[1 of 5] Their Eyes Were Watching God, Chapters 1-4, by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)
Author: Zora Neale Hurston
“Chapters 1 - 4.” Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston et al., Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2013. Originally published by J. B. Lippincott on September 18, 1937.
0 General Document comments
0 Sentence and Paragraph comments
0 Image and Video comments
To Henry Allen Moe
1
Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.
The author uses a metaphor to convey this particular message. The author refers to wishes as ocean waves, some coming in with the tide others sailing on the horizon forever.
The things that are far out of reach are the things that everyone wants the most.
These first two paragraphs show us that the book will have something to do with the differences between men and women and/or equality.
This author uses this introduction as a metaphor. The author uses the men’s dreams and wishes like the tide coming in.
The author is saying that men do as they please. They have their differences, but they stick to their dreams and goals in life. At this point in time, men could do what they wanted because they had all the power.
The beginning of the book shows shows when the story takes place with the heavy talking of difference in equality towards men and women.
I think when he says his dreams are mocked to death by time , I think it means that he ran out of time to pursue his dreams.
The author uses a metaphor to convey this message. The author refers to men’s wishes as ocean waves and conveys the message that some do come true and also that some never come true and the dreamer finally accepts that.
The introduction explains how back in those times women and men did not have the same rights and expectations
The author uses figurative language helps the readers connect more with the text.
Right off the bat, I had a hard time reading with the southern accent the author uses in this book. It makes it hard to comprehend if I didn’t have the audio.
This section of the text about dreams touches on lovely metaphors on the lifelong search for a fulfilling purpose in life, this particular section describes them as coming with the tide. This shows that these men’s dreams are plentiful and come and go as often and as regularly as the tide, a very fleeting way to have dreams.
This sentence describes how people, specifically men in this context, see a dream they wish to achieve, but it’s too far to reach. It sits just on the horizon, easily seen, but not able to grab.
This sentence outlines the lives of men, always having dreams, rarely ever able to achieve or capture those hopes, dreams, and wishes. Many times, these dreams are laughed at and mocked by others, aiding in the result of a man turning away from his dream, no longer working towards achieving such.
When you want something you look for it. When you have an idea of what you want or what it is you want you are always on the lookout, trying to find it. Some men’s wishes stay sailing on the horizon never landing until the person looking looks away. Sometimes the key to finding what you desire is to look away and let it find you.
It seems as though what the author is trying to portray in this sentence is that The life of a man should be them searching for their dreams, wants, and desires while each second brings them closer to death and for those who fail will be sailing forever on the horizon.
Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.
In stark contrast from men, rather than simply turning away from the dreams due to mockery from others, women take action and take no prisoners on their way to attaining a goal or capturing a dream.
A bit of foreshadowing into what the main character will potentially encounter throughout the plot is introduced here, as we see that our main character, a woman, will be driven to forget what others say she cannot do, and will power through to achieve whatever it is that she truly desires.
By establishing the thoughts of the first two paragraphs, as it applies to the lives of men and women, we get to see the ideas and perspective of the narrator from the earliest piece of the text, allowing the audience to settle in and have an idea of what to expect.
This is foreshadowing the lives of woman during this time. Furthermore along the book character’s will try to diminish what she truly desires.
" Now, Women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget." This line shows how women were treated in the prospects of society. Women were often taken advantage of and they always remember saying no and the things that happened to them.
The author creates perspective for the reader on how things operated back then for both women and men. However, in order women to live “accordingly” they had to give up on their dreams and for those women who had their dreams shattered,that is how they became a woman
During this time especially, women had very little hope to do things they wanted. Instead they did whatever they were told and let their hopes and dreams subside.
The author writes about the different perspectives of life between men and women in the story.
The text gives a metaphor for when it starts, it uses this to give an example on how time is running low and people need to put the work in before it’s too late.
I feel this is showing the differences of reality for men and women, and how during this time period they did not have as many opportunities
In the previous paragraph the author lets us know right away that men turn away from their dreams, but in thsi paragraph the author conveys the message that women do they want and make it happen.
In this sentence, the author is trying to explain women’s thoughts. In this time, it was easier to stay stuck on negative things that have happened because more bad things happened to women than good.
This sentence is true for every woman out there. The author is trying to put a perspective on women’s thoughts. We all remember the bad and forget the good
At this point in time the author is explaining many truths. The psychology of a woman’s mind as she progresses and reflects on her thoughts. We do not want to remember the bad times, so we don’t. We as women try to focus on the positive experiences we have had.
This quote in particular stood out to me because someone that has a dream could make it the truth if they put enough work into it.
If one can dream of something, they can achieve that same thing. Often times when people have goals and want to accomplish something they feel as though that dream may be too far stretched. By thinking this way that goal will never be achieved. But when one realizes that they can make this “dream” of theirs really happen they will put much more effort into it and believe they can really accomplish this goal.
I think this quote went over a lot of peoples head. The author is telling us that women do what needs to be done in order to make things happen, yet men get all the credit for the smallest thing if it happens to come true. I think that women deserve more credit because of th dedication that we have to do thing accordingly and not just give up.
So the beginning of this was a woman and she had come back from burying the dead. Not the dead of sick and ailing with friends at the pillow and the feet. She had come back from the sodden and the bloated; the sudden dead, their eyes flung wide open in judgment.
This quote sticks out to me because burying the dead is such a harrowing task. It is filled with sorrow and grief. Putting that on a women is something this era never did.
The author further identifies the situation the woman is facing. She did not deal with people who had died of a natural death. She experienced those who went down fighting, bloody, and raw. This is not the typical experience one would want to have, hence the reason this is such a difficult time for her.
This sentence in the book is very strong to me. It talks about how she had to take care of the bodies of those that died suddenly.
This part of the text seems to explain that the death she had witnessed was not one of peaceful drifting away, but a painful and sudden death. One that shocked the person’s body enough to keep their eyes open.
This is the start of the story, the tone setter. By saying “their eyes flung wide open in judgement,” the author is setting a serious tone, hinting at anguish for the reader in the future. It is a form of foreshadowing that happens to be less foreshadowing, and more just downright telling you what is going to happen. It’s a dance around the inevitable.
The people all saw her come because it was sundown. The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky. It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment.
The writer personifies the sun in this line by stating, “he left footprints in the sky.” The “he” represents the sun, and the “footprints” represent the sunset, the remnants of that day’s sun.
The author attempts to engage the reader by allowing theme to create the scenery described while also creating a perspective for them as a possible character in the novel.
The sun was setting all around and “it was the time for sitting on porches beside the road.” The author uses an interesting approach when describing setting in this passage. The reader can visualize hard workers coming home, sitting on their porch just cooling down after a long day. Or many it was a mother sitting down and watching her kids play until the sun went down. Sitting on a porch and watching the sun fall symbolizes the end of the day.
These people during the day have been forced to be purposeless throughout the tireless day. They are viewed as tongueless, earless, and eyeless. But once they arrive home they are a brother, a sister, a mother, or a father.
After the sun sets, they are able to have meaningful conversations amongst themselves freely without the worry of being beaten or scolded.
This last sentence in this part of the passage seems to summarize this paragraph pretty well. This paragraph is filled with gossip and judgement. As the woman makes her way through the town, fellow citizens throw insults and attack the woman with harsh words behind her back.
Seeing the woman as she was made them remember the envy they had stored up from other times. So they chewed up the back parts of their minds and swallowed with relish. They made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs. It was mass cruelty. A mood come alive. Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in a song.
“Seeing the women as she was made them remember the envy they had store up from other times.” The women comes back into town and all the people in the town are jealous of her. They want or wanted what she had. She they made up rumors about her and used them to try and hurt her. They laughed about what they heard.
“A mood came alive.” People were so filled with envy,they used this women and her looks to connect with others. Creating conversation over her appearance and her personal life. In a cruel way, she brought this town closer together because they all had one thing in common. Envy.
In this paragraph we can see what the characters are experiencing in terms of jealousy of the woman. They begin to talk about her and where she has been and what she has been doing. All of the gossip and rumors being spread are not necessarily true. When the text says “ words walking without masters”, I think this is referring to the gossip that is being spread about how there really is no limit to it. Additionally I think the people in the city are not considering how their words would make this woman feel; they are irreverent to her thoughts and feelings.
In this paragraph, the audience may feel sorrow for the women as she walks through the town. The narrator uses pathos to bring emotion into the text and pulls the readers in. For example the text says, “They made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs. It was mass cruelty.” You can feel the judgement through the passage and it really makes the reader feel as if they are with the woman as she is getting insulted.
“They made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs.” This probably rings too close to home for me and many of my classmates. Often time gossip in school can seem as just that burning statements and killing tools of laughs. Has anyone else seen gossip in this more dire light?
“They made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs.” For discussion thread
This particular metaphor lends to the story, as it describes the hate and malice behind the words of the men and women talking on their porches, it showed how much they disliked Janie without providing any dialogue to make an example of it.
The way people talk about Janie can be compared to bullying of today’s world. The bullying is mass cruelty towards a group or person who is innocent. Janie did not invite the chatter and none of the other people who are bullied do.
Throughout the text thus far the author seems to use a lot of figurative language to not only guide but engage the reader while navigating the text. In this particular case, the author gives “words” the human quality of walking.
Words without Masters refers to the blatant use of words without moral obligation or worry that it may hurt another’s feelings.
In this moment one can feel the intensity of the mood they must be facing. This is not a positive nor negative mood, but rather uncertainty. Everyone is feeling unjust and is trying to navigate to their next step. This is a trying time.
“What she doin’ coming back here in dem overhalls? Can’t she find no dress to put on?—Where’s dat blue satin dress she left here in?—Where all dat money her husband took and died and left her?—What dat ole forty year ole ’oman doin’ wid her hair swingin’ down her back lak some young gal?—Where she left dat young lad of a boy she went off here wid?—Thought she was going to marry?—Where he left her?—What he done wid all her money?—Betcha he off wid some gal so young she ain’t even got no hairs—why she don’t stay in her class?—”
I appreciate the inclusion of the dialogue, it allows the reader to understand the way in which people communicated during the time the book was written, allowing the reader to make a deeper connection to the text.
I really like the way the author uses dialogue in this book. It really makes it easier for the audience to picture what is going on with the characters.
In this paragraph, the author gives dialogue of people gossiping about Janie. This shows that the people are jealous and envy her, while also giving us a feel of the crowd around the people in the town.
I think it is crazy how different people thought back then. Now everyone is trying to cancel each-other for small things, and when you really think about it this was only about 100 years ago, and that not the long ago when you think about how long humans have been on Earth.
The use of region-specific dialect in the text adds to the feeling of immersion.
As I read this paragraph I think of my moms side of the family because they are country and I see them talking like that.
It is crazy that this book was written in 1936, and even now in 2021 we are still seeing very similar conversations come up and be discussed. The dialogue in this paragraph is something that many AFAB’s still face to this day. The fact that people feel the need to judge and comment on what people wear or look like is astounding to me.
When the women comes back the town people see her in overalls. They expected her to be wearing the satin dress that she left in. They expected her to have money from the man that she married. They expect her to either wear her hair up or have it cut short. The people in the town are stereotyping her and expecting to dress like all the other women are dressing.
This moment is meant purely to make the reader wonder. It gives the reader answers to questions they didn’t know they were supposed to ask, in turn just leaving the reader with more questions.
When she got to where they were she turned her face on the bander log and spoke. They scrambled a noisy “good evenin’ ” and left their mouths setting open and their ears full of hope. Her speech was pleasant enough, but she kept walking straight on to her gate. The porch couldn’t talk for looking.
This line shows an early look into Janie’s personality, it shows she is a brash and confident individual who seems to take joy in making these gossipers scramble for words, as they must now stop gossiping with her as their main receptacle of their ridicule.
The men noticed her firm buttocks like she had grape fruits in her hip pockets; the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume; then her pugnacious breasts trying to bore holes in her shirt. They, the men, were saving with the mind what they lost with the eye. The women took the faded shirt and muddy overalls and laid them away for remembrance. It was a weapon against her strength and if it turned out of no significance, still it was a hope that she might fall to their level some day.
The people in town gossiped about Janie when she returned, showing how rude people tend to be in a small town.
This paragraph shows the way men react to women. Not seeing her mental state, but only her physical looks. They do not pay attention to the mood she is in, that does not benefit them. The men here only care for her appearance.
This paragraph is showing us the different ways the men are perceiving the main character and how the wwomen are as well. The men are so concerned with the body and the physical aspects while women are sort of jealous.
A simile is show in this sentence when the men compared Janie’s hips to those of grapefruits
Men and women often view young, beautiful women quite differently. Men only see them as an object and places their physical features as their only trait. Women may look at other women and tear their appearances apart in desperation win an nonexistent competition.
The men stood and watched her body moved but did not stand to see her mind waver in pain. They recalled only her physique, not even the way she carried herself.
keeping the memory for a later time while they could. talking about her outfit and comparing her hips to grapefruits
these men just kept the image of her in their minds comparing her to other things and scouting her body
Janies hair was what she loved about herself and what others noticed on her too.
“…still it was a hope that she might fall to their level some day.” The women hold this woman that just come into town at a higher standards then they do each other.
It is pretty obvious that these women are jealous of her and are insecure about themselves. It sounds pretty malicious and pathetic to use that as “a weapon against her strength” as if the way a person dresses has anything to do with how strong they are mentally or physically.
But nobody moved, nobody spoke, nobody even thought to swallow spit until after her gate slammed behind her.
People never want to say things to a person’s face because they want to talk without consequences. The people in the story would not talk about Janie until she was out of earshot. They did not want to start anything with their words but were completly ok with saying it anyway.
This is something that I can connect with as a person living in the Internet age, as it is common to see people say things online that they would not say to their face, and this is its older counterpart.
This line is relatable to our current generation. With the existence of the Internet and social media, people do not have to talk to others face to face. They talk only behind their back, but this is not okay.
Before, when she could not hear them, people were so quick to talk about her looks and what they think she should be doing. When they get the chance to actually say it to her, they stay completely silent which proves that scared to say something to her face because of who she is.
Pearl Stone opened her mouth and laughed real hard because she didn’t know what else to do. She fell all over Mrs. Sumpkins while she laughed. Mrs. Sumpkins snorted violently and sucked her teeth.
The author used precise details to describe what Mrs. Sumpkin’s emotions were.
“Humph! Y’all let her worry yuh. You ain’t like me. Ah ain’t got her to study ’bout. If she ain’t got manners enough to stop and let folks know how she been makin’ out, let her g’wan!”
Mrs. Sumpkins laughs in this passage as she believes that the other women shouldn’t let Janie bother them, as Janie doesn’t have any manners, as she won’t explin to everyone where she’s been for all this time. Her idea of manners means for others to tell every detail of their waking day or to be ridiculed and gossiped about by the town, personally the opposite of manners, which would be saying good evening and letting her go on her way.
“She ain’t even worth talkin’ after,” Lulu Moss drawled through her nose. “She sits high, but she looks low. Dat’s what Ah say ’bout dese ole women runnin’ after young boys.”
Pheoby Watson hitched her rocking chair forward before she spoke. “Well, nobody don’t know if it’s anything to tell or not. Me, Ah’m her best friend, and Ah don’t know.”
“Maybe us don’t know into things lak you do, but we all know how she went ’way from here and us sho seen her come back. ’Tain’t no use in your tryin’ to cloak no ole woman lak Janie Starks, Pheoby, friend or no friend.”
“At dat she ain’t so ole as some of y’all dat’s talking.”
“She’s way past forty to my knowledge, Pheoby.”
“No more’n forty at de outside.”
This quote was meant to say that the woman did not LOOK way past forty, even if she really was. This is further proof that people did not care about the personalities and love aspect of the relationships. Her personality would (most likely) be significantly older acting than that of the man. Also, it is highly unlikely that she looked young for her age because anybody who can be friends with people like that are… iffy.
“She’s ’way too old for a boy like Tea Cake.”
How is it okay for Janie to get married at 16 to a man much older than her, but he can’t go off with a younger man? No one was saying anything about her getting married off, but now they have a problem with it. Do they have an issue with Janie or are they jealous she left with Tea Cake and they didn’t?
This line does not make much sense compared to the rest of the story. Janie is only 16, and is going to marry a man way older than she is. Tea Cake is closer in age but that is somehow a problem.
“Tea Cake ain’t been no boy for some time. He’s round thirty his ownself.”
I dont like how the author didn’t introduce any of these characters and is writing like its the middle of the book. If we didnt watch the summary video in class I would be very confused.
“Don’t keer what it was, she could stop and say a few words with us. She act like we done done something to her,” Pearl Stone complained. “She de one been doin’ wrong.”
“You mean, you mad ’cause she didn’t stop and tell us all her business. Anyhow, what you ever know her to do so bad as y’all make out? The worst thing Ah ever knowed her to do was taking a few years offa her age and dat ain’t never harmed nobody. Y’all makes me tired. De way you talkin’ you’d think de folks in dis town didn’t do nothin’ in de bed ’cept praise de Lawd. You have to ’scuse me, ’cause Ah’m bound to go take her some supper.” Pheoby stood up sharply.
This particular person is upset that she did not stop and enlighten them on her business. I feel as though this still stands true to this day. People do not like privacy, and everyone wants to be in the know of everyone’s personal life. There is a fine line between caring about someone’s life, and snooting into it.
“Don’t mind us,” Lulu smiled, “just go right ahead, us can mind yo’ house for you till you git back. Mah supper is done. You bettah go see how she feel. You kin let de rest of us know.”
“Lawd,” Pearl agreed, “Ah done scorched-up dat lil meat and bread too long to talk about. Ah kin stay ’way from home long as Ah please. Mah husband ain’t fussy.”
“Oh, er, Pheoby, if youse ready to go, Ah could walk over dere wid you,” Mrs. Sumpkins volunteered. “It’s sort of duskin’ down dark. De boogerman might ketch yuh.”
“Naw, Ah thank yuh. Nothin’ couldn’t ketch me dese few steps Ah’m goin’. Anyhow mah husband tell me say no first class booger would have me. If she got anything to tell yuh, you’ll hear it.”
Pheoby hurried on off with a covered bowl in her hands. She left the porch pelting her back with unasked questions. They hoped the answers were cruel and strange. When she arrived at the place, Pheoby Watson didn’t go in by the front gate and down the palm walk to the front door. She walked around the fence corner and went in the intimate gate with her heaping plate of mulatto rice. Janie must be round that side.
She found her sitting on the steps of the back porch with the lamps all filled and the chimneys cleaned.
“Hello, Janie, how you comin’?”
“Aw, pretty good, Ah’m tryin’ to soak some uh de tiredness and de dirt outa mah feet.” She laughed a little.
“Ah see you is. Gal, you sho looks good. You looks like youse yo’ own daughter.” They both laughed. “Even wid dem overhalls on, you shows yo’ womanhood.”
In this series of paragraphs you can see a lot of conversation between Janie and Pheoby.
Throughout the beginning of the chapter, a lot of emphasis was placed on the outfit that Janie was wearing, which were the decidedly “unfeminine” overalls. Still, the men outside still ogled her. Here, Janie’s friend speaks about how despite her outfit, she still shows her “womanhood.” Womanhood and what it means and how other people view it continues to be a major theme in the book later.
“G’wan! G’wan! You must think Ah brought yuh somethin’. When Ah ain’t brought home a thing but mahself.”
“Dat’s a gracious plenty. Yo’ friends wouldn’t want nothin’ better.”
“Ah takes dat flattery offa you, Pheoby, ’cause Ah know it’s from de heart.” Janie extended her hand. “Good Lawd, Pheoby! ain’t you never goin’ tuh gimme dat lil rations you brought me? Ah ain’t had a thing on mah stomach today exceptin’ mah hand.” They both laughed easily. “Give it here and have a seat.”
“Ah knowed you’d be hongry. No time to be huntin’ stove wood after dark. Mah mulatto rice ain’t so good dis time. Not enough bacon grease, but Ah reckon it’ll kill hongry.”
“Ah’ll tell you in a minute,” Janie said, lifting the cover. “Gal, it’s too good! you switches a mean fanny round in a kitchen.”
“Aw, dat ain’t much to eat, Janie. But Ah’m liable to have something sho nuff good tomorrow, ’cause you done come.”
Janie ate heartily and said nothing. The varicolored cloud dust that the sun had stirred up in the sky was settling by slow degrees.
The author could’ve simply said here: “It cooled down outside.” Instead, the sentence was enhanced by figurative language such as personification, use of stronger adjectives, etc. This adds structure and character to the text and makes it more picturable in the reader’s mind.
“Here, Pheoby, take yo’ ole plate. Ah ain’t got a bit of use for a empty dish. Dat grub sho come in handy.”
I think it is really interesting the way the author continues to write how they would be saying it in real life. I feel it adds character to the story based on the accent presented in the text.
Pheoby laughed at her friend’s rough joke. “Youse just as crazy as you ever was.”
“Hand me dat wash-rag on dat chair by you, honey. Lemme scrub mah feet.” She took the cloth and rubbed vigorously. Laughter came to her from the big road.
“Well, Ah see Mouth-Almighty is still sittin’ in de same place. And Ah reckon they got me up in they mouth now.”
“Yes indeed. You know if you pass some people and don’t speak tuh suit ’em dey got tuh go way back in yo’ life and see whut you ever done. They know mo’ ’bout yuh than you do yo’ self. An envious heart makes a treacherous ear. They done ‘heard’ ’bout you just what they hope done happened.”
They talk about her in a harsh way and pick at her, but they are actually just jealous that they can not be her. They pick on how she has money and that she looks younger than she is like it is an awful thing to do, but deep down they all wish to be like her
I claim this compelling line for the Golden Shovel poem.
To me, I think this line holds a very true and very sad meaning. I think it’s talking about how when people who are jealous of someone, they only hear the worst things about that person. The next line clarifies that as well when Phoebe says, “They done ‘heard’ ’bout you just what they hope done happened.” People who are envious will hear what they want to hear to make a person look bad.
This line sticks out to me because it sums up all the gossip. “An envious heart makes a treacherous ear” means that somethings you are the only one to hear or know from the past, essentially can become blackmail. All the women gossiping about Janie only know about what they heard, not what happened to Janie while she was gone. They only have part of a story.
This means that if you are jealous of someone, all you are going to want to hear about them is the bad things that will make you feel better. If you only want to hear and only listen for the bad, that is all you will hear and remember.
This line, to me, explains how rumors get started. These people thought what they wanted to think about this woman for all this time, and now that she is back, all they can do is hope that the things they heard about her is true. They’re bot listening for facts or evidence or even hear her side of the story, they just want to know if what they heard was true.
“If God don’t think no mo’ ’bout ’em then Ah do, they’s a lost ball in de high grass.”
Pheoby used comparison when showing her lack of caring when as the townspeople. Saying if God thinks about them no more than she does, they are a lost ball in high grass. Basically meaning they have no meaning and no one can find them. All they do is gossip, it does not benefit anyone only harms them
“Ah hears what they say ’cause they just will collect round mah porch ’cause it’s on de big road. Mah husband git so sick of ’em sometime he makes ’em all git for home.”
“Sam is right too. They just wearin’ out yo’ sittin’ chairs.”
“Yeah, Sam say most of ’em goes to church so they’ll be sure to rise in Judgment. Dat’s de day dat every secret is s’posed to be made known. They wants to be there and hear it all.”
“Sam is too crazy! You can’t stop laughin’ when youse round him.”
“Uuh hunh. He says he aims to be there hisself so he can find out who stole his corn-cob pipe.”
“Pheoby, dat Sam of yourn just won’t quit! Crazy thing!”
“Most of dese ziggaboos is so het up over yo’ business till they liable to hurry theyself to Judgment to find out about you if they don’t soon know. You better make haste and tell ’em ’bout you and Tea Cake gittin’ married, and if he taken all yo’ money and went off wid some young gal, and where at he is now and where at is all yo’ clothes dat you got to come back here in overhalls.”
“Ah don’t mean to bother wid tellin’ ’em nothin’, Pheoby. ’Tain’t worth de trouble. You can tell ’em what Ah say if you wants to. Dat’s just de same as me ’cause mah tongue is in mah friend’s mouf.”
I find this line to be powerful in the sense that Janie has given a bold statement. She flat out tells Pheoby that she can tell the others what she said, because she knows she can trust her to say everything that she told Pheoby. It shows she has no fear in what the others think about her.
“If you so desire Ah’ll tell ’em what you tell me to tell ’em.”
“To start off wid, people like dem wastes up too much time puttin’ they mouf on things they don’t know nothin’ about. Now they got to look into me loving Tea Cake and see whether it was done right or not! They don’t know if life is a mess of cornmeal dumplings, and if love is a bed-quilt!”
This line connects really well to the line “An envious heart makes a treacherous ear.”. The gossipers are butting into a life they know nothing about. They’re using the rumors they heard to make assumptions about Janie, without hearing directly from her the full story.
“So long as they get a name to gnaw on they don’t care whose it is, and what about, ’specially if they can make it sound like evil.”
I find this comment comedic, because isn’t that what most people do? Mind everyone’s business but their own.
“If they wants to see and know, why they don’t come kiss and be kissed? Ah could then sit down and tell ’em things. Ah been a delegate to de big ’ssociation of life. Yessuh! De Grand Lodge, de big convention of livin’ is just where Ah been dis year and a half y’all ain’t seen me.”
They sat there in the fresh young darkness close together. Pheoby eager to feel and do through Janie, but hating to show her zest for fear it might be thought mere curiosity. Janie full of that oldest human longing—self revelation. Pheoby held her tongue for a long time, but she couldn’t help moving her feet. So Janie spoke.
In this paragraph we begin to see where the story is really beginning with Janie getting ready to tell Pheoby the story of what really happened while she was gone. Relating this to previous passages, Pheoby stood up for Janie while the other women were gossiping about her.
“They don’t need to worry about me and my overhalls long as Ah still got nine hundred dollars in de bank. Tea Cake got me into wearing ’em—following behind him. Tea Cake ain’t wasted up no money of mine, and he ain’t left me for no young gal, neither. He give me every consolation in de world. He’d tell ’em so too, if he was here. If he wasn’t gone.”
Pheoby dilated all over with eagerness, “Tea Cake gone?”
“Yeah, Pheoby, Tea Cake is gone. And dat’s de only reason you see me back here—cause Ah ain’t got nothing to make me happy no more where Ah was at. Down in the Everglades there, down on the muck.”
“It’s hard for me to understand what you mean, de way you tell it. And then again Ah’m hard of understandin’ at times.”
Often times people are misunderstood when telling stories or telling about an event that happened. This could be that the person telling the story did not tell it correctly or could be that the listener did not receive the story correctly. Mix ups like this could be avoided if people thought about what they said and took time to listen to others.
“Naw, ’tain’t nothin’ lak you might think. So ’tain’t no use in me telling you somethin’ unless Ah give you de understandin’ to go ’long wid it. Unless you see de fur, a mink skin ain’t no different from a coon hide. Looka heah, Pheoby, is Sam waitin’ on you for his supper?”
“It’s all ready and waitin’. If he ain’t got sense enough to eat it, dat’s his hard luck.”
“Well then, we can set right where we is and talk. Ah got the house all opened up to let dis breeze get a little catchin’.
“Pheoby, we been kissin’-friends for twenty years, so Ah depend on you for a good thought. And Ah’m talking to you from dat standpoint.”
This paragraph pushes the story forward as Janie implies the relationship she has with Pheoby and with that comes the story she tells her
When Janie talks about Tea Cake, it makes the reader question who this person is and what happened to the character.
With this conversation, Janie talks about Tea Cake. The readers including myself does not know who Tea Cake is.
Time makes everything old so the kissing, young darkness became a monstropolous old thing while Janie talked.
2
Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.
With this text, Janie is comparing how she views her life with a leaf on a tree.
In this sentence Janie is comparing how she sees her life to that of a great tree in leaf.
In this part of the book readers can imagine how Janie felt by comparing her life to a leaf. You can get a sense of how she is feeling by some things being suffered and some being enjoyed. The things that are done and undone are most likely how she had to jump into getting married to a guy she did not want to.
Janie views her life as something beautiful that she loves, and still does not let herself forget the hardships and struggles she has endured. She views each part of her life as a “new leaf”, whether it be good or bad.
The writer metaphorically compares Janie’s life to a leaf. She grows up dependent on Grandma, the tree, falls to the ground when the season comes, and waits to be picked up with a loving, or unloving, husband. She does not WANT to wait to be picked up by a man, but rather by the wind, on her own terms.
I thought this was an interesting analogy comparing someone’s life to that of a great tree in leaf
I thought that too when I read it. I think analogies are a great way to describe and explain. The author’s choice of using was really useful.
As Janie reflects on herself she finds herself relating to a great tree in leaf. She explains how many great things can occur, as well as negatives. However, in this instance she finds “dawn and doom” in her branches. Furthermore showing that her life is not going well.
This line has two parts, dawn, but also doom. Dawn representing the rising moments of her life, moments meant to be savored and cherished. The doom was meant to represent her anguish, the pain she felt through her every day life that is later exposed. All of this is told to the reader in the previous line, explaining it in vague metaphor as well.
“Ah know exactly what Ah got to tell yuh, but it’s hard to know where to start at.
Telling someone of a tough situation or giving someone bad news is never easy for the person giving or receiving the information. Often times events are cut short because the listener does not want to hear the news, or the speaker can not bear to give the news.
So now she is telling the story of her life to Pheoby. I think the information that comes next is going to be important to her backstory and why she grew up the way she did.
“Ah ain’t never seen mah papa. And Ah didn’t know ’im if Ah did. Mah mama neither. She was gone from round dere long before Ah wuz big enough tuh know. Mah grandma raised me. Mah grandma and de white folks she worked wid. She had a house out in de back-yard and dat’s where Ah wuz born. They was quality white folks up dere in West Florida. Named Washburn. She had four gran’chillun on de place and all of us played together and dat’s how come Ah never called mah Grandma nothin’ but Nanny, ’cause dat’s what everybody on de place called her. Nanny used to ketch us in our devilment and lick every youngun on de place and Mis’ Washburn did de same. Ah reckon dey never hit us ah lick amiss ’cause dem three boys and us two girls wuz pretty aggravatin’, Ah speck.
As Kali said in another comment on this paragraph, who raises you is a leading factor in the type of person you will become in life. Here in this text, I wonder how different the choices Janie would have made if she had her parents with her instead of just Nanny. She even calls her Nanny because of the other children she played with so it already apparent that Janie is a very mold-able person.
In this situation it can be found that a person who has been raised by a grandparent or a family member other than the parents can have a different life experience than those raised by their parents, whether this be good or bad. I feel as though in this situation she may feel okay with this, it is what it is. However, she got a great experience by being raised by her “Nanny.”
“Ah was wid dem white chillun so much till Ah didn’t know Ah wuzn’t white till Ah was round six years old. Wouldn’t have found it out then, but a man come long takin’ pictures and without askin’ anybody, Shelby, dat was de oldest boy, he told him to take us. Round a week later de man brought de picture for Mis’ Washburn to see and pay him which she did, then give us all a good lickin’.
Janie is telling the story of how she was raised and the time she spent with the white children. As previously mentioned she was raised by her grandmother and the white people who she worked with. Janie spent her time with these children and did not notice her differences until someone else made mention of them. I think this shows the innocence of children in a sense. Janie did not think about herself as being different from the other children; she just played with them regardless. It is interesting to see her change in understanding and realizing that she was different.
“So when we looked at de picture and everybody got pointed out there wasn’t nobody left except a real dark little girl with long hair standing by Eleanor. Dat’s where Ah wuz s’posed to be, but Ah couldn’t recognize dat dark chile as me. So Ah ast, ‘where is me? Ah don’t see me.’
‘Alphabet’ does not recognize herself in the picture as the little colored girl. She has no idea she was black because she was used to fitting in with all the little white kids around her. It was hard to think of herself as black when all she had known was a “white” way of life
Janie grew up around the white children and never felt or noticed that she was “different” from them. The moment she saw the photo, she couldn’t recognize herself, but the other children could.
This line has struck me as odd in many forms. Not because of the power it is trying to hold, but because it strikes me as odd that she has never gazed upon herself. I understand that looking in a mirror was not a common activity, but i have memories of gazing at my arms as I was walking, or watching my legs as I ran. It seems strange that someone could’ve not looked at themselves at all until the age of six.
“Everybody laughed, even Mr. Washburn. Miss Nellie, de Mama of de chillun who come back home after her husband dead, she pointed to de dark one and said, ‘Dat’s you, Alphabet, don’t you know yo’ ownself?’
“Dey all useter call me Alphabet ’cause so many people had done named me different names. Ah looked at de picture a long time and seen it was mah dress and mah hair so Ah said:
“ ‘Aw, aw! Ah’m colored!’
Although this line is very short I think it is a very strong line. It informs you of how she was never aware that she was colored due to the fact that she was treated just like everyone else in her white family as a child.
This little dialogue that she has in her childhood honestly breaks my heart. The fact that she’s grown up around people who are not of color and only spent time with people who are not of color to a point where she didn’t even know she was colored, then disappointed that she was, breaks my heart. She should be proud of what she is, not ashamed. I hope she learns this going forward.
“Den dey all laughed real hard. But before Ah seen de picture Ah thought Ah wuz just like de rest.
This is where Janie recognized she wasn’t like the others, meaning the other white kids.
“Us lived dere havin’ fun till de chillun at school got to teasin’ me ’bout livin’ in de white folks’ back-yard. Dere wuz uh knotty head gal name Mayrella dat useter git mad every time she look at me. Mis’ Washburn useter dress me up in all de clothes her gran’chillun didn’t need no mo’ which still wuz better’n whut de rest uh de colored chillun had. And then she useter put hair ribbon on mah head fuh me tuh wear. Dat useter rile Mayrella uh lot. So she would pick at me all de time and put some others up tuh do de same. They’d push me ’way from de ring plays and make out they couldn’t play wid nobody dat lived on premises. Den they’d tell me not to be takin’ on over mah looks ’cause they mama told ’em ’bout de hound dawgs huntin’ mah papa all night long. ’Bout Mr. Washburn and de sheriff puttin’ de bloodhounds on de trail tuh ketch mah papa for whut he done tuh mah mama. Dey didn’t tell about how he wuz seen tryin’ tuh git in touch wid mah mama later on so he could marry her. Naw, dey didn’t talk dat part of it atall. Dey made it sound real bad so as tuh crumple mah feathers. None of ’em didn’t even remember whut his name wuz, but dey all knowed de bloodhound part by heart. Nanny didn’t love tuh see me wid mah head hung down, so she figgered it would be mo’ better fuh me if us had uh house. She got de land and everything and then Mis’ Washburn helped out uh whole heap wid things.”
Pheoby’s hungry listening helped Janie to tell her story. So she went on thinking back to her young years and explaining them to her friend in soft, easy phrases while all around the house, the night time put on flesh and blackness.
She thought awhile and decided that her conscious life had commenced at Nanny’s gate. On a late afternoon Nanny had called her to come inside the house because she had spied Janie letting Johnny Taylor kiss her over the gatepost.
Janie’s conscious life, according to her, did not start until she let a boy kiss her. This is the event that sparks the plot. The following talk with her grandma stripped her of her girlhood and forced her into womanhood. This was the moment she had to start growing up and make tough decisions.
It was a spring afternoon in West Florida. Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard. She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days. That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world was breathing out smell. It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep. It connected itself with other vaguely felt matters that had struck her outside observation and buried themselves in her flesh. Now they emerged and quested about her consciousness.
I feel as though Janie had found a sense of peace while laying under the tree. Anything beats doing chores. However, this was her escape. She could find time to herself and reflect. I feel as though we still today find time to stay away and reflect. We escape reality for just a little bit.
I love the way she is able to just escape the responsibility, social life, and just struggle of her everyday life by just going and sitting under that tree. Hopefully she can take this and use it in her adult life. I think we all deserve a break from everything sometimes. Some people literally don’t know how to. I hope she can carry this into her adulthood and have a happy stress-free lifestyle
She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid.
I believe the author’s purpose of including this paragraph was to call upon a sense of happiness, whimsy, and calm. The author wanted to bring this feeling to the reader because she wanted a STARK contrast for when Janie sees Nanny and Nanny breaks the news to her. This paragraph brings a sense of immaturity and whimsy.
After a while she got up from where she was and went over the little garden field entire. She was seeking confirmation of the voice and vision, and everywhere she found and acknowledged answers. A personal answer for all other creations except herself. She felt an answer seeking her, but where? When? How? She found herself at the kitchen door and stumbled inside. In the air of the room were flies tumbling and singing, marrying and giving in marriage. When she reached the narrow hallway she was reminded that her grandmother was home with a sick headache. She was lying across the bed asleep so Janie tipped on out of the front door. Oh to be a pear tree—any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her? Nothing on the place nor in her grandma’s house answered her. She searched as much of the world as she could from the top of the front steps and then went on down to the front gate and leaned over to gaze up and down the road. Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made.
To Janie, love has an abstract meaning of dancing flies and singing bees. To her, love is in all of nature, from the blooms of trees to glossy leaves. This idea of love is in complete contrast of the relationships shown in the rest of the book so far. In a few pages, Janie is forced to marry Logan Killicks, and she talks about how she will eventually love him, sure. However, none of her early relationships live up to her early images of love.
Through pollinated air she saw a glorious being coming up the road. In her former blindness she had known him as shiftless Johnny Taylor, tall and lean. That was before the golden dust of pollen had beglamored his rags and her eyes.
We go through our lives in a rush and hurry without taking the time to really stop and look, so we lose out on some appreciation we might have had if we really saw what was going on around us. Here Janie is seeing someone she has known but she stops and sees them in a different way than she ever saw them before.
This paragraph could resemble change as Janie leans over the front gate as she sees Johnny Taylor approaching. One could predict that this could potentially be right before a major turning point in the story.
In the last stages of Nanny’s sleep, she dreamed of voices. Voices far-off but persistent, and gradually coming nearer. Janie’s voice. Janie talking in whispery snatches with a male voice she couldn’t quite place. That brought her wide awake. She bolted upright and peered out of the window and saw Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss.
“Janie!”
The old woman’s voice was so lacking in command and reproof, so full of crumbling dissolution,—that Janie half believed that Nanny had not seen her. So she extended herself outside of her dream and went inside of the house. That was the end of her childhood.
When Janie’s mother found out that she kissed a guy, it was the end of her dreams and is now going to go into the path of a wife.
Nanny’s head and face looked like the standing roots of some old tree that had been torn away by storm. Foundation of ancient power that no longer mattered. The cooling palma christi leaves that Janie had bound about her grandma’s head with a white rag had wilted down and become part and parcel of the woman. Her eyes didn’t bore and pierce. They diffused and melted Janie, the room and the world into one comprehension.
“Janie, youse uh ’oman, now, so—”
Womanhood and its context in society is starting to emerge as a theme within the book. Janie pushes at the boundaries, definition, and constraints of her womanhood. Here, Granny has saddled Janie with her interpretation. She has decided that Janie is now a woman. It calls into question how the reader themselves defines womanhood. Would they agree that Janie s now a woman? Why or why not?
“Naw, Nanny, naw Ah ain’t no real ’oman yet.”
The thought was too new and heavy for Janie. She fought it away.
Nanny closed her eyes and nodded a slow, weary affirmation many times before she gave it voice.
“Yeah, Janie, youse got yo’ womanhood on yuh. So Ah mout ez well tell yuh whut Ah been savin’ up for uh spell. Ah wants to see you married right away.”
“Me, married? Naw, Nanny, no ma’am! Whut Ah know ’bout uh husband?”
Janie is refusing for marriage but Ah is telling her she needs to be married. Janie is refusing too especially too because she’s 16 years old.
“Whut Ah seen just now is plenty for me, honey, Ah don’t want no trashy nigger, no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor usin’ yo’ body to wipe his foots on.”
Nanny’s words made Janie’s kiss across the gatepost seem like a manure pile after a rain.
Janie is referencing the stark difference between her thoughts whilst kissing the boy, and the bitter taste left in her mouth after she figures out the gameplan Nanny has going forward. Nanny plans to marry Janie off because the kiss meant womanhood in Nanny’s eyes. This is a shock to Janie, as it was as innocent as 16 in Janie’s eyes. Now Janie has to sit in the rain of her life and sulk while watching her manure pile (Logan Killicks).
Janie’s mindless act of hopeless romance has now been turned into what seems the actions that turned her from a child to an adult. Nanny and Janie both have very different point of views in this moment
Simile – comparing Janies kiss to a manure pile after rain.
“Look at me, Janie. Don’t set dere wid yo’ head hung down. Look at yo’ ole grandma!” Her voice began snagging on the prongs of her feelings. “Ah don’t want to be talkin’ to you lak dis. Fact is Ah done been on mah knees to mah Maker many’s de time askin’ please—for Him not to make de burden too heavy for me to bear.”
“Nanny, Ah just—Ah didn’t mean nothin’ bad.”
“Dat’s what makes me skeered. You don’t mean no harm. You don’t even know where harm is at. Ah’m ole now. Ah can’t be always guidin’ yo’ feet from harm and danger. Ah wants to see you married right away.”
I think this paragraph emphasizes the fact of how young Janie is. Even according to her own grandmother, who raised her, she doesn’t mean to do anything wrong or really even know what that means or consists of. I think this goes to show that Janie is young and perhaps even too young to be married however, this is not her decision and, at this point, is out of her control.
“Who Ah’m goin’ tuh marry off-hand lak dat? Ah don’t know nobody.”
“De Lawd will provide. He know Ah done bore de burden in de heat uh de day. Somebody done spoke to me ’bout you long time ago. Ah ain’t said nothin’ ’cause dat wasn’t de way Ah placed you. Ah wanted yuh to school out and pick from a higher bush and a sweeter berry. But dat ain’t yo’ idea, Ah see.”
“Nanny, who—who dat been askin’ you for me?”
“Brother Logan Killicks. He’s a good man, too.”
It calls into question what kind of person Logan Killicks is that he’s already been asking after 16 year old Janie for some time now, especially taking his age into consideration. It also says something about Granny and her viewpoint on the situation that she sees Killicks as a good enough person to give her Janie too. Does she not see this old man coming after her young granddaughter as slightly disturbing? Or is she that desperate to marry her off?
I totally agree with you, how does Nanny think marrying her off to an old man is a good thing? How can he be a good man if he’s asking about a little girl? I want to know if this was Nanny’s plan all along or if the kiss over the fence put her into action. It seems odd to me that she is so eager to get her married and out of the house.
“Naw, Nanny, no ma’am! Is dat whut he been hangin’ round here for? He look like some ole skullhead in de grave yard.”
I think it’s wrong that her grandma is trying to marry her off to an older man that’s been asking for her , its uncomfortable to think that she’s willing to hurriedly hand her over just cause she’s of age now
The older woman sat bolt upright and put her feet to the floor, and thrust back the leaves from her face.
“So you don’t want to marry off decent like, do yuh? You just wants to hug and kiss and feel around with first one man and then another, huh? You wants to make me suck de same sorrow yo’ mama did, eh? Mah ole head ain’t gray enough. Mah back ain’t bowed enough to suit yuh!”
Even though I do not believe in Nanny marrying Janie to someone so much older than her, in this paragraph we can see a little bit of Nanny’s doubts and worries. When Nanny speaks of Janie becoming like her Mother, she is obviously agitated and stressed. She has worked hard to raise Janie and does not want to see her in sorrow. Nanny also briefly expresses her own struggles with raising a child while being so old herself.
The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree, but Janie didn’t know how to tell Nanny that. She merely hunched over and pouted at the floor.
Nanny wants Janie to marry a man three times her age. If I was in Janie’s shoes, there is absolutely no way I would do that.
“Janie.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You answer me when Ah speak. Don’t you set dere poutin’ wid me after all Ah done went through for you!”
She slapped the girl’s face violently, and forced her head back so that their eyes met in struggle. With her hand uplifted for the second blow she saw the huge tear that welled up from Janie’s heart and stood in each eye. She saw the terrible agony and the lips tightened down to hold back the cry and desisted. Instead she brushed back the heavy hair from Janie’s face and stood there suffering and loving and weeping internally for both of them.
She didn’t have to hit her , she has every right to decline marrying a stranger
It’s shocking to me how we have bettered ourselves as a nation. Back then, this was common and the “norm” of time. Arranged marriages are not as common as they used to be, I mean who even had the thought that young girls/boys should marry a complete stranger?
Her Nanny slaps Janie because during this time period it was normal to see that. It was also normal to see young people being married off to people that are older than them. Her Nanny is upset because she is kissing someone else and she is not married to him. She wants a better life for Janie and for her life to not be like hers. She wants to knock some sense into her that she understands that she is going to be married for hopefully a better life.
“Come to yo’ Grandma, honey. Set in her lap lak yo’ use tuh. Yo’ Nanny wouldn’t harm a hair uh yo’ head. She don’t want nobody else to do it neither if she kin help it. Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. Maybe it’s some place way off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don’t know nothin’ but what we see. So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. Ah been prayin’ fuh it tuh be different wid you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!”
For a long time she sat rocking with the girl held tightly to her sunken breast. Janie’s long legs dangled over one arm of the chair and the long braids of her hair swung low on the other side. Nanny half sung, half sobbed a running chantprayer over the head of the weeping girl.
“Lawd have mercy! It was a long time on de way but Ah reckon it had to come. Oh Jesus! Do, Jesus! Ah done de best Ah could.”
Finally, they both grew calm.
“Janie, how long you been ’lowin’ Johnny Taylor to kiss you?”
“Only dis one time, Nanny. Ah don’t love him at all. Whut made me do it is—oh, Ah don’t know.”
“Thank yuh, Massa Jesus.”
“Ah ain’t gointuh do it no mo’, Nanny. Please don’t make me marry Mr. Killicks.”
“ ’Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection. Ah ain’t gittin’ ole, honey. Ah’m done ole. One mornin’ soon, now, de angel wid de sword is gointuh stop by here. De day and de hour is hid from me, but it won’t be long. Ah ast de Lawd when you was uh infant in mah arms to let me stay here till you got grown. He done spared me to see de day. Mah daily prayer now is tuh let dese golden moments rolls on a few days longer till Ah see you safe in life.”
Janie’s grandma wants to see her granddaughter safe before she passes away (which won’t be long). She wants to marry her off so she can be in a secure financial situation and not have to worry about marrying when it is too late.
Janies nanny, just wants her to be married with a roof over her head she’s not making it seem like she wants Janie to be happy.
She knows Janie doesn’t love Logan Killicks; she just wants her “safe” in a legitimate marriage and home. Janie wants more for herself; she wants to feel safe and loved in her soul, and to feel love for someone as well.
Janie doesn’t want to marry Logan Killicks because she wants to feel real love. Her grandma thinks it would keep her safe to have her married off so he can protect her.
“Lemme wait, Nanny, please, jus’ a lil bit mo’.”
Here Janie begs to have more time before she gets married. This small sentence shows what Janie is going through in one sentence. She is so young, and she wants to wait longer, but she is practically being forced into marriage at such a young age. She did not want it to be her time to be married.
“Don’t think Ah don’t feel wid you, Janie, ’cause Ah do. Ah couldn’t love yuh no more if Ah had uh felt yo’ birth pains mahself. Fact uh de matter, Ah loves yuh a whole heap more’n Ah do yo’ mama, de one Ah did birth. But you got to take in consideration you ain’t no everyday chile like most of ’em. You ain’t got no papa, you might jus’ as well say no mama, for de good she do yuh. You ain’t got nobody but me. And mah head is ole and tilted towards de grave. Neither can you stand alone by yo’self. De thought uh you bein’ kicked around from pillar tuh post is uh hurtin’ thing. Every tear you drop squeezes a cup uh blood outa mah heart. Ah got tuh try and do for you befo’ mah head is cold.”
It comes into question here how much of Granny’s decision was actually based on Jane kissing the boy at the gate. Had she already decided to marry Janie off in the past due to her age, and Janie’s kissing was just the catalyst that pushed her?
A sobbing sigh burst out of Janie. The old woman answered her with little soothing pats of the hand.
Here we’re really reminded of how young Janie really is. This kind of committment is a hell of a one to make in reference to a sixteen year old child.
Like Jessie was saying in his comment, we are reminded here of Janie’s age, and how weird this circumstance really is for her. In today’s society, I think it would be looked down upon by a lot of people for two people this far apart in age to join each other in marriage.
“You know, honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways. You in particular. Ah was born back due in slavery so it wasn’t for me to fulfill my dreams of whut a woman oughta be and to do. Dat’s one of de hold-backs of slavery. But nothing can’t stop you from wishin’. You can’t beat nobody down so low till you can rob ’em of they will. Ah didn’t want to be used for a work-ox and a brood-sow and Ah didn’t want mah daughter used dat way neither. It sho wasn’t mah will for things to happen lak they did. Ah even hated de way you was born. But, all de same Ah said thank God, Ah got another chance. Ah wanted to preach a great sermon about colored women sittin’ on high, but they wasn’t no pulpit for me. Freedom found me wid a baby daughter in mah arms, so Ah said Ah’d take a broom and a cook-pot and throw up a highway through de wilderness for her. She would expound what Ah felt. But somehow she got lost offa de highway and next thing Ah knowed here you was in de world. So whilst Ah was tendin’ you of nights Ah said Ah’d save de text for you. Ah been waitin’ a long time, Janie, but nothin’ Ah been through ain’t too much if you just take a stand on high ground lak Ah dreamed.”
In this paragraph, Nanny goes into descriptive detail about slavery. The quote that stuck out the most was “Ah was born back due in slavery so it wasn’t for me to fulfill my dreams of whut a woman oughta be and to do.” This line indicates that Nanny missed out on normal “woman” things because of slavery. This affected her life and made Nanny who she is today. She tries to comfort Janie with these stories but it does not help.
Nanny explains that “colored folks” don’t have roots. This is because of slavery and people being taken from their homes, so there’s no way for them to know their family. Also slaves couldn’t legally get married, so husbands and wives could be separated from each other and they couldn’t fight it. Children were also sold and could grow up not knowing their parents at all.
This line that Nanny says gives us as the reader an insight to her as a character. Despite all of her hardships that she is forced to face in her lifetime, she is just grateful for the chance she is given by Janie’s birth. Instead of being down on herself for not giving her own daughter the perfect situation, she saw a new opportunity in Janie.
Old Nanny sat there rocking Janie like an infant and thinking back and back. Mind-pictures brought feelings, and feelings dragged out dramas from the hollows of her heart.
“Dat mornin’ on de big plantation close to Savannah, a rider come in a gallop tellin’ ’bout Sherman takin’ Atlanta. Marse Robert’s son had done been kilt at Chickamauga. So he grabbed his gun and straddled his best horse and went off wid de rest of de gray-headed men and young boys to drive de Yankees back into Tennessee.
“They was all cheerin’ and cryin’ and shoutin’ for de men dat was ridin’ off. Ah couldn’t see nothin’ cause yo’ mama wasn’t but a week old, and Ah was flat uh mah back. But pretty soon he let on he forgot somethin’ and run into mah cabin and made me let down mah hair for de last time. He sorta wropped his hand in it, pulled mah big toe, lak he always done, and was gone after de rest lak lightnin’. Ah heard ’em give one last whoop for him. Then de big house and de quarters got sober and silent.
“It was de cool of de evenin’ when Mistis come walkin’ in mah door. She throwed de door wide open and stood dere lookin’ at me outa her eyes and her face. Look lak she been livin’ through uh hundred years in January without one day of spring. She come stood over me in de bed.
“ ’Nanny, Ah come to see that baby uh yourn.’
“Ah tried not to feel de breeze off her face, but it got so cold in dere dat Ah was freezin’ to death under the kivvers. So Ah couldn’t move right away lak Ah aimed to. But Ah knowed Ah had to make haste and do it.
“ ‘You better git dat kivver offa dat youngun and dat quick!’ she clashed at me. ‘Look lak you don’t know who is Mistis on dis plantation, Madam. But Ah aims to show you.’
“By dat time I had done managed tuh unkivver mah baby enough for her to see de head and face.
“ ‘Nigger, whut’s yo’ baby doin’ wid gray eyes and yaller hair?’ She begin tuh slap mah jaws ever which a’way. Ah never felt the fust ones ’cause Ah wuz too busy gittin’ de kivver back over mah chile. But dem last lick burnt me lak fire. Ah had too many feelin’s tuh tell which one tuh follow so Ah didn’t cry and Ah didn’t do nothin’ else. But then she kept on astin me how come mah baby look white. She asted me dat maybe twenty-five or thirty times, lak she got tuh sayin’ dat and couldn’t help herself. So Ah told her, ‘Ah don’t know nothin’ but what Ah’m told tuh do, ’cause Ah ain’t nothin’ but uh nigger and uh slave.’
“Instead of pacifyin’ her lak Ah thought, look lak she got madder. But Ah reckon she was tired and wore out ’cause she didn’t hit me no more. She went to de foot of de bed and wiped her hands on her handksher. ‘Ah wouldn’t dirty mah hands on yuh. But first thing in de mornin’ de overseer will take you to de whippin’ post and tie you down on yo’ knees and cut de hide offa yo’ yaller back. One hundred lashes wid a raw-hide on yo’ bare back. Ah’ll have you whipped till de blood run down to yo’ heels! Ah mean to count de licks mahself. Ahd if it kills you Ah’ll stand de loss. Ahyhow, as soon as dat brat is a month old Ah’m going to sell it offa dis place.’
“She flounced on off and let her wintertime wid me. Ah knowed mah body wasn’t healed, but Ah couldn’t consider dat. In de black dark Ah wrapped mah baby de best Ah knowed how and made it to de swamp by de river. Ah knowed de place was full uh moccasins and other bitin’ snakes, but Ah was more skeered uh whut was behind me. Ah hide in dere day and night and suckled de baby every time she start to cry, for fear somebody might hear her and Ah’d git found. Ah ain’t sayin’ uh friend or two didn’t feel mah care. And den de Good Lawd seen to it dat Ah wasn’t taken. Ah don’t see how come mah milk didn’t kill mah chile, wid me so skeered and worried all de time. De noise uh de owls skeered me; de limbs of dem cypress trees took to crawlin’ and movin’ round after dark, and two three times Ah heered panthers prowlin’ round. But nothin’ never hurt me ’cause de Lawd knowed how it was.
“Den, one night Ah heard de big guns boomin’ lak thunder. It kept up all night long. Ahd de next mornin’ Ah could see uh big ship at a distance and a great stirrin’ round. So Ah wrapped Leafy up in moss and fixed her good in a tree and picked mah way on down to de landin’. The men was all in blue, and Ah heard people say Sherman was comin’ to meet de boats in Savannah, and all of us slaves was free. So Ah run got mah baby and got in quotation wid people and found a place Ah could stay.
“But it was a long time after dat befo’ de Big Surrender at Richmond. Den de big bell ring in Atlanta and all de men in gray uniforms had to go to Moultrie, and bury their swords in de ground to show they was never to fight about slavery no mo’. So den we knowed we was free.
“Ah wouldn’t marry nobody, though Ah could have uh heap uh times, cause Ah didn’t want nobody mistreating mah baby. So Ah got with some good white people and come down here in West Florida to work and make de sun shine on both sides of de street for Leafy.
“Mah Madam help me wid her just lak she been doin’ wid you. Ah put her in school when it got so it was a school to put her in. Ah was ’spectin’ to make a school teacher outa her.
“But one day she didn’t come home at de usual time and Ah waited and waited, but she never come all dat night. Ah took a lantern and went round askin’ everybody but nobody ain’t seen her. De next mornin’ she come crawlin’ in on her hands and knees. A sight to see. Dat school teacher had done hid her in de woods all night long, and he had done raped mah baby and run on off just before day.
“She was only seventeen, and somethin’ lak dat to happen! Lawd a’mussy! Look lak Ah kin see it all over again. It was a long time before she was well, and by dat time we knowed you was on de way. And after you was born she took to drinkin’ likker and stayin’ out nights. Couldn’t git her to stay here and nowhere else. Lawd knows where she is right now. She ain’t dead, ’cause Ah’d know it by mah feelings, but sometimes Ah wish she was at rest.
“And, Janie, maybe it wasn’t much, but Ah done de best Ah kin by you. Ah raked and scraped and bought dis lil piece uh land so you wouldn’t have to stay in de white folks’ yard and tuck yo’ head befo’ other chillun at school. Dat was all right when you was little. But when you got big enough to understand things, Ah wanted you to look upon yo’self. Ah don’t want yo’ feathers always crumpled by folks throwin’ up things in yo’ face. And Ah can’t die easy thinkin’ maybe de menfolks white or black is makin’ a spit-cup outa you: Have some sympathy fuh me. Put me down easy, Janie, Ah’m a cracked plate.”
The most influential and insightful piece of text, in my opinion, occurs in chapter two when Nanny states, “Have some sympathy for me. Put me down easy Janie, Ah’m a cracked plate.” after providing insight into her past to Janie, as well as the audience. This statement provided by Nanny allows for the audience to develop a deeper understanding as to why she is being, what seemed to be, so unreasonable to Janie when she kissed a boy. We as an audience are able to develop sympathy for Nanny’s perseverance through her difficult and unfair life as a sexually abused slave. This newfound appreciation for Nanny as a character allows for the reader to consider whether Nanny’s true intentions for Janie are actually valid and not so ridiculous as they seemed at first.
3
There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Janie had had no chance to know things, so she had to ask. Did marriage end the cosmic loneliness of the unmated? Did marriage compel love like the sun the day?
In the few days to live before she went to Logan Killicks and his often-mentioned sixty acres, Janie asked inside of herself and out. She was back and forth to the pear tree continuously wondering and thinking. Finally out of Nanny’s talk and her own conjectures she made a sort of comfort for herself. Yes, she would love Logan after they were married. She could see no way for it to come about, but Nanny and the old folks had said it, so it must be so. Husbands and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage meant. It was just so. Janie felt glad of the thought, for then it wouldn’t seem so destructive and mouldy. She wouldn’t be lonely anymore.
The pear tree keeps coming up in the text over and over again. I believe the tree is a symbol for love in Janie’s life. Earlier in the novel, the narrator describes her wishing to be the bloom as she is talking about love and marriage. Then later, she says that the idea of marrying Logan Killicks is destroying her mental pear tree. Her love is like a pear tree to her.
Janie and Logan got married in Nanny’s parlor of a Saturday evening with three cakes and big platters of fried rabbit and chicken. Everything to eat in abundance. Nanny and Mrs. Washburn had seen to that. But nobody put anything on the seat of Logan’s wagon to make it ride glorious on the way to his house. It was a lonesome place like a stump in the middle of the woods where nobody had ever been. The house was absent of flavor, too. But anyhow Janie went on inside to wait for love to begin. The new moon had been up and down three times before she got worried in mind. Then she went to see Nanny in Mrs. Washburn’s kitchen on the day for beaten biscuits.
Nanny beamed all out with gladness and made her come up to the bread board so she could kiss her.
“Lawd a’mussy, honey, Ah sho is glad tuh see mah chile! G’wan inside and let Mis’ Washburn know youse heah. Umph! Umph! Umph! How is dat husband uh yourn?”
Janie didn’t go in where Mrs. Washburn was. She didn’t say anything to match up with Nanny’s gladness either. She just fell on a chair with her hips and sat there. Between the biscuits and her beaming pride Nanny didn’t notice for a minute. But after a while she found the conversation getting lonesome so she looked up at Janie.
“Whut’s de matter, sugar? You ain’t none too spry dis mornin’.”
“Oh, nothin’ much, Ah reckon. Ah come to get a lil information from you.”
The old woman looked amazed, then gave a big clatter of laughter. “Don’t tell me you done got knocked up already, less see—dis Saturday it’s two month and two weeks.”
“No’m, Ah don’t think so anyhow.” Janie blushed a little.
“You ain’t got nothin’ to be shamed of, honey, youse uh married ’oman. You got yo’ lawful husband same as Mis’ Washburn or anybody else!”
“Ah’m all right dat way. Ah know ’tain’t nothin’ dere.”
“You and Logan been fussin’? Lawd, Ah know dat grassgut, liver-lipted nigger ain’t done took and beat mah baby already! Ah’ll take a stick and salivate ’im!”
“No’m, he ain’t even talked ’bout hittin’ me. He says he never mean to lay de weight uh his hand on me in malice. He chops all de wood he think Ah wants and den he totes it inside de kitchen for me. Keeps both water buckets full.”
“Humph! don’t ’spect all dat tuh keep up. He ain’t kissin’ yo’ mouf when he carry on over yuh lak dat. He’s kissin’ yo’ foot and ’tain’t in uh man tuh kiss foot long. Mouf kissin’ is on uh equal and dat’s natural but when dey got to bow down tuh love, dey soon straightens up.”
“Yes’m.”
“Well, if he do all dat whut you come in heah wid uh face long as mah arm for?”
“ ’Cause you told me Ah mus gointer love him, and, and Ah don’t. Maybe if somebody was to tell me how, Ah could do it.”
“You come heah wid yo’ mouf full uh foolishness on uh busy day. Heah you got uh prop tuh lean on all yo’ bawn days, and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis’ Killicks, and you come worryin’ me ’bout love.”
“But Nanny, Ah wants to want him sometimes. Ah don’t want him to do all de wantin’.”
“If you don’t want him, you sho oughta. Heah you is wid de onliest organ in town, amongst colored folks, in yo’ parlor. Got a house bought and paid for and sixty acres uh land right on de big road and. . . . Lawd have mussy! Dat’s de very prong all us black women gits hung on. Dis love! Dat’s just whut’s got us uh pullin’ and uh haulin’ and sweatin’ and doin’ from can’t see in de mornin’ till can’t see at night. Dat’s how come de ole folks say dat bein’ uh fool don’t kill nobody. It jus’ makes you sweat. Ah betcha you wants some dressed up dude dat got to look at de sole of his shoe everytime he cross de street tuh see whether he got enough leather dere tuh make it across. You can buy and sell such as dem wid what you got. In fact you can buy ’em and give ’em away.”
“Ah ain’t studyin’ ’bout none of ’em. At de same time Ah ain’t takin’ dat ole land tuh heart neither. Ah could throw ten acres of it over de fence every day and never look back to see where it fell. Ah feel de same way ’bout Mr. Killicks too. Some folks never was meant to be loved and he’s one of ’em.”
“How come?”
“ ’Cause Ah hates de way his head is so long one way and so flat on de sides and dat pone uh fat back uh his neck.”
“He never made his own head. You talk so silly.”
“Ah don’t keer who made it, Ah don’t like de job. His belly is too big too, now, and his toe-nails look lak mule foots. And ’tain’t nothin’ in de way of him washin’ his feet every evenin’ before he comes tuh bed. ’Tain’t nothin’ tuh hinder him ’cause Ah places de water for him. Ah’d ruther be shot wid tacks than tuh turn over in de bed and stir up de air whilst he is in dere. He don’t even never mention nothin’ pretty.”
She began to cry.
“Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think. Ah. . . .”
“ ’Tain’t no use in you cryin’, Janie. Grandma done been long uh few roads herself. But folks is meant to cry ’bout somethin’ or other. Better leave things de way dey is. Youse young yet. No tellin’ whut mout happen befo’ you die. Wait awhile, baby. Yo’ mind will change.”
In the previous sentence Grandma says, “Tain’t no use in you cyrin’, Janie.” But she then says that people are meant to cry about something and that Grandma herself has had her struggles. Maybe Grandma found herself in a similar situation and Janie is obviously having a hard time adjusting.
Nanny sent Janie along with a stern mien, but she dwindled all the rest of the day as she worked. And when she gained the privacy of her own little shack she stayed on her knees so long she forgot she was there herself. There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought. Nanny entered this infinity of conscious pain again on her old knees. Towards morning she muttered, “Lawd, you know mah heart. Ah done de best Ah could do. De rest is left to you.” She scuffled up from her knees and fell heavily across the bed. A month later she was dead.
So Janie waited a bloom time, and a green time and an orange time. But when the pollen again gilded the sun and sifted down on the world she began to stand around the gate and expect things. What things? She didn’t know exactly. Her breath was gusty and short. She knew things that nobody had ever told her. For instance, the words of the trees and the wind. She often spoke to falling seeds and said, “Ah hope you fall on soft ground,” because she had heard seeds saying that to each other as they passed. She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether. She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making. The familiar people and things had failed her so she hung over the gate and looked up the road towards way off. She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.
4
Long before the year was up, Janie noticed that her husband had stopped talking in rhymes to her. He had ceased to wonder at her long black hair and finger it. Six months back he had told her, “If Ah kin haul de wood heah and chop it fuh yuh, look lak you oughta be able tuh tote it inside. Mah fust wife never bothered me ’bout choppin’ no wood nohow. She’d grab dat ax and sling chips lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten.”
Janie was sad about her husband was not as sweet to her as he used to be and he was complaining about her not being as much as a help as his last wife. This not a good sign for their marriage and was foreshadowing their separation.
So Janie had told him, “Ah’m just as stiff as you is stout. If you can stand not to chop and tote wood Ah reckon you can stand not to git no dinner. ’Scuse mah freezolity, Mist’ Killicks, but Ah don’t mean to chop de first chip.”
“Aw you know Ah’m gwine chop de wood fuh yuh. Even if you is stingy as you can be wid me. Yo’ Grandma and me myself done spoilt yuh now, and Ah reckon Ah have tuh keep on wid it.”
One morning soon he called her out of the kitchen to the barn. He had the mule all saddled at the gate.
“Looka heah, LilBit, help me out some. Cut up dese seed taters fuh me. Ah got tuh go step off a piece.”
“Where you goin’?”
“Over tuh Lake City tuh see uh man about uh mule.”
“Whut you need two mules fuh? Lessen you aims to swap off dis one.”
“Naw, Ah needs two mules dis yeah. Taters is goin’ tuh be taters in de fall. Bringin’ big prices. Ah aims tuh run two plows, and dis man Ah’m talkin’ ’bout is got uh mule all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle ’im.”
Logan held his wad of tobacco real still in his jaw like a thermometer of his feelings while he studied Janie’s face and waited for her to say something.
“So Ah thought Ah mout as well go see.” He tagged on and swallowed to kill time but Janie said nothing except, “Ah’ll cut de p’taters fuh yuh. When yuh comin’ back?”
“Don’t know exactly. Round dust dark Ah reckon. It’s uh sorta long trip—specially if Ah hafter lead one on de way back.”
When Janie had finished indoors she sat down in the barn with the potatoes. But springtime reached her in there so she moved everything to a place in the yard where she could see the road. The noon sun filtered through the leaves of the fine oak tree where she sat and made lacy patterns on the ground. She had been there a long time when she heard whistling coming down the road.
It was a cityfied, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn’t belong in these parts. His coat was over his arm, but he didn’t need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world. He whistled, mopped his face and walked like he knew where he was going. He was a seal-brown color but he acted like Mr. Washburn or somebody like that to Janie. Where would such a man be coming from and where was he going? He didn’t look her way nor no other way except straight ahead, so Janie ran to the pump and jerked the handle hard while she pumped. It made a loud noise and also made her heavy hair fall down. So he stopped and looked hard, and then he asked her for a cool drink of water.
This sentence makes the reader think that her hair is one of her best features and later in the book John Starks makes her put her hair up so guys won’t touch it or flirt with her. It’s ironic because this is probably one of the reasons he fell for her and ends up making her put it up.
Janie pumped it off until she got a good look at the man. He talked friendly while he drank.
Joe Starks was the name, yeah Joe Starks from in and through Georgy. Been workin’ for white folks all his life. Saved up some money—round three hundred dollars, yes indeed, right here in his pocket. Kept hearin’ ’bout them buildin’ a new state down heah in Floridy and sort of wanted to come. But he was makin’ money where he was. But when he heard all about ’em makin’ a town all outa colored folks, he knowed dat was de place he wanted to be. He had always wanted to be a big voice, but de white folks had all de sayso where he come from and everywhere else, exceptin’ dis place dat colored folks was buildin’ theirselves. Dat was right too. De man dat built things oughta boss it. Let colored folks build things too if dey wants to crow over somethin’. He was glad he had his money all saved up. He meant to git dere whilst de town wuz yet a baby. He meant to buy in big. It had always been his wish and desire to be a big voice and he had to live nearly thirty years to find a chance. Where was Janie’s papa and mama?
“Dey dead, Ah reckon. Ah wouldn’t know ’bout ’em ’cause mah Grandma raised me. She dead too.”
“She dead too! Well, who’s lookin’ after a lil girl-chile lak you?”
“Ah’m married.”
“You married? You ain’t hardly old enough to be weaned. Ah betcha you still craves sugar-tits, doncher?”
“Yeah, and Ah makes and sucks ’em when de notion strikes me. Drinks sweeten’ water too.”
“Ah loves dat mahself. Never specks to get too old to enjoy syrup sweeten’ water when it’s cools and nice.”
“Us got plenty syrup in de barn. Ribbon-cane syrup. If you so desires—”
“Where yo’ husband at, Mis’ er-er.”
“Mah name is Janie Mae Killicks since Ah got married. Useter be name Janie Mae Crawford. Mah husband is gone tuh buy a mule fuh me tuh plow. He left me cuttin’ up seed p’taters.”
“You behind a plow! You ain’t got no mo’ business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday! You ain’t got no business cuttin’ up no seed p’taters neither. A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat other folks plant just special for you.”
Janie laughed and drew two quarts of syrup from the barrel and Joe Starks pumped the water bucket full of cool water. They sat under the tree and talked. He was going on down to the new part of Florida, but no harm to stop and chat. He later decided he needed a rest anyway. It would do him good to rest a week or two.
Every day after that they managed to meet in the scrub oaks across the road and talk about when he would be a big ruler of things with her reaping the benefits. Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon. He spoke for change and chance. Still she hung back. The memory of Nanny was still powerful and strong.
“Janie, if you think Ah aims to tole you off and make a dog outa you, youse wrong. Ah wants to make a wife outa you.”
“You mean dat, Joe?”
“De day you puts yo’ hand in mine, Ah wouldn’t let de sun go down on us single. Ah’m uh man wid principles. You ain’t never knowed what it was to be treated lak a lady and Ah wants to be de one tuh show yuh. Call me Jody lak you do sometime.”
Joe expresses his interest in Janie and wants to make her his wife. Janie is immediately drawn to him and considers it.
“Jody,” she smiled up at him, “but s’posin’—”
“Leave de s’posin’ and everything else to me. Ah’ll be down dis road uh little after sun-up tomorrow mornin’ to wait for you. You come go wid me. Den all de rest of yo’ natural life you kin live lak you oughta. Kiss me and shake yo’ head. When you do dat, yo’ plentiful hair breaks lak day.”
Janie debated the matter that night in bed.
“Logan, you ’sleep?”
“If Ah wuz, you’d be done woke me up callin’ me.”
“Ah wuz thinkin’ real hard about us; about you and me.”
“It’s about time. Youse powerful independent around here sometime considerin’.”
“Considerin’ whut for instance?”
“Considerin’ youse born in a carriage ’thout no top to it, and yo’ mama and you bein’ born and raised in de white folks back-yard.”
“You didn’t say all dat when you wuz begging Nanny for me to marry you.”
“Ah thought you would ’preciate good treatment. Thought Ah’d take and make somethin’ outa yuh. You think youse white folks by de way you act.”
“S’posin’ Ah wuz to run off and leave yuh sometime.”
There! Janie had put words in his held-in fears. She might run off sure enough. The thought put a terrible ache in Logan’s body, but he thought it best to put on scorn.
“Ah’m gettin’ sleepy, Janie. Let’s don’t talk no mo’. ’Tain’t too many mens would trust yuh, knowin’ yo’ folks lak dey do.”
“Ah might take and find somebody dat did trust me and leave yuh.”
“Shucks! ’Tain’t no mo’ fools lak me. A whole lot of mens will grin in yo’ face, but dey ain’t gwine tuh work and feed yuh. You won’t git far and you won’t be long, when dat big gut reach over and grab dat little one, you’ll be too glad to come back here.”
“You don’t take nothin’ to count but sow-belly and cornbread.”
“Ah’m sleepy. Ah don’t aim to worry mah gut into a fiddle-string wid no s’posin’.” He flopped over resentful in his agony and pretended sleep. He hoped that he had hurt her as she had hurt him.
Janie got up with him the next morning and had the breakfast halfway done when he bellowed from the barn.
“Janie!” Logan called harshly. “Come help me move dis manure pile befo’ de sun gits hot. You don’t take a bit of interest in dis place. ’Tain’t no use in foolin’ round in dat kitchen all day long.”
Janie walked to the door with the pan in her hand still stirring the cornmeal dough and looked towards the barn. The sun from ambush was threatening the world with red daggers, but the shadows were gray and solid-looking around the barn. Logan with his shovel looked like a black bear doing some clumsy dance on his hind legs.
“You don’t need mah help out dere, Logan. Youse in yo’ place and Ah’m in mine.”
“You ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever Ah need yuh. Git uh move on yuh, and dat quick.”
“Mah mamma didn’t tell me Ah wuz born in no hurry. So whut business Ah got rushin’ now? Anyhow dat ain’t whut youse mad about. Youse mad ’cause Ah don’t fall down and wash-up dese sixty acres uh ground yuh got. You ain’t done me no favor by marryin’ me. And if dat’s what you call yo’self doin’, Ah don’t thank yuh for it. Youse mad ’cause Ah’m tellin’ yuh whut you already knowed.”
Logan dropped his shovel and made two or three clumsy steps towards the house, then stopped abruptly.
“Don’t you change too many words wid me dis mawnin’, Janie, do Ah’ll take and change ends wid yuh! Heah, Ah just as good as take you out de white folks’ kitchen and set you down on yo’ royal diasticutis and you take and low-rate me! Ah’ll take holt uh dat ax and come in dere and kill yuh! You better dry up in dere! Ah’m too honest and hard-workin’ for anybody in yo’ family, dat’s de reason you don’t want me!” The last sentence was half a sob and half a cry. “Ah guess some low-lifed nigger is grinnin’ in yo’ face and lyin’ tuh yuh. God damn yo’ hide!”
Her words really got to him and hurt him so much , I still believe she shouldn’t be with someone she doesn’t love though
As we first me Mr.Killicks, we saw him as a very nice man who “would never lay a finger” on Janie as long as he was alive. However, as the novel moves along, we begin Killicks as someone different due to the many different things he is saying to Janie in just a day or two before when Janie decides to leaves him.
Janie turned from the door without answering, and stood still in the middle of the floor without knowing it. She turned wrongside out just standing there and feeling. When the throbbing calmed a little she gave Logan’s speech a hard thought and placed it beside other things she had seen and heard. When she had finished with that she dumped the dough on the skillet and smoothed it over with her hand. She wasn’t even angry. Logan was accusing her of her mamma, her grandmama and her feelings, and she couldn’t do a thing about any of it. The sow-belly in the pan needed turning. She flipped it over and shoved it back. A little cold water in the coffee pot to settle it. Turned the hoe-cake with a plate and then made a little laugh. What was she losing so much time for? A feeling of sudden newness and change came over her. Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good.
The morning road air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet. After that she came to where Joe Starks was waiting for her with a hired rig. He was very solemn and helped her to the seat beside him. With him on it, it sat like some high, ruling chair. From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom. Her old thoughts were going to come in handy now, but new words would have to be made and said to fit them.
I think that Janie realized the thing that was holding her back from experiencing what she has always wanted. The apron that she wears everyday, she just noticed she was wearing it. I think this is her letting go and walking into the unknown of her new life.
“Green Cove Springs,” he told the driver. So they were married there before sundown, just like Joe had said. With new clothes of silk and wool.
They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged.
I really love these types of lines in books because I can really paint a picture in my head while reading them. When the author said she “saw the sun plunge into the earth” I could really imagine that image.
The author yet again attempts to let the reader create an image, in his or her head, of the many possible settings there are.
General Document Comments 0
icons on the left to see existing comments.
0 archived comments