Binary Themes

Some of the binary themes that emerged throughout the novel were the material versus the spiritual, and also the ideal woman versus the realistic women. One of the ways that this works relates to me as a person of faith is how Janie seemed to have found her freedom in men, but finding freedom in anything besides God it’s not fulfilling. All she wanted, had to do with material stuff when in reality the best way she could’ve fulfilled the holes in her life was by turning to God. Society formed what a woman should be and how she should act. A good example of this would be the British Victorian’s society. Women were expected to be perfect and to live up to the expectations of what the writers such as Patmore were writing. In this novel, Janie, as I mentioned before, was always the topic of conversation around the town. The other women were in a sense “perfect” because they weren’t doing many of the things Janie did—Janie married three times. I feel like Janie was being the realistic woman at that time because of the fact that she didn’t care of what society thought of her, she did what she felt was right for her.