After reading this section of the book, Mr. Rochester turns out to be a very confusing character who can’t seem to make up his mind about what he wants. It seems like when he is in a situation where he needs to make a decision, he doesn't use his rational mind, however, his senses make the decisions. It seemed like each time after I read a new chapter, I learned something new about Mr. Rochester. The thing that surprised me the most was when I reached chapter 19 and Jane was getting a fortune telling. A gypsy woman began reading Jane’s thoughts and future. She seemed to know a great deal about Jane, which kind of unsettled Jane because she had never met the gypsy woman. As the fortune telling proceeded, the gyspy woman’s voice got deeper and that was when Jane realized that it was Mr. Rochester who was pretending to be the gyspy woman. This was one of the most prevalent examples of how Mr. Rochester hides truth about his identity. Mr. Rochester is an unpredictable character in this book and I'm wondering what he will do in the next section.

I really admired Jane’s decisions of leaving Mr. Rochester and the city of Thornfield in this section of the novel. After everything Jane has been through with Mr. Rochester and learning about his past, Jane still was able to see what was best for her, and that is something I find really inspiring. I think it's sometimes easy just to go along with things and not stand up for yourself for your own better good, however, Jane had the strong mindset and the power to do what was right for her. Although Jane has lived a lonely life, from being an orphan and having little family who cared about her to not having many friendships or relationships, she gave up her chance to be with Mr. Rochester by marrying him so that she could maintain the respect she has always had for herself. I believe Jane’s actions can be described as sort of rare because in the Victorian era, it was very uncommon for a woman to stand up for herself and from this I can distinctly understand why Jane is such an admirable character within the literary world.  

“I have intimated my view of the case: I am incapable of taking any other. I am not brutality selfish, blindly unjust, or fiendishly ungrateful. Besides, I am resolved I will have a home and connections. I like Moor House, and I will live at Moor House; I like Diana and Mary, and I will attach myself for life to Diana and Mary. It would please and benefit me to have five thousand pounds; it would torment and oppress me to have twenty thousand” (Bronte 369).

In chapter 33, Jane received a letter from her uncle who passed away and learned he had left her a fortune of 20,000 pounds. Later on in the chapter, Jane discovered that the people who she had been staying with (St. John, Mary, and Diana) were actually her unknown relatives. Jane was a bit overwhelmed with the huge amount of money she had just obtained, however, she knew exactly what she was going to do. Jane made a quick, but easy, decision that she was going to divide the money between her newly discovered family members. I think this action really demonstrated Jane’s selfless and generous character. Jane didn't want to keep all of the money to herself because she would feel guilty that she would have lots of money while others struggled. I think there may be more reasons for Jane's decision to divide her newly acquired money. Maybe she didn’t want to become rich because she didn’t want to be associated with that upper class of Victorian women. Jane had a clear view of the way upper class women acted and treated others from the treatment of Jane’s aunt and Jane’s surrounding society. Jane was a victim of bullying from rich women and she knew she would never want to treat others the same way or put anyone through the struggles she underwent as a poor woman. 

This section first begins with a major event. St. John decided he would propose to Jane and hope that she would join him on his trip to India. Jane once again demonstrated strength as she stood up for herself for what she truly wanted, and that is something that is not always easy to do. Jane knew she was finally at a comfortable place in her life because she had a family (that were newly discovered), friends, and money and she realized that if she married St. John, she would lose all of the happiness that she had been looking for her whole life. I truly do believe Jane made the right decision in this situation because I could predict that her marriage with St. John would be very damaging to her. St. John never honestly loved Jane, so obviously the marriage wouldn’t be a good thing in the first place. This decision was the right decision also because Jane was able to realize that she loved Mr. Rochester and she wanted to be with him. Jane kept her own personal freedom from St. John and chose to live the rest of her life with Mr. Rochester.

Jane happily with Mr. Rochester

Once finishing the novel, I noticed there were some obvious similarities and differences between the characters Mr. Rochester and St. John. Starting off with the similarities, Mr. Rochester and St. John both asked Jane to marry them and Jane ended up declining the proposals from both Mr. Rochester and St. John. At each time she was proposed, Jane declined because she wanted to preserve her own self worth. Jane knew that if she married Mr. Rochester, she would lose passion to create her own future and she would disappoint herself because she knew that was not what she wanted. Jane also knew that if she married St. John, she would lose her self-value because she would be giving herself away to someone who doesn’t actually love her. Even though there are very obvious similarities between Mr. Rochester and St. John, there are also many differences. Mr. Rochester is a rich and secretive man while St. John is a more careful, religious, caring man. Mr. Rochester and St. John have almost completely opposite characters, mainly because they grew up in different lifestyles. However, both of these characters played essential roles in Jane’s life and ultimately helped form Jane to be who she was.