Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Hurston's Background
Title.
Security and Independence
Authentic Blackness
Binary Themes
Emancipation
Double Consciousness
Society
Janie's Nanny
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
Monday, May 2, 2011
Title
I understand that during the storm the people were praying and "watching God" to see what He was doing in that point and time through the storm, that He was their only hope. It is also kind of like an orchestra--who do the musicians look to in the middle of a movement of music? The conductor, just as the people in the storm were looking to God to find safety and direction. That would make sense if Janie had been a woman of prayer but in the book she didn't seem to be. So what does it mean?
Is it that in the book, Janie is the god (with a lower-case "g") and everyone is watching her? That would make more sense because everyone did seem to be watching Janie in the book. Janie did take life in her own hands and do what she wanted. She left Logan, spouted off to Jody, and married Tea Cake even when people advised her against it. In that sense the title would make more sense. However, where in the book does it imply that Janie is a god or that she is trying to be God?
I feel like I'm brainstorming but am not sure of THE correct answer.
random thoughts
I also thought it was interesting that Janie hated everyone close to her except Tea Cake--her grandmother, Logan, and Jody. She didn't seem to be happy with anyone unless they were fulfilling her dreams/complying with her interests--she didn't have a lot of unconditional love to spare. It reminds me of the verse that says something like, "before you were in Christ, you hated and were hated, but now that you are in Christ set aside the things that belong to the carnal nature...." It all seemed okay in the book, however, because it was about her finding self-actualization/freedom.
Submission
Its a hard question, especially since it involves such a hard man. He was only interested in his own gain and didn't respect Janie at all, expecting her to act in a way contrary to her own interests. Submitting to him would have meant setting aside her own pride and essentially allowing his mandate to form her identity. Janie was not willing to do that. It came to the point where she had to decide which one she valued more--her marriage or her identity. In the book she values her identity. I think that if Janie had submitted with dignity it might have softened his heart, allowing her to reclaim some of her independence, as well as saved their marriage.
How Janie responded in the book was purely natural, however; no one wants to be ordered around like a dog. It would have taken a supernatural change in Janie for her to obey as the Bible requires.
And I think that applies to real life as well. Women need God's supernatural power to submit as He wants them to submit to their husbands, which I believe is in dignity, love, and respect--dignity within themselves and love and respect for God and their husbands. This is especially true in situations where the man is overbearing and unreasonable. In other words, people should be careful before marrying They might be like Jody. A woman should spend a lot of time getting to know the man, praying about her relationship with the man, as well as get a lot of advice from others before marrying him. It would save her a lot of pain.
Janie's Response to Jody
He also belittled Janie and women in general, which caused him to want unconditional submission. I believe a woman should submit to her husband, but forced submission combined with contempt is unbearable. He wasn't interested in what she was saying so in the end, she kept all her thoughts and emotions to herself.
It was her only way of keeping her pride. If she had not done this, then in the end she might have just been a walking doormat for Jody.
Roles of Men and Women According to Huston
I think that the ideal that Hurston was attempting to advocate is pretty traditional, only with the woman more involved. The man would still be the primary breadwinner, but the woman would also play an active and independent role in money making, the two living in harmony, enjoying each other's company as they work together as well as separately.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Janie and Logan's relationship
Janie's Appearance
Tea Cake and Janie's relationship
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Value of Material Possessions
Weather
Hair
Language
Thursday, April 14, 2011
What do you think about her love life?
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Janie's search for True Love
In a way, she did use men to advance herself, but I personally see it in a different way. Since Janie was forced to marry Logan, Janie did not love Logan, and Logan's treatment toward Janie did not show love. When she finds Joe, she falls in love with his smooth words rather than the actual person. Joe shows his true colors, and attempts to control, change, and shelter Janie. A man that attempts to change a woman does not truly love her. Janie becomes tired of Joe's controlling personality, and she stands up for herself. When Joe dies, she has no desire to be with a man, but enjoys her independence. When Tea Cake walks into her life, she now began to have a mutual attraction with him. In the beginning, Tea cake treats her badly by taking her money and leaving her. The difference in this relationship was that Janie and Tea Cake worked through their relationship by speaking their minds to each other. The gloomy part of the story is when Tea Cake gets rabies and turned violent towards Janie. This is not due to his usual personality, but the result from a virus. Overall, the Janie was just trying to find true love, which most women in this world want to find.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Structure of the book
I suppose the main idea was her learning to love, finding how to live life under the pear tree, like she had been under in the beginning, comforting herself that she would learn to love once she was married. I suppose it is a story of a woman's self-discovery, and the men who help her along the way. Before she was married the pear tree represented her dreams, her ideals of life as it did throughout the whole book. It represented her true self, the one she wanted to be and longed to let out. Only Tea Cake taught her to do that; her other two husbands either expected too much from her or expected too little of her.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Death
What does death represent?
Jody & Janie's Relationship
"The years took all the fight out of Janie's face. For a while she thought it was gone from her soul. No matter what Jody did, she said nothing. She had learned how to talk some and leave some. She was a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it kept beaten down by the wheels...mostly she lived between her hat and her heels..." (76).
Could this be foreshadowing to her freedom? Will she escape "her hat and her heels" (the chains that restrict women)?
Monday, March 21, 2011
First 100 Pages...
I am excited to see where Janie's path will lead. From what I have heard this was supposed to be a love story of epic proportions, but I see a sad tale of a woman who must use men to get where she wants to go. She wants to get out of the house, she marries Logan Killicks. To get away from Logan, she runs off with Joe "Jody" Starks. I know this won't last long since Joe was initially described as an older man who amused Janie. The tale of love is still to come. Teacake (mentioned in the first chapter) has yet to arrive.
I see a similarity with Gone With the Wind, Scarlett married to advance her position in society also.