Compare And Contrast Essay

In a coming-of-age novel, where the protagonist goes on a journey to forge moral or psychological growth, narration is a key aspect. Through narration in any novel, the reader typically gains insight into the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings, which can factor into the plot or character development greatly. Despite the clear differences in time period, country, and plot in Jane Eyre and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, both novels, through narration, reveal truth about the emotions and unique characteristics discovered during the growth of not only their respective protagonists but also of all people who are searching for an identity to claim as their own. One of the key differences difference between the point of view in Jane Eyre

This means that Jane Eyre, the protagonist of the novel, is telling the reader her exact experiences and feelings as she is on her journey of self-discovery. Also, Jane is telling her story after the fact; she has matured and is looking back on her own development. Through this point of view, the reader can picture how Jane Eyre’s personal thoughts and her interactions with others shape her during her growth. An example of how Brontë uses Jane’s narration to discuss the feelings behind human development is when Jane is sent to the red room after fighting with John Reed. Jane describes how she was trying to make sense of her own feelings during her time in the ominous red room, but she does so as an adult looking back on this childhood memory. She laments, “What a consternation of soul was mine that dreary afternoon! How all my brain was in tumult, and all my heart in insurrection! Yet in what darkness, what dense ignorance, was the mental battle I fought! I could not answer the ceaseless inward question - why I thus suffered: now, at the distance of- I will not say how many years, I see it clearly” (Brontë 14). This not only describes Eyre’s childhood confusedness, but it also displays how Jane has been able to further understand her emotions since