Who is Ms. Jane Thompson?
by Tigger with Brandy Dewinter
Jane Thompson is a symbol and an icon in
much the same way that Uncle Sam is a symbol and an icon. She is the
essence of School Teacher -
strict, demanding, uncompromising on principles; and at the same time,
deeply caring, assessing her accomplishments solely on the success of
her students. She is the teacher everyone remembers with grudging
respect ("Man, lemme tell ya about THAT Ms. Thompson - now THAT lady
never took any sh**, but I learned more from her than from any other
teacher I ever had."), and an ever growing and deepening affection as
the years go by.
She comes from a time when people believed
in things like personal integrity and honor; a time when a hand clasp
between two people meant more than any ink stains on some lawyer's
paperwork ever could mean; a time when manners were a sign of mutual
respect - given even as it was demanded in return.
She is a woman of great strengths, and
complementary weaknesses. Often, the weaknesses are her strengths taken
to an extreme.
Characteristics of Jane Thompson
First and foremost, a characteristic that
seems most unlikely in the beginning yet in the end is most obvious, is
love for her boys. They are the family children she is physically
unable of producing herself. She truly wants what is best for her
students, regardless of the real cost to herself or the apparent cost
to them - the stripping of false pride, the surface indignities that
demonstrate the deeper source of dignity that transcends externals. And
so she becomes, "Aunt Jane." It is, in almost all cases, a very
demanding, very tough love, but a person does not put herself through
what Jane has over a period of over twenty years for any motivation
other than love. It is why she never gives up on any student who will
try, and so demonstrate a desire to improve. It is why humiliation of
her students is never an end in itself, but the threat of humiliation
is used ruthlessly to lift a student to a higher level of performance
than they could achieve in any other way.
Her second prime characteristic is
intelligence. She can see what is going on in a student's mind better
than he can, and so knows just how far to push to mold them without
shattering - even when the student himself feels shattered. She is the
teacher no student could ever, 'put one over on.' Jane is honest enough
to admit that she needs help (aids) to gain the required insights, but
she also realizes what they are (a senior student, 'spies' like Caro
and Marie) and arranges for them.
Third on the list of key characteristics of
'Aunt Jane' is her pride - pride in herself and just as importantly,
pride in her boys. The most fundamental basis for her pride is that she
never asks anything of anyone that she's not prepared to do herself,
knowing that the most difficult challenges are of discipline and
self-control, not of cosmetics and clothes. She can, and so she knows
that 'they' can as well, but she is still proud of them when they do
because she knows precisely how difficult the tasks she set for them
were and how hard the students had to work to meet each of her
challenges.
Fourth is moral strength - the kind that
means doing the right thing even when no one else is watching. Aunt
Jane is not a 'do as I say, not as I do.' type of leader. Had Jane been
an officer at Valley Forge, she'd have been out there freezing her tush
off with the soldiers instead of in the warm cottages that many of the
officers used. That doesn't mean she never relaxes, but she does not
"let her hair down" when she's "on duty" (i.e., when there is a student
under her responsibility who is not himself allowed to relax). Her
moral strength is conscious and deliberate, recognizing that she can
never falter in her own perfect compliance with her own rules or she
will lose forever the respect and trust her position requires, and the
proof that her standards can be met.
Jane's life is based on personal
commitment, which justifies her high standards. She does not accept
less than the best she or anyone she works with has to give. This shows
in every aspect of a Jane Thompson program from the development of a
long term strategy to the meticulous tactical preparations for each
phase or exercise she plans for a student's particular needs.
As stated above, Jane's weaknesses are, for
the most part, extremes of her strengths. Her pride can become
arrogance, her intelligence can become hubris, her moral strength can
become intolerance, and her commitment can become stubbornness and
rigidity. The primary control on these is her love, which challenges
her always to justify in her own mind that her actions are based on the
good of her student and not just her own self-image.
She makes mistakes, but they are most often
mistakes of 'too much' realization of those key characteristics, not
too little. Her commitment to her standard program may cause her to
rely overmuch on expected clues that sustain her judgments, and not
enough on contradictions (like with Kendra or Caitlyn) but in the end,
her intelligence will not allow her to reject data just because they
conflict with her expectations, once the data are available.
The other important issue associated with
her downsides is that Jane always learns from her errors and takes
steps to correct those failings the next time. She reflects on these
problems (typically taking an inordinate amount of blame upon herself)
until she understands what went wrong and has a fix in mind.
Finally, Jane is (and is afraid of this
aspect of her personality) more than a little playful. Her initial
interests in petticoating and feminizing males first took root in that
playfulness when she was still in college. This mischievous and
sometimes darker side of Jane Thompson is why she enjoys watching her
boys when they are most afraid, and why she takes some pleasure in
contemplating their reactions to her wicked tests and tasks. However,
her fear of this facet of her personality is why she so ruthlessly
controls and restrains it even while she relishes it in her heart. It
is why she often doubts and questions herself when she is alone in the
dark with only her worst fears for companions.
Jane's Response to Problems
In the event of an unplanned challenge,
Jane's reactive response - energized almost without conscious thought -
is to control the situation. If she feels things are getting out of
hand, she will retreat to the fortress of her castle and rule there
with an iron hand. If there is a threat to one of her students, she
will take on herself the rear-guard action at the point of attack,
controlling the defense while those for whom she is responsible are
shepherded to safety. She will not consider a situation resolved until
she is again fully in control, regardless of how tired she may
personally be.
If her control is actively threatened, she
will react like a mother cat defending her kittens, fierce and
uncompromising. In her world the worst thing that can happen is the
loss of one of her students, and the most likely cause for this would
be an interruption in her program while they are vulnerable due to her
manipulation. A challenge to her control cannot be ignored or
postponed. She is extremely sensitive to them, but also always ready to
recognize and deal with them since *every* student rebels at some point.
If her control of the situation is not at
risk, then Jane will react in accordance with her principles. What is
the disciplined path back to the plan? What is the moral/ethical
approach? What will provide the best lesson for her students?
Application of These Characteristics
Any situation in the life of Jane or any of
her students can be assessed against these characteristics. If she
reacts as the person described in these notes would react, then she
'fits' within the universe of 'Second Season, Losing Season, Darla,
Kendra, and Caitlyn - and is at least not inconsistent with Joel
Lawrence's original creation in 'Seasons of Change'. If not, then the
writer has taken the characters in a different and conflicting
direction - which is that writer's right but may mean the story is not
what a reader expects if they enjoy the Jane of my vision.
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