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Chapter 3 Plot

• Janie was worried about love and marriage

• Janie followed Nanny’s advice rather than her own heart

• Janie married Logan as Nanny wanted and moved in with Logan on the farm

• Janie struggled in her marriage since she didn’t love Logan

• Nanny told Janie that love would come if she stayed with Logan long enough

• Nanny reassured Janie that she had the best man in town and shouldn’t want a

different man who wasn’t wealthy enough to care for her

• Janie told Nanny she didn’t love Logan because he was ugly and began to cry

• Nanny sent Janie back to Logan’s and slowly became weaker

• Nanny prayed for Janie

• Nanny revealed her motivation for Janie: to not feel the pain she had

• Nanny died a month later

• Janie stayed with Logan for a year then began waiting at the fence by the road

• Janie realized that her marriage wouldn’t ever make love like Nanny told her and

became a woman when her first dream died

Chapter 4 Plot

• Logan stopped putting in effort to make the relationship romantic

• Logan wanted Janie to begin working on the farm with him like his last wife

• Janie noticed a nice dressed man on the road while Logan was away

• The man saw Janie pumping water (she was trying to get his attention) and asked for a

drink

• The man was Joe Starks who planned to use his $300 to lead an all-black community

• Joe delayed his journey, telling Janie she wasn’t meant to do hard labor

• He visited Janie repeatedly and eventually asked her to be his wife and go off with him

• Janie confronted Logan in bed where she threatened to leave after he said she was

raised with privilege

• Logan told her no one else would treat her as good and attempted to use his sixty acres

and work ethic as power over Janie

• Logan commanded Janie to help him work but she said her place was in the kitchen

• Logan said Janie’s place was where he said it was and threatened to kill her, as he was

clearly hurt by her rejection

• Janie claimed Logan hadn’t done anything for her

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Metaphor and Symbol List

Ships and Sea = Difficult concepts and challenges

Horizon = Unattainable goals

Time = The ruler of all

Janie’s WORLD = PERCEIVED LIMITATIONS

Feet = Mobility, social and literal

Eyes = Clarity

The Sun = Men

Hair = Janie’s power over others

Mule-fur-Skin = subjugation

God = Social expectations

Dreams and Wishes = Feelings, often relative to soul

Mouths

,

,

kisses, laughter

,

,

and a

dish = Lip service

Darkness = Self

Nature = Love, or one’s conception

Chicken/bird/feather/plume/wing/rooster = undervalued individuals

Sweets = Emptiness

Dawg/Dog = Animal insitincts

Blood = Connection

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Chapter 3 Metaphors and Symbols

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Did MARRIAGE end the cosmicloneliness 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” (21).

“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” (21).

“But nobody put of Logan's WAGON to make it ride glorious on the way to HIS HOUSE. It was a place like a in the middle of the woods” (21).

“The HOUSE was absent of flavor, too” (22).

“The new moon had been up and down three times (two months and two weeks) 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!” (22).

“But after a while she found the conversation getting so she looked up at Janie. "whut's de matter, sugar? You ain't none too spry dis mornin'" (22).

“The old woman looked amazed, then gave a big clatter of laughter” (22).

"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!" (22).

"You and Logan been fussin'? Lawd, Ah know dat grassgut, liver-lipted nigger ain't done took and beat mah baby already!” (22).

“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 kissfoot long. Mouf kissin' is on uh equal and dat's natural but when dey got to BOW DOWNtuh love, dey soon STRAIGHTENS UP" (23).

"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" (23).

“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

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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” (23).

“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” (24).

“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” (24).

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” (24).

“Nanny sent Janie along with a stern mien, but she dwindled all the rest of the day as she worked” (24). “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 thoughtuntouched 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” (24).

“So Janie waited a bloomtime, and a greentime and an orangetime. But when the pollen again gilded

the sun and sifted down on THE WORLD she began to STAND around the GATE and expect things.” (25) “Her breath was gusty and short” (25).

“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 heardseedssaying 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 , so she became a woman” (25).

Chapter 4 Metaphors and Symbols

“Long before the year was up, Janie noticed that her husband had stopped talking in rhymes to her. He had at her long black hair and finger it” (26).

“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’" (26).

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‘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’” (27).

“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” (27).

“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’” (27).

“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.” (27) “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” (27).

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” (27).

“Janie pumped it off until she got a good look at the man” (28).

“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” (28). “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” (28). “’Ah betcha you still craves sugar-tits, doncher?" "Yeah, and Ah makes and sucks 'em when de notion strikes me. Drinks sweeten' water too’” (28).

“’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’” (28).

“‘Mah husband is gone tuh buy a mule fuh me tuh plow. He left me cuttin' up seed p'taters’” (29). “’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” (29).

“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” (29).

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“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” (29).

“’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’” (29).

“"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’” (29).

“’Ah'll be down dis ROAD uh little after sunup 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’" (29 – 30).

“Janie debated the matter that night in bed.

“’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’” (30).

“’You think youse white folks by de way you act’” (30).

“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” (30).

“’A whole lot of mens will grin in yo' face, but dey ain't gwine tuh work and feed yuh’” (30).

“He flopped over resentful in his agony and pretended sleep. He hoped that he had hurt her as she had hurt him” (31).

“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’” (31). “’Tain't no use in foolin' round in dat KITCHEN all day long’” (31).

“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” (31).

“’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’” (31).

“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!’” (31).

“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!" Janie turned from the door , and STOOD still in

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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” (32).

“Turned the hoecake with a plate and then made a little laugh. What was she losing so much time for?” (32).

“Janie hurried out of the FRONT GATE and turned south” (32). “The morning ROAD air was like a new dress” (32)

“She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the ROAD and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet” (32).

“With him on IT (THE “HIRED RIG”/“CARRIAGE”), it SAT like some HIGH, RULING CHAIR” (32).

“From now on until death she was going to have flowerdust and springtimesprinkled 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” (32).

“’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

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Chapter 3 Describing Maps

Nanny:

Sinking: To fall or drop to a lower level, especially to go down slowly or in stages; Nanny represents the old perspective of the world for black women and its slowly changing beliefs system; being at the bottom, it is difficult to see herself or anyone else like her rising to the top.

Metaphor and Symbolism

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Did MARRIAGE end the cosmicloneliness of the unmated? Did MARRIAGE compel love like the sun the day?” (21).

“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” (21).

"You and Logan been fussin'? Lawd, Ah know dat grassgut, liver-lipted nigger ain't done took and beat mah baby already!” (22).

“Nanny sent Janie along with a stern mien, but she dwindled all the rest of the day as she worked” (24). “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 thoughtuntouched 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” (24).

“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” (32). The personification of time here parallels Janie’s relationship with nature, as, according to the

omniscient narrator, there is a conversation centered around love and growth. Janie feels the need for a connection to another human, ultimately stemming from her belief that, as it is in nature, all things are connected, even cosmically beyond our physical understanding. As “marriage” is representative of an old system of governance, the relationship between it and love is the greatest concern, and, as Janie is still learning, she hopes love is destined to follow this great commitment. However, it is implied through the symbol of light and day being equivalent to men’s rule that Janie will not be satisfied with it, and she must explore the darkness of night to find self-love and the love of another that might be waiting beyond it.

Janie’s marriage is by Nanny’s design, along with help from Mrs. Washburn. This makes the point that Nanny is abiding by the rules of her former rulers. “Everything…in abundance” is repeated with Logan Killicks, creating the feeling that quantity supersedes quality according to the rules of society. None of it adds up to what Janie naturally craves: love.

Nanny could be considered to be stowed in the rear of someone else’s—not Janie’s—ship. She appeared to be a ruler, as she was able to dismiss Janie without words, but she had “dwindled” with “the day,” which is comparable to men’s unchallenged rule over women, even whites over blacks. She persisted in marrying off Janie to protect her, but in the process, she changed Janie, potentially for the worse,

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though the argument is that Janie needed to experience her own struggles relative to Nanny’s long journey. As a “basin” can be a reference to a body of water that is connected to the sea and is partially or almost completely enclosed by land, Nanny’s beliefs kept her in a small compartment near a view of the horizon, though she had neither set one for herself nor Janie, who would be the one adjacent to the sea. A basin may also be a washbowl or sink, a tool Nanny spent much of her time utilizing, cleaning for others; Janie saw this relative to her place at Logan’s house and was willing to fill that role, though Logan was looking to make a mule off her more literally than Nanny and most other black women— aside from his first wife—had been. However, as one delves deeper into the text, “a gulf” is a large area of a sea or ocean partially enclosed by land, especially a long landlocked portion of sea opening through a strait, as well as a wide gap, as in understanding, showing that Nanny, despite potentially considering something different where “words float around on thought,” just out of reach, was unable—even unwilling—to reach out for anything different from what she has known, as these “formless feelings” have been “untouched by thought,” as well as light, never setting sail. Her “infinity of conscious pain” referred to her servility where she has spent her entire life on her “knees,” ruled and abused by white men and women, she continued to believe the only way was to stay on-board with the rules of white society, as she could not stand up to look past her painful memories to broader horizons.

When Janie is just “standing” and “throbbing” she is being forced to confront her feelings, which are “wrongside out” because one should be guarded in the real world, with the information that Nanny has given her. Similar to Nanny, she places this information in a “basin” to be considered later. She is learning from her elders and experiences, but she is not going to just take it lying down.

Janie:

Intuitive: Being impulsive or naturally inclined to act without thought or conscious effort. Janie is connected to the natural world around her through her feelings and observations.

“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” (21).

“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 heardseedssaying 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” (25).

Metaphor, Symbolism, and Irony

Clearly Janie feels the marriage to Killicks will be a great change, as she looked to embrace “the few days to live” before being trapped in the great deal of property within which she would be owned. Once again, “inside…and out” are referenced as she weighs information from her feelings and the teachings of society, never fully being convinced by either at this stage of her life. She still favors her own nature, though.

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Janie is contrasted with Nanny heavily through this chapter, as her beliefs come from her natural instincts. Her connection to nature is a result of her freedoms growing up. Her interactions with the natural world can be seen as an intimate relationship, even with dialogue, appearing only one-sided to the audience, but, nevertheless, it is impactful as “seeds” represent the potential beginning of new growth, which she believes needs to be nurtured as she had been before her forced marriage. Her knowledge is a result of her desires, which can also be known as wishful thinking or naivety. Yet she “knew” the world was an adult male horse that has not been castrated, especially one kept for breeding, or a man regarded as virile and sexually active, “rolling in the blue pasture of ether.” This insight appears to me an amalgam of her own observations and the world within which Nanny tried to place her as safely as possible, “on soft ground.” The male horse appears to be on its back, scratching itself in the heavens. This ethereal image of a heavenly field meant to sustain this virile animal reveals a feeling of susceptibility and divinity from Janie’s perspective. The itch is a reference to that which motivates men, an unavoidable truth for women to often only endure. The power to deconstruct and rebuild is divine by nature, and Janie’s beliefs are clearly in competition between night and day. The “gray dust” of this destruction clouds the image prior to the light of men revealing the world as it is, and Janie desires to see it herself as the social structure of society appears contradictory to a female’s ability to create life. She has indeed learned that traditional marriage is not the seed to start a healthy relationship with oneself, another, and God, marking her germination as a woman.

Logan Killicks:

Hideous: 1. horrible or frightful to the senses; repulsive. 2. shocking or revolting to the moral sense. Killicks’ only attractive qualities are his work ethic and property, neither or which impress Janie. “…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” (23 - 4). “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” (24).

“The sun from ambush was threatening THE WORLD with red daggers, but the shadows were gray and solid-looking around the barn” (31).

Symbolism, Metaphor, and Irony

Nanny had just described Joe Starks before he appears in the novel, accusing Janie of wanting a man who only dresses fancy, having little to no substance. Janie denied wanting that either, though we know she later prefers it to the Killicks. As Tony Lope told me, Killicks is another word for a small anchor, and he was just that for Janie. He held her back like the blade of a plow being pulled behind a mule; Janie was fighting the fitting of the saddle upon her shoulders from the start. Had she stayed with him she would have been harnessed and tilling the same plot of land for eternity. At this point in the novel, she was not the one to give the seed the “soft ground,” though she sincerely hoped for its success. The “fence” is symbolic of the trappings of the coupling with Killicks; an arranged marriage is an immoral relic of the old system or “ole land.” Janie did not want money and property, the things Nanny valued from a man, as she was looking forward to the horizon, toward change and empowerment, even if she didn’t know it at that point, and she was ready to discard Killicks and his possessions like undesirable

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weeds over a fence. There were no flowers or growing trees, only stumps in the flavorless landscape meant for nutrient-deficient potatoes. As the omniscient narrator described later, Janie saw the world as a stallion, yet Killicks was ugly and old like Matt Bonner’s mule, all of which leads to the notion that Logan and all of his possessions—of which he hoped Janie would be one—is representative of the system that victimizes black women. As feet are what carry us through our personal journeys

(remember Janie caring for hers in the opening?), Killicks’ disregard for his own—and their impact on his supposed lover—showed his narrow view of the world contrasting with the large amount of property he owned.

Logan is representative of “[t]he sun” waiting to “ambush” her and injure her with “red daggers,” it’s far-reaching control, as its beams of light reach as far as the eye can see, to the horizon even. Despite this, there is always hope for her as she looked beyond to the “shadows” harboring her hopes for a free tomorrow.

Chapter 4 Describing Maps

Logan Killicks:

Lost:

1. Bewildered or confused 2. No longer in the possession, care, or control of someone or something 3. destroyed physically 4. (idiom: to be lost on) To have no effect or influence on. Killicks was torn between being a strong provider and being loved.

“’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’” (30).

“’You think youse white folks by de way you act’” (30).

“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” (30).

“’A whole lot of mens will grin in yo' face, but dey ain't gwine tuh work and feed yuh’” (30).

“He flopped over resentful in his agony and pretended sleep. He hoped that he had hurt her as she had hurt him” (31).

Symbolism and Irony

Killicks clearly could not get past Janie’s upbringing, as he brought it up every time the two had a disagreement. The foreshadowing of the “carriage” that will take Janie away not having a top implies that the skies are the limit from his perspective, seemingly revealing envy and resentment. Exactly what Logan meant when he said Janie thought she was white is twofold: The obvious reason was that he was upset that she had had it so easy coming up while he had been working the land his whole life; the

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other, less clear, is that Janie is not grounded by the trappings of skin color in society. It hints that Janie was not inhibited by an intangible premise of race and a lack of social mobility.

Janie’s own feet entered the story as she was beginning to realize that she had the power to choose her own pathway, to give chase to her own dreams. This was precisely what scared Killicks: his adopted old laws held no power over Janie. When he was at the precipice of revealing real emotion and

vulnerability—a quality Janie might have respected (but not society), complicating black women’s venture toward equal rights—he attempted to exert his interpreted superiority through “scorn.” He ironically pointed out that he was there to provide for her and imply that other men would just try to lie to her to use and leave her, but she didn’t want any of that, though she would still have to go through it—even with doubts about Teacake—with Joe using her for her beauty. Killicks then childishly covered his pain and susceptibility in hopes of hurting the one he was trying to keep.

Joe Starks:

Buoyant: cheering or invigorating. Joe promises to take Janie to new heights, but she will find herself attached to an unmoving buoy.

“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” (29).

“With him on IT (THE “HIRED RIG”/“CARRIAGE”), it SAT like some HIGH, RULING CHAIR” (32). Joe is able to float in or rise to the surface of the sea, but he will not make it to the horizon. He

ultimately wishes to be the source of light for Janie and others, but his natural ebullience can only reach so far. This notion is repeated with “scrub oaks” representing the nature metaphor that follows Janie throughout the novel. Similar to the tree, scrub oaks have great strength and proliferate readily, but they only reach a short height. All of their “talk” was central to Joe’s potential accomplishments, simply becoming a “big ruler” like he had seen in white society. He appeared to only desire the power and the admiration—maybe only timidity leading to feigned reverence—that accompanied it. As she was planning to escape the Killicks’ plantation where he would have her slaving in the fields to plant seed potatoes to Joe’s dream of benefitting from little to no work, “reaping” what you sow is ironic in this situation. His promise of “her reaping the benefits” is a classic white fairy tale of becoming a lady, princess, or queen, which she clearly did not desire instinctively as she “pulled back a long time.” To her, he did not represent the qualities of her first conception of love, but his talk will get her closer to her horizon, and, given her current circumstances, she is willing to take the “chance” with him.

Janie:

Optimistic: expecting the best in this best of all possible worlds. Janie looked at the bright side of things as she escaped a stagnant relationship. Joe, being the only available vehicle for her departure, must be

(13)

polished a bit like Johnny Taylor for her to be motivated to take this great risk, especially given her instinctual doubt about his own motivation.

“The morning ROAD air was like a new dress” (32)

“From now on until death she was going to have flowerdust and springtimesprinkled 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.” (32)

Despite Janie’s self-inflicted optimism about the relationship she might have with Joe, the signs are present from the start. In the previous section, it was stated that “Janie pulled back a long time”

because she knew Joe “did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees,” her innermost desires, but she could not stay trapped with Logan, and Jody promised to take her away, toward “the horizon.” It could be argued that she is using him from the start, but she clearly finds a way to believe it will work out with him. In fact, in the section quoted directly above, she is given thoughts reminiscent of vows along with nature “dust[ed]” and “sprinkled over” their relationship, ultimately using darkness to shroud the lack of love that she already feels will be inevitable. Using a fragment to state that he will be “A bee for her bloom,” while it will be true to some degree—there are many pollinators for tree blossoms—she must use her “old thoughts,” which represent the ideals passed on to her from others like Nanny, will need to be pulled out of that “washbin” and “made…to fit” the relationship, much like the “new dress” drawing her attention away from the “morning” of another journey with a man to lord over her as she got her feet on the “road” with only an “air” of her true desires to guide her.

(14)

Chapter 3 Analysis

“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” (23).

Metaphor, Symbolism, and Irony

Nanny

projects her own beliefs onto Janie, forcing her to believe a man’s—and a woman’s—

worth is based upon accomplishment and possessions only, heavily implying that Janie is acting

ungratefully. Killicks’ land—ironically his connection to nature, which he alters with the help of

mules—is his identity according to Nanny. She claims that love is a broken branch upon which

women find themselves “hung on,” ironically trapping them in their desires. Her version of

freedom is possession of the natural world. Janie wants to be possessed by the natural world.

Nanny elaborates with a reference to the mule, which she sees pulling the elusive notion of

love daily through the fields. The mule begins and ends the day blindly, assumingly following

the rules of men during the light. Janie believes without seeing, hearing and feeling her way

through life, possibly being this “fool” of which Nanny speaks. However, the fool is the blind

follower, carrying an enormous weight of abuse and subjugation, and the “night” represents

Janie’s path to freedom from a social structure meant to crush her. Nanny also wants Janie to

see money as power, as she assumes—of course, she does predict Joe’s allure, maybe even

Teacake’s—Janie wants a flashy-looking man with no real substance (property and possessions)

beneath the surface. Nanny furthers her argument, revealing her own desires, by stating that

Janie as Mrs. Killicks should enjoy the fruits of Logan’s—and if he has his way, her own—labor,

ultimately wielding the power of proprietorship. However, Janie stubbornly still believes that

love will rule the world.

(15)

Chapter 4 Analysis

“’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 samecrack in the earth from which the night emerged” (33).

Joe was clearly the authority sitting upon this chariot. Janie, while being unhappy in her previous, brief, forced marriage, still was stuck in tradition as she felt the need to use another marriage to escape her former one. The irony was not immediately escapable. Being “married…before sundown” is

representative of the power of men, especially Joe, as he “had said” it would happen that way, after he “told” the driver to take them down the road. He had no intentions of securing this transportation when traveling on his own, so he must have been attempting to impress Janie. While Joe represented new soil, he was no different than other men: power was his goal. The carriage taking them was

representative of that power, as well as his marriage to Janie. The “new clothes” are fancy, but it is only the surface that has been affected. Janie still believed deep inside that she would not reach her own destination with Joe. The “crack in the earth” is the horizon, an unknown, even violently created feature, and here it is noted that light and dark come from the same origins, as do men and women. However, it is women who could not air their own desires and rule themselves. Upon the carriage and the “porch” with Joe, Janie appeared to be powerful, but the “night” was still far off.

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