I have really thoroughly enjoyed this book but when Antoinette went kind of crazy and was like biting Rochester I was concerned because she was really the only character I liked. I didn't know who I was going to side with now that my initial favorite was not entirely sane. After a brief time of wandering around in the book favorite-less, Christophine and Rochester started fighting and I started liking Christophine. In the beginning of the book, Christophine seems like this emotionally distant, creepy character. As we get to know her, it becomes apparent that she has a particular attatchment to Annette. The first time we see her emotions get the best of her is at Annette's funeral. Her initial impression on me was not a very good one. It bothered me that it seemed like everything she did for Antoinette was really to please Annette. I was of the opinion that Christophine had little personal attatchment to Antoinette. In this battle with Rochester (153-161), Christophine defends Antoinette passionately and she seems like the most sound character in the novel. She is in her right mind and conducts herself accordingly. During his time in Jamaica, Rochester has made no attempt at learning about the country and in regards to Antoinette, no attempt to bond and learn about her past. For some reason, the only person he believes about her past is that man who claims to be her half brother. Antoinette tries to enlighten him about her past the night before but he spends the conversation interupting and judging. I like Christophine in this scene because it just seems like she is fed up with all of Rochester's crap and she is going to tell him exact what kind of awful person he is and what he should do. I don't like Rochester and I liked seeing him being called out on what he did to Antoinette, who was somewhat unstable throughout the whole novel.
I don't know if I'm quite done with this post but I've said mostly what I wanted to say. I like Christophine and think that she is the most stable and strongest of the characters we've met.
2 comments:
I LOVE Christophine in this final secton, where she rips into Rochester, speaking in her "judge's voice." At this point in the novel, immersed in Rochester's perspective, there's a sense that no one and nothing can be trusted--Daniel doesn't seem like a reliable witness, but then Rochester can't trust Antoinette anymore, after she "poisons" him. Her "going kind of crazy" may indeed be sympathetic--we understand it as a reaction to his cruelty, and her sense of helplessness and resentment--but it does cast a certain doubt on her as a reliable witness of events. Rochester doesn't know what to believe--do we? But then Christophine steps up and reinterprets the whole situation, and all Rochester can do is sit there and take it (he even starts silently agreeing with her analysis). In the end, he dismisses her when she asks for money for her and Antoinette to get away from him--along the lines of "I just knew this was at the bottom of it"--but he's being disingenuous here. This isn't analogous to Daniel asking for money; it's rightfully Antoinette's money, and it's what *he's* been after all along.
I know exactly what you mean when you talk about wandering through the story without a main character to get behind. During this part of the book I felt like I would make concessions and ignore faults in a desperate attempt to find someone likable and worthy of my attention. It's good to know I also found that Christophine could suitably fill the role I desperately needed filled.
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