure from her suffering.
The final phase in the oppressive onslaught against Elaine came when Cordelia forced her to walk into the creek “up to her waist,” in. “broken slabs of ice.” This near death experience could not provoke any fight in Elaine as Cordelia had obviously beaten it out of her to the point where death seemed “peaceful and clear” To a nine year old little girl that made me feel a lot of resentment towards Cordelia as she had pushed Elaine to the point of wanting to die which is the furthest anybody can be pushed.
Elaine reacted very badly to the bullying due to the manner in which it was carried out and the success of Cordelia to hold complete control over Elaine. The most obvious reaction Elaine had to the bullying was her complete lack of self-esteem and self worth, which led to her having no joy for life. This caused her to become unhealthily interested in other women’s bodies and perfection as she concluded that perfection did not exist and so her torture would never end.
As a result of Cordelia’s constant scrutiny Elaine developed paranoia, as she believed that she was always being watched. The paranoia leads her to think that she will always do something wrong. She is also fearful of where Cordelia is as “Not knowing where is the worst thing,” for her.
These inadequacies allowed the oppressive behaviour to continue and for Cordelia to have so much power over Elaine. Because Elaine had no control over her own destiny she sought comfort in pain as it allowed her to have “definite” clear emotions and “It was something to hold onto.” Her self-mutilation is also an outward sign of how much she has come to loathe her own body and herself. She also visualises the pain she could accomplish from the laundry wringer and the neatness that it would evoke. Elaine also developed nervous habits such as biting her fingernails and chewing the skin around her mouth. The constant distress also meant that her pride and enjoyment in schoolwork had died and her schoolwork becomes a sign that she has no joy for life, so does her lack of interest and enjoyment of the class.
The lack of energy for life that Elaine had is converted into energy for death as she becomes preoccupied with dying and more specifically committing suicide. She fantasises about various poisons such as the “Javex bleach.” and the privacy that the laundry room allows. She learns countless facts about deadly nightshade and is mesmerised by the images of lethal substances and the “Clarity” of death.
Elaine also had a lot of physical problems, not as a result of the self-mutilation but of the constant fear and victimisation. She found that she could use fainting as a sort of escapism from the bullying that she received. So much so that she became “Known as the girl that faints” I believe that this was because she had lost the will to live so much that at times of extreme stress and heart-ache she lost the will and need to carry on. I also believe that this was also the case for the sickness that she suffered from, as she felt safe “Small wrapped in my illness as in cotton wool.” Illness for Elaine became a sanctuary where she could (temporarily) escape the persecution of her peers.
Elaine also suffered from out of body experiences, which is much more spiritual. These experiences almost allowed Elaine to be somewhere else when she could not cope. This spiritual feeling came to a head when Elaine later believed that the Virgin Mary” visited her. This may be Elaine becoming delusional. However I find comfort in believing it was a means of escapism for Elaine and I feel that she felt the same way.
Elaine suffers long term effects due to the bullying that will probably never leave her. She was very paranoid surrounding her children at the age when she suffered her own problems. She also became critical of her own children and believed that they too may be bullies.
As I have already established Jane was the complete antithesis of Elaine as she was always fighting back and would never be down trodden. Yet still her oppression did affect her. The most obvious being that after every incident she would become filled with rage and would regularly cry and she had so much grief that she believed that she could never cry it all away. Jane admitted to Mrs. Reed that she “Cannot live” “without one bit of love or kindness” it shocked me when Jane said this when arguing with Mrs. Reed as it showed a chink in her armour. I think that Bronte used this very effectively as it reminded one that Jane was still a young helpless child desperately starved of affection that all children crave for. The empathy that this stirred up within me was immense and I think that it was this sorrow that made both Jane and myself feel joy when Jane received affection from Helen and Miss. Temple. However Bronte used this emotion and twisted my outlook of the remainder of the book with the tragic death of Helen Burns. I felt that at this point Bronte had shown that she was a great author. She had managed to keep the audience guessing and intrigued as to what was in store for Jane who by now was very close to my heart.
The turning point when Elaine regained control of her life came when she was pushed until she could be pushed no more and the Virgin Mary saved her. After Elaine fell into the creek the girls attempted to exercise the power that they still believed that they had over Elaine. Yet in almost an epiphany Elaine can see something that her protagonists cannot. She can see that they are “Acting.” She realises now that she “Never had to do what she says and can do what ever she likes.”
This turning point immediately renews Elaine’s self confidence as she believes “There was never anything about me that needed to be improved.” This signifies a dramatic change in her entire outlook. By walking away she defied Cordelia and so regained control of her own destiny. She then saw the others girls as “silly,” and her confidence blossomed when she was no longer under Cordelia’s dictatorship.
In conclusion I felt that I have established that in a multitude of ways the two novels are poles apart. The authors come from completely different backgrounds and have totally different objectives. The styles of both books are amazingly dissimilar to the point where I found that Jane Eyre was a struggle to read and comprehend whereas Cat’s Eye was at times painfully simple and robot: like saved only by the plethora of literary devices used to personify such magnificent description.
Jane was subjected to a totally different type of bullying than Elaine and so the effects of that were again different. Had Cordelia ever met Jane she would have realised instantly that any attempt to victimise her in such a covert fashion that so successfully controlled Elaine would have been in vain and hugely regrettable Jane would have resisted every attempt. I also find my self-wondering that if Jane was more compliant and stoical like Elaine and Helen were, maybe she would have been better received within the Reed. Household. Yet in saying that I think that if that were the case Jon would have taken advantage, and as a result Mrs. Reed would have still victimised her, as I cannot believe that Mrs. Reed treated her differently than her own children only because of her “front”.
Elaine was very badly affected by the bullying to the point whereby death was a better option than living and that to me seams like the lowest that anybody can ever be pushed. Elaine found solace in pain, this self-mutilation would have been in conceivable for Jane as she had such self worth and gusto that she would never allow herself to sink so low. I believe that Jane would kill her oppressor before this would even enter her head.
However both novels do illustrate the theme of bullying very successfully and I think that when partnered together in this way they illuminate just how diverse bullying is and the multitude of crushing forms that can affect everybody, which unfortunately is so often the case.
Personally I felt that Bronte was the more successful of the two authors in provoking emotion and sustaining interest. I have concluded that this is the case; as for me personally I could empathise with Jane’s struggle as I can put myself in the situations that she was so savagely thrust into. Whereas I could not help feeling that Elaine was a victim of her own stupidity and lack of confidence and although Attwood did provoke emotion within me regarding Elaine’s struggle I found my self finding the plot at times unbelievable and idiotic.
