12/27/17 - “John Reed was a schoolboy of fourteen years old.... large and stout for his age, with a dingy and unwholesome skin; thick lineaments in a spacious visage, heavy limbs and large extremities. He gorged himself habitually at table, which made him bilious, and gave him a dim and bleared eye with flabby cheeks. He ought now to have been at school; but his mama had taken him home for a month or two, ‘on account of his delicate health.’ Mr. Miles, the master, affirmed that he would do very well if he had fewer cakes and sweetmeats sent him from home; but the mother’s heart turned from an opinion so harsh, and inclined rather to the more refined idea that John’s sallowness was owing to overapplication, and, perhaps, to pining after home” (Bronte 4). Summary - This description Jane narrates; right after John has just finished trying to find her as she hides from his wrath in the curtains, describes the young Mr. Reed perfectly. Later he beats her, which is very consistent with his violent ways. Jane is terrified of this monstrous boy, but doesn’t let it show, she instead stands up to him by sassing him continuously. His mother babies him, and always turns a blind eye on everything he does to Jane, so the cycle of him inflicting harm on her continues without end an end in sight. …show more content…
The child is then sent to attend boarding school… the similarities are endless, and I believe that the parallels between the two novels might be more than just