Metacognition: Jane Eyre

I don't want to read this. This is so long! This is so boring!

Those were my main three thoughts I was thinking when reading Jane Eyre. I tended to put off reading it until the last minute, so I'd be suffering through it at 2 am telling myself it would all be worth it if there was a reading quiz. Hindsight being 20/20, this was probably not the best idea. I can look back and realize that the parts of the book I remember the most and enjoyed the most were those I read at more reasonable times of day. When I was actually awake to notice what was going on, it was a considerably more pleasurable experience than when I was torturing myself to read it. So I will focus on what I was thinking when I could comprehend what was happening.

I noticed I would try to relate Jane Eyre to people I know now. I think I did this because it is easier for me to understand things when I can relate to them. For example, chemistry is hard for me because I have no framework for understanding the concepts. However, debates come naturally to me because I understand how most of the arguments interact with each other. Relating Jane is just another way of creating a framework that I can use to visualize more clearly what is going on. The thing I relate it to will add new depth to the plot for me, and help bring the emotion's of the characters to life.

I noticed I tended to think of Jane as someone in her 40s. This probably has to do with sayings like "40 is the new 30," and things like that. A 20 year old then was probably considerably more mature than one now. Also, their way of speaking and mannerism made Jane seem particularly older than her age. Thinking of her as much older and visualizing her as much older made it easier to follow the flow of the book, even if it created a few awkward situations. For example, as a result of this, I thought of St. John as being in his 60s, even though it becomes abundantly clear that he is at least a little younger than that later in the novel.

I also noticed that my mind would tend to wander as I was reading. This has to do with the slow, long, drawn-out pace of the novel. Jane will go on for pages talking about the surroundings and her feelings. She could spend a chapter on a single scene and brush away years with just a few words. There is the point in the novel where Bronte makes it clear that the longer version is better. This is when Jane's story is recounted in a few paragraphs, and Jane becomes upset because it ignores every emotional aspect. Even though is a true argument, that did not stop my mind from thinking about other things while reading.