Compare the way that Charlotte Bronte and John Steinbeck show the theme of friendship as shown by Jane Eyre and Helen Burns in “Jane Eyre” and Lennie Small and George Milton in “Of Mice and Men”.

Compare the way that Charlotte Bronte and John Steinbeck show the theme of friendship as shown by Jane Eyre and Helen Burns in “Jane Eyre” and Lennie Small and George Milton in “Of Mice and Men”

The theme of friendship is so important in both “Of Mice and Men” and “Jane Eyre” because it helps the characters to survive emotionally. Friendships are important because they help people socialise which stops them from feeling isolated and lonely. Another reason why friendship is important is because of the mutual trust and reliance. Loyalty is also a very important element of friendship.

Jane Eyre is a young girl of ten years old, whose mother and father died when she was very young. No blood relative was around to look after her so she was put into the care of her aunt, Mrs Reed. She falls foul of Mrs Reed and her children and is soon segregated from their company, being accused of “ appalling behaviour”. As punishment for this Jane is sent to Lowood institute, for orphaned girls. She soon meets her future best friend, Helen Burns.

It was made clear early on in the novel that Jane was segregated from Mrs Reed’s children. An example of this is when Jane hides away to read to her cousin John’s disgust. He becomes cruel and physically abusive towards Jane, her resulting anger and refusal to be ordered around by John results in Jane being wrongfully sent to the “red room”. The weather in this scene resembles the mood that Jane is in. She becomes terrified of the “red room” as this room was where her uncle died; Jane soon passes out from the terror of this experience. Jane later admits to being lonely saying “ I stood lonely enough…but to that feeling of isolation I was accustomed”. It is also evident that George and Lennie are isolated from the way that they and other ranchers constantly play solitaire.

One of the many differences between the characters is that Jane Eyre travels alone unlike George and Lennie who are both travel companions. Jane has a very outspoken and bold personality, we learn about this on several occasions like when she stands up to Mrs Reed saying that ”I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love you”.

Jane Eyre soon joins Lowood boarding school for orphaned girls, where she sees how the pupils are treated like robots where they have instructions and orders fired at them by ...

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Jane Eyre soon joins Lowood boarding school for orphaned girls, where she sees how the pupils are treated like robots where they have instructions and orders fired at them by teachers. The pupils have to dress the same, walk at the same pace and are assigned to sit at the same places.

Jane and Helen become friends because they are outcasts who haven’t got anyone to socialise with. Jane notices Helen sitting in the playground while everyone else is socialising. She starts up a friendship with Helen because she is curious about Lowood and wants to find out more from a senior girl. We know this from the endless amount of questions that she asks Helen about her time at the school.

“ Do you come along way from here?”

“ You must wish to leave Lowood?”

“ But that teacher Miss Scatcherd, is so cruel to you?”

George and Lennie become companions, When Lennie’s aunt Clara asked George to look after Lennie just she died. There relationship is that of a father and son. This is clear when we see George lecturing Lennie over killing both a mouse and a puppy – “ That mouse ain’t fresh Lennie besides, you’ve broke it pettin’ it “. Another example of this is the way that Lennie keeps asking George to tell him about what it would be like if they had land – “ Now tell how it is with us” Lennie says

George replies saying

“ Were gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs”

Jane and Helens relationship is that of an older and younger sister. Helen passes on advice and words of wisdom to Jane while Jane helps Helen to be more outspoken and less reserved.

Helen Burns and Jane Eyre know how to hold a conversation unlike George and Lennie who have to put up with awkward silences throughout the story. Also Helen and Jane are of similar character, much different to George and Lennie who are very different. I say because Lennie has the intelligence of a child where as George is far more advanced.

Jane and Helens first conversation;

“Is your book interesting?”

“I like it”

“Who was Naomi Brocklehurst?”

“The lady who built the new part of this house…”

“And what are the other teachers called?”

“The one with red cheeks is called Miss Smith…”

“Of mice and men” is set in Salinas valley, California. This was where John Steinbeck “was born and which he knew all his life”. Around this time “The great depression” had kicked into American society. This stemmed from the Wall Street crash in 1929. A lot of the American population had to move around the country due to the shortage of work. These people were often poor and uneducated.

Charlotte Bronte first published Jane Eyre under the name of “Currer Bell” in 1847. Bronte adopted this name because being a writer weren’t seen as correct jobs for women.

At the time the book was published England was under “the industrial reveloution”. Children were often sent out to work at an early age because of their parent’s lack of income.

In both “Jane Eyre” and “Of Mice and Men” the authors put across the theme of friendship by the way that they portray their characters.

Jane and Helen are seen as sisters, isolation has led them to become closer to each other. George and Lennie’s friendship strengthens by the way that Lennie depends on and trusts George completely. They become so close that George is devastated when Lennie’s death separates them. The bad side to the friendship is that if George did go on to lead a life that he has been threatening to lead without Lennie, that Lennie wouldn’t be able to survive because he is completely dependant on George.

All the characters share a dream whether it’s George and Lennie’s dream to have their own land or Jane and Helen’s to be free and make their own decisions.

John Steinbeck shocks the audience in the last chapter in the way that Lennie dies. It was obvious that Lennie would soon get into trouble; we know that trouble follows Lennie around because of the incidents in “weed” and the fight with Curley. We learn that the reason George kills Lennie is to save him from being hurt and tortured by the witch hunting mob led by Curley. Lennie’s downfall was how he didn’t know his own strength.

Both characters die peacefully; Lennie dies thinking of his dream about feeding rabbits alfalfa on his own land while Helen dies pleased because she has taught Jane everything she knows.

Both Charlotte Bronte and John Steinbeck use imagery to represent the friendships between characters. Examples of this is when the weather is wet, misty or dark it means the characters have fallen out or are going through a bad patch. When the weather is warm and sunny it shows the characters are getting along well and are happy.

Finally I think the authors want us to reminisce on the friendships between the characters and how we would cope if we were in their shoes.

Emmet Murphy

11K

GCSE ENGLISH 2002