In this book men are in control. Their dreams are to get rich, own land, and lead societies. Especially the men portrayed in this book. Successful black men were a rare sight in these times. Many "sailed forever on the horizon" watching from a distance, dreaming that someday they would dock there ships and follow their dreams. But time does not go on forever, men who sit back and wait for there ships to dock themselves never fulfill the dreams they aspire to. They have to take action, just as Joe Starks does when he builds Eatonville into an actual town. He is a man who "came in with the tide", but with power comes too much pride, and men begin to think they are in control of everything and everyone because they have more money than everybody else, and they started something that became great.
2.) "Now, woman forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget."
Women, like Janie for example, have a tendency to overlook reality. Janie as a young girl believes passionately in love, she thinks that love happens for everyone, and even if you don't love someone to begin with, you will learn to love them. Which is true for some people, but for most that love does not or ever will exist. Women hold those ideas close to them, and refuse to believe that they are wrong, especially when they are young. They set aside reality, and believe in things that are most of the time impossible.
3.) "The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky."
Although this line is referring to the sunset, there is also symbolism to the relationship that just ended between Tea Cake and Janie. The sun is referred to as a he, which means that the sun is Tea Cake, and sunset represents the relationship between the two characters that had just ended. Although the sun is setting and there relationship has ended, Janie still has strong feelings for this man. He has left his footprints on her heart, and her feelings for him haven't completely set yet.
4.) "What she doin coming back here in dem overhalls? Can't she find no dress to put on?"
Women were supposed to be in the kitchen, wearing dresses, and doing what their husbands told them to do. But Janie, is not like the rest of the women, she has trouble being controlled, and she doesn't think that she has to be a trophy wife, or a house wife. Janie is rebelling against what is expected of her, rather than wearing a dress she wears overalls because she can, but her wardrobe causes concern for the people of Eatonville, whom she crosses. It is mostly the old folks, who sit at the store gossiping and telling stories, they do not understand because they are an older generation, some probably were slaves, and they are used to having certain roles and sticking to them.
5.) "The men noticed her firm buttocks like she had grape fruits in her hip pocket;"
Even though Janie is dressed in Overalls, rather than a dress, and she is dirty from working, the men still looked at her like she was a piece of meat. So even though she dresses like a man, she is still degraded down to nothing. It was possible that Janie was trying to send a message by her wardrobe, that she wasn't gonna be like every other woman, but in the end she was treated like any other woman, men still looked at her with lust.
6.) "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."
7.) "An envious heart makes a treacherous ear."
8.) "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."
Janie's life is like a tree, it started at a root, and eventually, after years of longing bloomed into a beautiful tree. But it was not as she expected it was going to be. She thought that when she blooms she would experience love right away, and she didn't consider what reality had in store for her. But after she bloomed she realized how hard life was, love did not come to her as easy if at all, and the branches that made up her tree were not quite as full and green as she had once hoped. She suffered through two marriages that both were considered failed marriages, one man she did not love at all, and the other man felt the need to control her every move. Although Janie had a better fate then most black women of this time, her tree still did not feel fully bloomed.
9.) "Oh to be a pear tree- any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world!"
While Janie was still a young girl she would lie under a pear tree dreaming of love. Like many teenagers she actually believed that true love existed, so she spent her days imagining her life after she "bloomed" and became a women, experiencing the love that she always hoped for. She hoped that one day she would bloom, and be as beautiful as a pear tree. And she would be able to tell stories about the love she experienced, but Janie officially became a woman when she realized how unrealistic all those dreams were.
10.) "Nanny's words made Janie's kiss across the gatepost seem like a manure pile after a rain."
What seemed like such a special moment for Janies was soon crushed by Nanny's harsh, yet completely true words. Nanny believed in practical relationships, rather than loving ones. She wanted Janie to get married to a man with money, who would take good care of her, she wanted her to have a relationship with a lot of stability. When she saw Janie kissing the low life boy, she realized that she didn't have much life left, and she needed Janie to get married so she wasn't alone and on her own. Janie wasn't looking for a loveless relationship though, she never needed money to be happy.
11.) "So de white man thrown down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick up."
This is an example of the racism that lies within this book. It also aludes to the slavery that Nanny experienced in her lifetime. The black men, although had control of their own people, did not have nearly as much control as the white man. They simply worked for them, and did whatever they said. The relationship between a white man and a black man during this time could be compared to the relationship between a man and a woman. The woman did everything their husbands told them to, or else they were beat. Sound familiar? Well if a slave did not do what their master told them to they were severely punished.
12.) "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!"
Black women are at the bottom of the pyramid at this time. Not only do they suffer the hardships of racism, but they also must suffer the hardhsips of being a woman in a man controlled society. Men are the same no matter what color, they need the power, and they feed off of control. Who better to control than there own wives. It is women, like Janie who have the ability to do that. Janie has dreams, and she doesn't feel the need to stick with something that she doesn't believe in. Leaving her two unhappy marriages are prime examples of that. Most women would stay with their husbands, even if they were unhappy, but Janie had the power to walk away. Which means she has the power to make a change, and Nanny sees that.
13.) "Look lak she been livin' through uh hundred years in January without one day of spring."
The master's wife is cold, and it shown through her expression and her body language. Now that her husband has left for war, she is able to act on her anger. If he were there she wouldn't be able to say anything to him, because he's the boss, and there would be consequences for her acting out like that. It is obvious to her that, the slave woman (nanny) had relations with her husband, and it makes her very angry. It was wrong for any black person to sleep with a white person during the time of slavery, so the fact that the master slept with nanny probably made his wife feel very insecure. Because she considered herself so much better than any black person. Insecurity can cause a woman to go completely mad, and as for this woman it caused her to beat Nanny, and planned to kill her with 100 whips.
14.) "and make de sun shine on both sides of de street for Leafy."
Nanny wanted a good life for leafy, unfortunatly Leafy was dealt and unlucky card, and the rape she experienced caused her to go off the deep end. The man who raped her, ruined her life, and lead to her death, and he didn't have a care in the world. A lot of men during this time raped women, and beat them, treating them like they were nothing. Nanny watched as her daughter fell apart, and she did not want that to happen to her granbaby. Leafys name could represent how she is a fallen leaf, the slightest trauma made her fall from her mother tree, and eventually fall to the ground losing her life.
15.) "Ah'm a cracked plate."
Nanny is old, and has lived through slavery, and several more terrible things. She is not absolutely perfect, and much like a cracked plate, she can go on for so long but she will eventually shatter, and have no more use. She knows that her time is coming, and she is preparing Janie for that. Going through so many experiences she has learned the truth about love, and unlike her granddaughter, she believes in practical relationships.
16.) "There are years that ask questions and years that answer."
For the most part, people spend there beginning years creating dreams, and hoping they will eventually come true, but as you get older, all those questions you ask yourself like, when am i going to find love? or how i am going to be successful? Are answered, and it is usually not the answer you are expecting. Janie wondered when she would find love, and then she figured out that she may never actually find the love that she is seeking.
17.) "But Nanny, Ah wants to want him sometimes. Ah don't want him to do all de wantin'."
Janie doesn't want to be in just a normal practical relationship. She though that is she married Logan, that she would eventually learn to love him but she never did. Which made her feel lonely, which is a major theme of this book. Even if you are a married, a relationship without love is a very lonely one. Janie doesn't want to be lonely at all, she fears it. Logan treats Janie right, he doesn't hit her, he has money for her, but that's not enough for her. Those things aren't as important to her, all she wants is to want him.
18.) "So Janie waited a bloom time, and a green time and an orange time."
Seasons are a very important central symbol to this book. The bloom time is the spring, and it also represents growth, and rebirth, its when girls bloom into women, and they start discovering reality. It could be argued to be the season of love, because new relationships are forming, but as the summer goes on (the green time) young girls begin to realize that love is a rare thing. They aren't going to grow up and magically find love. The orange time represent the fall, when the leaves begin to fall and the weather starts to get colder, trees that were once fully bloomed and filled with spring/summer colors begin to die, just as peoples spirits, and happiness begins to die, and prepare themselves for the long cold winter.
19.) "She's uh woman and her place is in de home."
Joe does not want Janie to make a speech, he is a very old fashioned man. He believes that the husband needs to control his wife, and the women need to be cleaning and in the kitchen and doing what their husbands tell them to do. Janie, although not planning on making a speech, was still upset that her husband shut down her option so quickly. All that Janie wants is to simply have options, she doesn't want to be controlled, she won't say anything to her husband about it but it is possible that one day she will leave just like she did her first husband. When she trys to stand up for herself she gets yelled at, so she chooses a different route.
20.) "A feeling of coldness and fear took hold of her. She felt far away from things and lonely."
Being lonely is the exact opposite of what Janie wants, in her eyes loneliness is the exact opposite of love. And all she ever wanted was a loving relationship. So her being lonely means that she is in an unhappy relationship, again, which is obvious in the text. Being young, Janie not only wants a loving relationship but she want's a passionate one, and she wants to have some say in what she does. She doesn't want to follow the role of a normal woman.
Anna - for the most part, good entries! But, what about 6? and 7? You have quotes but nothing else.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the depth of 3, 4, and 18. Note in #4 - overalls are also a "man" clothes. She's wearing the pants now. Or, she's on an equal footing with all the men in town.