There is one lesson that seems to be common in a lot of stories. A lesson about how to live your life and to learn to do things for yourself. This lesson I saw in many of the readings/films we read/watched in class, some examples include: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle and, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. These stories are all very different but share that same lesson of putting matters into your own hands. Trust no one or you will be hurt or put into danger. In Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, you can’t trust the government. The government also known as The Party, watches it’s citizens and will vaporize anyone just for doing something as simple as having an individual thought. In any society you should be able to trust the government. Maybe not completely but enough to know you won’t be killed just for thinking. “For how could you establish even the most obvious fact when there existed no record outside your own memory” (Orwell 24)? This quote describes that the Party doesn’t keep records of the past, the records that are kept are constantly changed. People have so little memory of their past that Winston can’t even remember the beginning of the Party’s rule or his childhood. Another example about the government is even the children will turn you in for anything. The children are junior spies that could have you vaporized. “You’re a traitor!’ yelled the boy. ‘You’re a thought-criminal! You’re a Eurasian spy! I’ll shoot you, I’ll vaporize you, I’ll send you to the salt mines” (Orwell 23)! This shows you the seriousness of the junior spies. Winston is frightened just by some kids yelling at him. That shows you how much fear there is in this society. In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë also has many examples of trust leading to disappointment. One example is when Rochester reveals his secret wife living in his attic.
"That is my wife," said he. "Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know – such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours! And this is what I wished to have" (laying his hand on my shoulder): "this young girl, who stands so grave and quiet at the mouth of hell, looking collectedly at the gambols of a demon. I wanted her just as a change after that fierce ragout. Wood and Briggs, look at the difference! Compare these clear eyes with the red balls yonder – this face with that mask – this form with that bulk; then judge me, priest of the Gospel and man of the law, and remember, with what judgement ye judge ye shall be judged" (Brontë 206).
In this quote Rochester admits that he was trying to marry someone while already being married to someone else. Rochester finally gained jane’s trust enough to marry him and was hurt emotionally by the discovery of the secret wife. Another example of trust causing emotional pain is when Jane runs away. After finding out that Rochester has a wife already Jane is devastated and runs away without Rochester knowing until it’s too late. This caused both Rochester and Jane pain because she felt disgraceful to continue living under the same roof with a man she had once intended on marrying. It also hurt Rochester because he loved Jane and wanted her to stay. There is also an example of trust putting someone in danger in the novel The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle. When Morstan and Sholto get back to London they have a disagreement about the division of money when all of a sudden Morstan has a heart-attack. Sholto then hides the body so he won’t be accused of murder. This whole story seems very shady, if Morstan died of a heart attack then Sholto could just go to the police and report it. The lack of trust that Sholto has with the police caused Mary to not know that her father is dead. The final example of trust hurting someone is in the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. All of the crew trusted each other and then the ancient Mariner shot the albatross which caused the crew to die and the ancient Mariner to go through hell. “Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one.” (Part 3 Coleridge). This quote describes the crews death. The ancient Mariner becomes immortal in the worst possible way. He can’t die but he feels pain as he has to take control of the ship all by himself . In conclusion, in every story that was explained has the same trend of trust either being hurt or getting put into danger. In Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell with the government, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë with Jane and the attic wife, The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle with Sholto’s shadyness and, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge with the events after the death of the albatross. There is one lesson to be learned from these stories and that is to trust no one or you will be hurt or put into danger.

Works Cited
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty Four. St Ives: Penguin, 2003. Print.
Brontë, Charlotte, Fritz Eichenberg, and Bruce Rogers. Jane Eyre. New York: Random House,
1943. Print.
Doyle, Arthur Conan, and Christopher Roden. The Sign of the Four. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1993.
Print.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, Ed Young, David Adlerman, and Patrice Fodero. The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner. New York: Atheneum, 1992. Print.