t all. In fact, the first sentence is a matter of action and choice: "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day" (Bronte, 1998, p. 8). Bronte also presents a young child who, while she has done her best to do what is required of her, is not adverse to fighting back and craves honesty above all else. This is demonstrated in her last conversation with Mrs. Reed when she declares, "it is the TRUTH. . . People think you a good woman, but you are bad, hard-
hearted. YOU are deceitful!" (p. 33).
Second, Bronte writes a heroine who has had almost everything of worth taken away from her, and so must fight for the rest of her life to earn it back. She is an orphan who has been left to live in a house where no one cares for her. She is sent to live in an institution for orphans, where at first it seems as if she will always be alone. However, from the beginning she is in contact with people who do care for her and she has sense enough to befriend them and listen to
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