Jane becomes comfortable with the notion of death after being with Helen, and speaking about Death and Heaven. This comfort is a vast change from how she coped with the concept of death when she was living with the Reeds; we could argue that Jane's sudden comfort with death has spurred from Helen's description of Heaven: calling it 'home' and a 'future state'. Being shut out from the Reed's conversations, Jane would never have been taught about what comes after death. So, naturally she built up a fear towards death (certainly a fear of the unknown, not being educated about death) Helen's speech allowed Jane to become more familiar with death, particularly since Jane never regarded the Reed's household as a 'home'; Helen describing heaven as a future home with a 'universal parent' is more appealing to Jane than any experience in her life so far, being parentless and homeless.

Helen's acceptance with Death is similar to the way she treats life. Being a stoic she accepts all punishment given to her and believes "evil should be returned with goodness" she also accepts her death, believing it to be part of God's plan for her 'returning home'.

Helen refers to God as many roles: 'Maker, father, friend, universal parent' this is significant as it shows how she is using God to fulfil the roles she lacks, a comfort. Similarly with Jane, she finds comfort in this description of God; Helen is describing God as a being that takes up roles like 'universal parent' that Jane has never had in life.

Helen's interpretation of God is often based on duality. She speaks of the hour which will 'restore me to him, reveal him to me' and states 'i love him, i believe he loves me'.  This balance contrasts the way Helen lives her life; Helen gets treated cruelly by the teachers at Lowood, especially Miss Scatcherd. Returning 'goodness for cruelty', however she believes God will treat her equally, loving her as she loves him and so on.  Jane would idolize this idea because of her time spent at the Reeds house: there she was treated apart by Miss Reed from her other children. Jane was isolated and marginalised by Miss Reed, she treating her own children with love while Jane was treated coldly. The idea that God will love her equally as all others oposes how Jane has been treated before.

Chapter 6

Helen Burns follows stoicism, and believes in "turning the other cheek" towards those who treat her badly, finding the good in everyone and believing her peace will be given to her in heaven. As observed by Jane, she repeatedly receives torment from Miss Scatcherd for no good reason, even though she continually gives the right answers during teaching. However, to Jane's amazement she refuses to call her cruel, as she believes the bible "bids us to return good for evil" and even accepts that she has her faults that Miss Scatcherd is right to question. Jane however is fiery in character and cannot understand why Helen would ever accept the humiliation and beating that is given to her, she disagrees with Helen's philosophy and believes that one should repay goodness with goodness and cruelty with cruelty; unlike Helen, Jane resents the teachers at Lowood for their abuse and is quick to regard them as "cruel". From the beginning it is clear that Helen's passive and submissive nature to authority bewilders her, stating "I felt that Helen Burns Considered things by a light invisible to my eyes" but equally clear that Helen will have a lasting influence on the way Jane thinks "I suspected she might be right and i wrong". 

While Helen believes in forgiveness and endurance, Jane believes in standing up for herself and fighting back. Jane tells Helen of her struggles at the Reed residence, yet Helen gives a long speech regarding how she must forgive her enemies. As Jane returns later in the book to forgive Mrs. Reed it is obvious that Helen's philosophy had an impact of Jane's thinking. While she never became a stoic like Helen, Jane had to learn to control her own temperament. 

We could argue that Bronte has given Helen Burns these traits simply because: Jane is coming to Lowood at the peak of her childhood, turning from a small child into a wiser young Lady. Lowood is a new environment for her, which represents her chance to learn and become the Governess she wishes to be, Lowood is the symbolism of Jane's learning. By placing a character like Helen Burns in Lowood it gives Jane the opportunity to experience moral philosophies radically different to her own, which she will learn from and enable Jane as a literary character to progress (part of the bildungsroman genre).