The struggle with hunger can be seen during Jane's stay at Lowood. The children of Lowood struggle with hunger and eventually cause a typhus epidemic. Hunger drives some girls to steal from each other. Mr. Brocklehurst, while obviously keeping his family well fed, keeps the children undernourished. Mr. Brocklehurst claims that keeping their bodies fed will “starve their immortal souls” (Bronte 76). Rather than viewing food as a means of survival, he believes it serves as a means of self-sacrifice. This comes from the idea that refusing to eat can lead to purifying one's spiritual soul (Lii). Hunger also serves to advance the plot in Jane Eyre, as is regularly seen in Victorian literature. After leaving Rochester, Jane almost starves: “But it will be terrible; with this feeling of hunger, discomfort, cold and this feeling of desolation – total prostration of hope. But in all likelihood, I would die before morning... Oh, Providence! Support me a little longer! (Bronté 385). This suffering ultimately leads Jane to her cousins. What makes hunger so common in Victorian literature is the fact that everywhere the issue of hunger was regularly discussed.