Helen Burns is a character from the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte who always remains in a cheerful mood no matter what the world throws at her. She serves as Jane's best friend while at Lowood Institution, and I think that she even helped make Jane the kind of person that she becomes when she is grown up. Even when teachers would throw insults upon insults against her, she would not make a sound (80). One day, when Helen forgot to arrange her drawers, Miss Scatcherd noticed and made Helen wear a pasteboard on her forehead with the word "Slattern" written upon it the next day as a punishment (111). It is because of Helen's faith in God and Heaven that she was able to easily bear the burden of her punishment and scoldings. Another day, while Helen is seriously ill with typhus fever, Jane asks Helen if she is going home, and she replies "Yes; to my long home- my last home" (123). Before she dies, Helen is able to share her beliefs with Jane about God and Heaven, and this most likely lead to Jane becoming a Christian (482).
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Reader's Digest, 1984. Print.
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