Language

This is not really an analysis of my feelings of a certain area of the book, but more a comment on some neat language things I have noticed. This book is filled with hidden meanings and metaphors, and the metaphors, it's just chock full of them. There was one scene where Jane and Mr Rochester were discussing the errors in his life, and how he now seeks to live it as fully as possible. The whole discussion is not truly discussed with simple terms, instead they speak of angels and disguised demons. There are many more metaphors that I have found myself truly enjoying reading, but one thing I really have enjoyed about the language in this book is that the secret hidden meanings are not very hard to uncover. Almost all of the text alludes to something else, that is not so beyond our grasp. Though some allusions are surely lost on a difference in time in which this was written and in which we live, they are still for the most part, obvious. One big language switch I noticed was on page 202, when all of a sudden the entire narrative switches to a present tense, instead of the past tense. This is not something easy to do, and I have to admit it instantly caused me pause. However, if I'm correct in understanding the purpose of this, it adds a certain urgency and more directly inserts the reader into the scene of the moment. It is the moment of the big party when Jane must meet all the ladies, and stay in the drawing room as they take coffee and talk. It also adds much more force to the introduction of Blanche Ingram. Who is described as a very imposing figure throughout the whole of the narrative. It once again though, switches back to the past tense, and takes the reader back out, to once more seem to see a little bit more of the picture, then the book moves on. The game of charades was interesting to me to read, for a game played without words, yet described in words is a tricky thing to do. It was fun and exciting, to try to guess at what they were, though Charlotte gives it away, it was still enjoyable, especially how Jane neglects to join in, but seems to understand and guess at what all of the charades mean even though she is "too stupid" to participate. The books pace and excitement have definitely picked up with the addition of the mystery into this novel. No book is good without something to seek, and now not only are we waiting with bated breath to discover how Jane and Rochester's "love" will turn out, but we also must find the answer to the riddle of Thornefield Hall. The suspense is building.