A message that she is also trying to communicate with her readers is that the church of England has strayed somewhat from the teachings of Jesus. In the early portions of the book that serves to set up the character of Jane Eyre the reader is presented with two diametrically opposed versions of Christian behavior. One was of the devout but hypocritical clergymen Mr. Brocklehurst who is presented as an enemy to Jane. Where as her pious and loving friend Helen Burns who seems to have correctly interpreted and follows Christian principal of love your enemy and turn the other cheek.

Brockehurst lives in luxury but he makes sure that his charges are given second hand belongings and the cheapest possible food. Even objecting when the student are fed a second breakfast because the first was so overcooked that it was unpalatable. When the poor location of the school causes a typhoid epidemic resulting in the death of Helen Burns, Brocklehurst is removed from some of his duties but not all of them because of his political power, wealth and influence. Using this story, which could be removed and not affect the plot of the novel, in these formative chapters Charlotte Brontë shows how the Church of England and Christianity in general has become corrupted.