The routine at Lowood was very strict and the teachers made sure the discipline was kept at all times. Religion was the main focus of the school day. They said prayers before every meal and often sang hymns. They went to church several times each Sunday. The headmaster was a clergyman and so religion would be very important. After Jane emerged from Lowood School some years later, she was quite a religious person. This was to do with two things. One; the school and its emphasis on religion and, two; the influence of others on her, chiefly Helen Burns.
Jane met Helen early on at Lowood. She learned many things from Helen. One of these was to persevere, even when situations look bleak. Before Jane went to Lowood she was opinionated and loud. She objected and spoke out wherever she could. After meeting Helen Burns she learned to keep her feelings to herself, when necessary. When Jane met Helen Burns, she met a friend. They automatically clicked. Jane was alone really at the school and hadn’t made any other friends and Helen was the first friend she made and so had the biggest influence on her. She learned not to judge people to harshly and not to hold grudges. Jane disliked her aunt very much and Helen taught her that it is better to forget than to let grudges hold you down. Helen said, to Jane, “life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.” This shows a great maturity on Helen’s part: a maturity that Jane did not have. Helen also taught Jane to accept what life gives to you and to return evil with good. Jane, before meeting Helen, spoke out when she saw something wrong with her life or something didn’t go her way. She thought that if something went wrong she should do her best to get back at the person with revenge. She says, on the subject of Helen Burn’s punishment from Miss Scratcherd, “If I were in your place I should dislike her; I should resist her. If she struck me with that rod, I should get it from her hand; I should break it under her nose.” This shows how immature Jane was and how she would try to return evil with evil. Helen then says,” it is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connected with you; and besides, the Bible bids us return good for evil.” This shows Helen’s religious side that she passes on to Jane.
Jane also met another person who made a difference to Jane’s life. Her name was Miss Temple. Miss Temple was a teacher in Lowood School. She was, “very good and very clever; she is above the rest, (teachers) because she knows far more than they do.” Jane was new at Lowood and Mrs Reed had given Mr Brocklehurst the wrong impression of her. Brocklehurst paraded Jane to the school as a liar and told the pupils of Lowood to “shun” her. He made Jane stand on a stool and stay there for a time. He made Jane seem evil. However, Miss Temple did not judge her straight away but got to know her. This was one of the traits that Miss Temple passed on to Jane. Not to judge others straight away. Miss Temple also taught Jane kindness and generosity on many occasions. One of these occasions was when the girls had had a poor lunch of burnt porridge. Miss Temple paid for bread and cheese for the girls. This shows great kindness for others. Another time when Miss Temple showed consideration for others was when Helen Burns was dying and Jane went to see her. Miss Temple knew that Helen would not survive the night and so let Jane stay with her till morning. This shows great compassion. Jane showed generosity, after she left Lowood, when she received money and shared tit out among the River’s family. Miss Temple stayed on to teach at Lowood because she thought she was obliged to help and care for the pupils there. She could have left if she had wanted to but she didn’t. If she had left there would have been hardly any care or compassion shown to the pupils by Brocklehurst or any other of the teachers. This shows humanity. It teaches Jane to keep with things and not to give up, whatever is happening and to think of others before herself.
Lowood also taught Jane Morality. When Jane left Lowood, she had the chance to become Rochester’s mistress but she turned him down, knowing he was already married. Lowood also taught her discipline and to live with harsh conditions. She used these traits when she was thrown out of Thornfield into the moors. She had to live in very harsh conditions with little food. Lowood also taught Jane about love. She felt love for Helen Burns and Miss Temple (to and extent) Jane showed how love can prevail when she turned down St. John River’s marriage proposal and went back to Rochester.
Jane’s life was changed dramatically at Lowood School. She learned many things including kindness, generosity, to believe in God and His plans and not to be as passionate and opinionated as she used to be. Also she learned to love, to be disciplined and a sense of morality. She learned these points from people such as Helen Burns and Miss Temple. Because of Lowood school, Jane became the young woman and governess who went away to teach at Thornfield Hall, so Lowood was one of the most important times of her life and helped to shape her from a young, loud little girl into an intelligent, mature woman who could face the world on her own.
