Mr. Brocklehurst’s Christianity

I recently read somewhere that a Holy book in the hands of one man is more dangerous than alcohol in the hands of another. Mr.Brocklehurst is a classic example of this. His interpretations of the holy text are as literal as possible and do not go beyond the context. He believes that love for religion is innate in human nature and if anyone doesn't feel this, he/she is cursed. When Jane comments that she doesn't find Psalms interesting, Mr.Brocklehurst replies,

“This proves you have wicked heart; and you must pray to God to change it”

Another interesting part of Mr. Brocklehurst's understanding of Christianity is the intermingled concept of religion and worldly pleasures. He quotes the anecdote of a young boy’s piety and religiosity,

“I have a little boy younger than you, who knows six psalms by heart; and when you ask him, which he would rather have, a ginger-bread nut to eat, or a verse of a Psalm to learn, he says: ‘Oh! The verse of a Psalm! Angels sing Psalms; says he, ‘I wish to be a little angel below here; he then gets two nuts in recompense for his infant piety.”

The above-mentioned story is clearly the boy’s wit to get two nuts as opposed to his ‘infant piety’ but Mr. Brocklehurst’s understanding of religion is devoid of all rationality.

The third most interesting aspect of his Christianity is the difference in what he preaches and what he practices.

“Humility is a Christian grace, and one particularly appropriate to the pupils of Lowood”

This shows the contradiction in his interpretations of religion for himself and others. His own daughter visited his school and described the girls as,

“O dear papa, how quiet and plain all the girls at Lowood look; with their hair combed behind their ears, and their long pinafores, and those little Holland pockets outside their frock- they are almost like poor people’s children”

This description creates a very dull and lifeless impression of the environment at Lowood despite of all the young girls residing there. His daughter who admired the plain simple girls at Lowood does not choose to adapt this lifestyle herself.

“They looked at my dress and mama’s, as if they had never seen a silk gown before”

This shows that Mr.Brockhurst’s Christianity stems out from the concept of class and society. His understanding of religion is deeply rooted in economic realities.