Jane Eyre like many women during her time period underwent oppression throughout their life. Throughout the book, we noticed many instances where other females that interacted with Jane approached similar situations very differently. They seemed to accept the reality they faced, Jane did not. An important scene that demonstrated Jane’s actual train of thought was in chapter 12, we clarify the disgust Jane has towards silence. Jane states how it’s not right that human beings, in general, should be content with tranquillity. Therefore, women should not be okay with the reality they face. That woman are treated less than men, yet they are the same as men and undergo the same emotions men go through and are also capable of the same strengths of men. In the reading Transformation of Silence into Language and Action by Lorde, we also are aware of Lorde’s hatred towards silence. Lorde tell’s us that silence is not something saves us instead of its something that hurts us, she mentioned:  “If I were to have been born mute, or had maintained an oath of silence my whole life long for safety, I would still have suffered, and I would still die.” This clearly means that even when you accept your reality you will always suffer because it’s not something you truly want or believe you deserve. You may not face physical hardships because of your silence, but you will face hardships with yourself. Both Jane and Lorde have common thoughts about rebellion as well. Being that they are not content with people staying silent, they believe it is our own duty to speak upon the injustice we face. Jane speaks about the successful rebellions throughout history and justifies a need for rebellion by making us believe that we are all the same by her examples. While Lorde has the same strategy as well. She tells us that it is our duty as well to speak up because that is the only way people will find out about the hardships that are actually being fought but, most importantly by speaking up this will spark a rebellion in which many people will side with the people being oppressed.

After reading both Jane Eyre and Lorde, first, I found that both stories are told by women and then that there is some connections between them such as difference of race, sexuallity, class and age.  They both arguing that silence doesn’t help or resolve differences. In addition, women have to learn how to speak for themselves in order to be free. In other word, they have to express their feelings and thoughts.

Lorde is a black lesbian woman and Jane is an orphan girl. In Lorde’s story, Simone de Beauvoir said “It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for acting” This means that women need to be strong enough and to have some goals in order to live in a community.

In Jane’s story, we saw that at the beginning she was abused by her aunt and her children. But when she  learned that silence can not help her or fix what she was going through, she decided to speak out about her thoughts and feelings to her aunt ” I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty. ” This passage shows jane declaration about how she feels about the way her aunt her children treat her. This passage shows a clear sense of justice and a recognition of her need for love. It also marks Jane’s emotional liberation. Because since the day she was locked in the red room she still has a mental feeling in her spiritual suppression, and it is not until she speaks these words to Mrs Reed that she feels her soul begin to expand.

Aminata Toure

In my opinion, there couldn’t have been another reading more perfectly relatable to Jane Eyre’s life in this book. Although Lorde in the two readings, is meant to be directing her writing more specifically towards Black and lesbian women, she takes the chance to reach out to all women of all types that within society are viewed differently and are found to feel oppressed. Women that at some point has felt the way Jane had growing up.

“Without a community, there is no liberation, only the most vulnerable and temporary armistice between an individual and her oppression,” Lorde wrote. I found this quote to go hand in hand with the internal struggles that Jane had gone through as a child. Jane never really belong to anything such as a “community”, she barely had a friend while growing up. In the book we get to read in on her thoughts, sort of discussing amongst herself on how to find her way through the oppression without the guidance or help from any outside source. She had to cope through everything mostly alone which left her with “no liberation”.

Jane being the strong girl she is and grabbing life by the balls and trying to make something out of it, she made the most of the her school institution and slowly climbed her way out of the oppression. Lorde wrote, “Within interdependence of mutual (nondominant) difference lies that security of which enables us to descend into the chaos of knowledge and return with true visions of our future, along with the concomitant power to effect those changes which can bring that future into being. Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged.” Jane entered into an indecent institution for education and did all she could to receive the most education she could in her time there, and in doing so, she slowly climbed her way into a more suitable environment for a life she so desired.

Irene

After reading the first 12 chapters from Jane Eyre and Lorde’s two articles. I find out Jane Eyre and the black lesbian poet they are all beginning their life in a silent way then transformation that silence into the language and action for their life later. When Jane is little she like to stay in a corner by herself reading the book and imagine the things that happen during the book. But, after her aunt lock her in the “red-room” for one night she stated to change and try to speak out for herself. That make when Mr.Lloyd come she told him about the  red-room and how her aunt treat her. This is the first time she stand out to revolt her life. However, when she has to leave Gateshead Hall she clear told her aunt about she don’t like her and she will told everyone how she treat her after her uncle die. When Jane’s uncle still a life they promise they will treat her like their own child. After her uncle die Jane’s life suddenly fell from heaven to hell. The contrast is too strong for a little girl. The way Jane action makes she have the opportunity to leave the “cage” to go to school. That make her has the opportunity to contact education and learn about knowledge. Jane’s life has a great change. Based on Lord articles silence will only hurt yourself in the end. Silence doesn’t change the things , it will make these things become more and more worse. Kujichagulia mention “the decision to define ourselves … speak for ourselves.” Therefor, both of their self-realization shows SPEAK OUT will transition the way you are and your life.

Didi Hu

As I read the first 12 chapters of Jane Eyre, it was evident that Jane was experiencing an overwhelming amount of oppression and suffering. According to Lorde she states, “For women, the need and desire to nurture each other is not pathological but redemptive, and it is within that knowledge that our real power I rediscovered. It is this real connection which is so feared by a patriarchal world.” We can see Lorde’s realization about women play out when we see Jane enter into Lowood. Mr. Brocklehurst’s cruel and aggressive authority over the girls at Lowood, bolster the patriarchal world Lorde paints in her article. Charlotte Brontë’s male alias on the cover of the first publication of Jane Eyre, also bolster Lorde’s picture of out patriarchal world. “The need and desire to nurture each other..” is best shown when Helen Burns and Jane look out for each other. It is evident when Jane and Helen do interact, Mr. Brocklehurst is displeased; this supports Lorde’s second point: “…and it is within that knowledge that our real power power I rediscovered. It is this real connection which is so feared by a patriarchal world.”

-Danny Lee

In the 3^rd chapter of Jane Eyre, the chapter shows basically the oppression that Jane faced when she lived at Gateshead with her aunt. She was locked away in rooms and malnourished while there. She also oppressed when she arrives at the school at Lowood. Mr. Brocklehurst makes an example of her and shuns her in front of the whole class. Also what she can and can’t do is limited to what he wants. This is because throughout the agony she faced she was silence and not speaking up her right. However, she expresses her feelings on the struggle there is between males and females. She also expresses her frustration at the fact that woman is pushed into a position where they predominately only worry about knitting and pudding. She believes that women have as much right to express their emotions and have as meaningful positions as men.

According to the article “The Transformation of Silence into Action” Lorde argues that “we must share and speak about what we believe in, even if we are afraid to”. She wrote this essay while reflecting upon her mortality (after being diagnosed with cancer), and questioning why she feared speaking out. I believe that by speaking up, we are able to connect with others who have a similar vision for the world, and work with them, despite differences we may have. She also states that when we remain silent on our truths and yearnings for justice, we still live in fear and these silences only damage us. Speaking out also creates visibility for our stories, lives, and experiences without other seeing who we truly are.

In “The Transformation of Silence into Action”, Lorde writes, “But most of all, I think, we fear the visibility without which we cannot truly live.” (42) I think this paradox remains Jane Eyre’s internal struggle throughout the novel. She considers herself plain, undeserving of attention and love, seen by her depiction of how she would paint herself in contrast to how she would paint Miss Ingram. She refers to her portrait as “disconnected, poor, and plain” (Bronte, 238) and refers to herself as “indigent an insignificant plebeian” (239) When Mr. Rochestor compliments Jane earlier in this chapter [16], she convinces herself that it is shameful to consider anything of such remarks. At the same time, Jane was not “satisfied with tranquility,” she craved action. She believes “it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that [women] ought to confine themselves to making pudding and knitting stocking… it is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them if they seek to do more, or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.” (Bronte, 161) Throughout her stay at Thornfield, Jane has these rebellious feelings spurring inside of her, but she represses them to please Mr. Rochestor. Lorde writes, “For we have been socialized to respect fear more than our own needs for language and definition, and while we wait in silence for that final luxury of fearlessness, the weight of that silence will choke us.” (44) Jane’s society as well as Jane’s less than fortunate environment has socialized women, especially herself to respect fear, to repress her need to speak out. She wants to tell Mr. Rochestor her true feelings for him, but she knows that wouldn’t be “lady-like,” she feels ashamed and uses her own insecurities about her looks to lower her feeling of self-worth in comparison to women she has not yet met.

As a famous novel, Jane Eyre attracts countless readers in the world. In the first twelve chapters, the novel mainly tells the story of Jane’s miserable childhood and youth life. I sympathize with Jane’s sufferings, but I admire her indomitable spirit. Her tenacious“weed”spirit, causing her tough, brave and fearless character. In the dark and depressing environment, she is still keep the cleaning heart and self-esteem, meanwhile, she doesnt surrender to evil forces. It is very difficult and valuable. I was deeply inspired and encouraged by her experience and spirit. Despite Jane suffered many a setback during her blossom ages, also the difficult environment and life create her strong character, which would play a virtual role in her future development.

Although is tragic and miserable in the first twelve chapters of the book, of course, there is a warm friendship which supporting Jane live with Helen. If Jane’s character makes me shock, then her friendship with Helen makes me moved. When Jane was on short commons, Helen embraced sleep with her in many cold late night; when Jane was punished on the bench, Helen’s smile gave her power; when Jane was grieving, Helen gave her sides to coffee and bread… No matter how strong are they, people still need comfort of love. As the only friend of Jane Eyre, Helen lighten the world of Jane with warm and love. Then in the last chapter, Jane first meet Rochester and start her new life.

–Junyan Liu

After reading through chapter 12 of Jane Eyre and Lorde’s two article, one can find many comparisons. Jane Eyre clearly has been oppressed the whole time she lived in Gateshead with her aunt and her cousins. In a part of the book, Jane was locked in the red room by her aunt where this little girl thought she saw a ghost of her uncle and was terrified. When she called out for help instead of helping Jane, her aunt accused her of lying and extended her punishment. But just like Lorde, Jane lets go of her fear and says everything she wants to say to her aunt. Jane understood that she had enough of what she was going through and wanted to make a change instead of staying oppressed her whole life. Both Jane a little girl and Lorde, a lesbian black woman, have lived a life oppression and did not speak of it in the beginning when it started because they were doing exactly what everyone expects a female to do according to how society sees them and that is to be a ” GOOD WOMAN.” But they both saw that if they live their lives in silence it will only lead them to be oppressed their whole lives. Both Jane and Lorde are both strong human being who only wants what they deserve which is their human rights and to be treated well.

The first 12 chapters of Jane Eyre are filled with so much commotion. Jane is being treated horribly by her aunt and rest of the family she has left without reasoning. She gets beat, punished and verbally abused so often she has found ways to try to rebel against it. I feel like the last straw for Jane was  being beaten, attacked, then getting blamed and locked away in the room where her Uncle died. She then fell ill according to the servants, the ones who were once rude to her and treated her like a bottom feeder. Jane decided it was time, time for this all to come to an end. She wanted an answer to why she was being treated like such an awful person. She confronts her aunt Mrs. Reed for an answer but doesn’t seem to get one. At least not one legitimate or straightforward. Her aunt decides she’s done dealing with Jane and sends her away to a new school, her new home. Unfortunately the torment from the Reeds residence somehow followed her to this new school. She was called names and not treated equally. Jane’s life is an example of oppression. She goes through endless torturous and condescending treatment. She learns that defending herself and who she is, is the only way to get through this.  Jane showed everyone she can be just as good or  even better at what they’re doing. She did this through educating herself and staying focused on education while all the negativity around her gets thrown out.