张玲

Like many book-lovers I am sure， I find that I can look back on my life and recognise certain books which helped to shape the person I am now， and certain characters who remained with me long after reading the final page. Among these， it would be impossible not to include Jane Eyre. What stood out to me at 12 years old， when I first encountered the character Jane， was a certain quality which I shared， but which I had never seen in any great literary figure before.

She was strong， good， witty， intelligent and brave， and yet she was repeatedly overlooked by the majority of the other characters in Charlotte Bront?s novel. Why？ She was an introvert.

From the readers perspective， we bear witness to1） Janes innermost thoughts and are carried2） by the depth of her passions. But these are emotions which she rarely shows to those around her and as a result， she is a constant victim of prejudice and is brushed aside3） by all but a select few.

I loved， and still love， that Bront? chose to put a character like Jane at the centre of her novel. All of our emotions， as readers， are pinned onto her—an introvert whose personality we love and get to know so closely. When I first read Jane Eyre， I was not only introverted， but painfully shy in addition， and very much accustomed to the general presumption made by those who didnt know me well， that I simply lacked personality.

I still recall a well-intended but somewhat backhanded4） compliment I received after playing an impassioned role in a middle school drama performance. A classmate informed me， with no sense of irony whatsoever， that for someone so quiet I had a lot of feelings. By this point in time， I was fairly used to being met with surprise whenever I displayed vaguely strong emotions or voiced an opinion. More than anything else， the comment merely amused me.

Still， reading Jane Eyre for the first time， I remember the sense of joy and reassurance in discovering that there was a place in literature—and a significant one at that—for people like me. I remember the thrill of hearing Jane defend her impoverished background and protest her rich and beautiful personality. She asserts her equality with Mr. Rochester， not through her meager social standing， but in heart and absolute spirit： “Do you think I am an automaton？—a machine without feelings？ Do you think， because I am poor， obscure， plain， and little， I am soulless and heartless？ You think wrong！—I have as much soul as you—and full as much heart！”

In Jane， I also found hope， as although the majority overlook her， she does meet those who are willing to get to know her， are interested in， and ultimately love her for who she is： Helen Burns， the Rivers sisters， and of course Mr. Rochester， who in Janes words was， “the first to recognise me， and to love what he saw.” These are meaningful and fruitful relationships， and all the more so5） because of the nature of her personality.

She inspired me because although she is quiet， she is by no means a pushover6）. She is daring in her integrity， standing up for herself and for her moral values in the face of opposition and adversity. And she is a gentle reminder to the world that even the small and downtrodden7） can have personalities and passions of depth and fire.

我相信自己跟许多爱书之人一样，回首走过的人生之路时，发现自己总能记起某些特定的书，它们助我成为现在的我；我也总能想起书中某些特定的人物，他们在我读完书许多年后依然与我如影随形。这些人物中，不可能没有简·爱。当我12岁第一次遇到简这个人物时，让我印象最深的是简身上的一种特质，这种特质我身上也有，但我以前从未在任何伟大的文学人物身上看到过。

简坚强、善良、风趣、聪明且勇敢，可在夏洛蒂·勃朗特的这部小说中，她却一再被其他大多数人物忽视。为什么？因为她性格内向。

站在读者的角度，我们见证了简内心最深处的想法，被她强烈的情感所感染。但是她却很少在身边的人面前流露这些情感，所以她常遭受偏见，除了少数几个有见地的人，其他人都漠视她。

我以前很喜欢——现在也是——勃朗特选择将简这样一位人物作为她小说的主角。作为读者，我们所有的感情都系于她——一个性格内向的人——身上，我们爱她的个性，且能如此近距离地了解她的个性。第一次读《简·爱》时，我不仅性格内向，还极其腼腆，那些不怎么了解我的人普遍觉得我缺少个性，而我对此推测很是习以为常。

我还记得在中学的一次戏剧表演中，我扮演了一个充满激情的角色，这之后我收到了一份出于好意但却带有几分挖苦味道的称赞。一个同学语气不带一丝讽刺地对我说，没想到我如此安静的一个人有这么丰富的情感。每当我稍微表现出强烈的感情或者表达自己的意见时，都会遭遇别人惊讶的反应，那时我早已对此习以为常。最重要的是，对这位同学的话，我仅仅觉得好笑而已。

不过我还记得第一次读《简·爱》时感受到的快乐和安慰，因为我发现在文学作品中还有一个位置——在这部作品中还是一个举足轻重的位置——留给像我一样的人。我还记得听到简为自己的贫寒出身辩护，为自己丰富而美好的个性申辩时，我心中感受到的激动。她宣称自己和罗彻斯特先生是平等的，不是说她低微的社会地位，而是心灵和纯粹的精神上的平等：“你以为我是一台机器吗？一台没有感情的机器？你以为，就因为我贫穷、低微、平凡、渺小，我就没有灵魂，没有感情吗？你想错了！——我和你拥有同样的灵魂，同样完整的感情！”

在简身上，我还看到了希望，尽管大多数人都忽视她，但是她的确遇到了那些愿意了解她、关注她以及最终爱上真实的她的人：海伦·伯恩斯、瑞弗姐妹，当然还有罗彻斯特先生。用简的话说，罗切斯特先生是“第一个认可我、爱上他所看到的我的人”。与这些人的关系富有意义并结出了累累果实，而简的个性特点使得这一点尤为明显。

简激励了我，因为尽管她性格文静，但她决不是一个轻易被击败的人。她勇敢正直，面对敌意和逆境时，她维护并坚守自己的道德价值观。她用一种委婉的方式提醒世人，即便最渺小、最卑微的人也可以有自己的个性以及深邃的、火一般的激情。