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Janie's Mule Analysis

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Janie is both the narrator and the main character of her own story, and the way in which Janie's two styles of communication are used is integral to the illustration of the development of Janie's voice over time. During Janie's stifling marriage to Joe Starks, she is forced to be a woman of few words. Like her hair tied up with a rag, her voice is choked into silence by her controlling husband. Nonetheless, while her mouth is largely unmoving through large periods of her life, her brain is hardly unthinking. The separate ways in which Janie's thoughts and the dialogue of the story are presented emphasize the juxtaposition of Janie's internal self with her external reality. Dialogue presented in the story is full of the colloquial dialect that …show more content…

As she observes the townspeople gossip about and discuss Matt Bonner's mule, Janie "sometimes...thought up good stories on the mule" herself (Hurston 53). Janie not only hears and can follow what the others say about the mule, but she is also able to reflect on the situation and imagine her own relevant responses. She has an opinion she wishes she could share, but which she is prevented from allowing to escape from her thoughts into the casual language of conversation by her restrictive, brick wall of a husband. Furthermore, Janie is able to notice some of Joe's idiosyncratic behavior regarding the mule, including how "he didn't talk the mule himself" but would "[sit] and laugh[] at it," and how he would "hustle her off inside the store" when any of the "big talkers" arrived (Hurston 54). Janie is often passive in her actions, saying nothing "no matter what Jody did" for years of their marriage. However, her internal voice during her time in Eatonville is aware, active, and alert. She notices patterns in the behavior of others, and wants to be included in the discussions on important topics from which Jody forbids

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441 Words | 2 Pages

Janie disliked the rag, but said nothing because it please Joe. Janie would do anything to please her husband's. Hurston shows this through her text, “This business of the head rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it”. This not only reveals the willingness Janir has to please her husbands, but also resembles the power her husbands had over Janie.

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419 Words | 2 Pages

In the stories “The Celebrated Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain and “How The Snake Got Poison” by Zora Neale Hurston. Both writers use regional dialect to create interesting characters; 2 diverse characters emphasize the difference in their cultures. After reading the story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County”, Mark Twain uses one of the narrators to emphasize the regional dialect by the way the character is speaking. For example, the narrator uses made up words, and slang to emphasize the western community.

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926 Words | 4 Pages

She was a rut in the road,” (Hurston 76). By this Janie was not well respected by Jody, she was not able to say how she felt. Considered being the wife of a rich man, she was treated less than

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1254 Words | 6 Pages

Just something she had grabbed up to drape her dreams over” (Hurston 72). Janie figures out that Joe is not the man she had married when the “image of Jody tumbled down” she begins to understand that Joe was not at all significant to her because he never cared for her and instead he was a bad influence. Janie figures out that he “never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams” the life she desires of with Joe Starks, is an allusion and Janie’s dreams are once again crushed. Janie is deceived by Joe because he represents empty dreams for Janie, he was a “drape [for] her dreams” Joe took advantage of Janie and manipulates her to do excessive labour for him in the store and constantly silences her. Furthermore, Joe Starks never treats Janie with respect as he views her as an object and spends his time commanding her.

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616 Words | 3 Pages

The voiceless, beautiful, store keeper pales in comparison to the smart, talented identity Janie’s thoughts demonstrate her to be. After twenty years of a growing tension, Janie’s thick rope snaps and she tells Jody how she feels Which ultimately kills him. Once again, Janie conforms to the mold of a mourning widow, dressed in black. Contrary to most people 's knowledge, she is overjoyed in the new found freedom she now possesses, but still cannot express. The idea of having to conform outwardly hurt Janie.

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769 Words | 4 Pages

She did not experience satisfaction or self fulfilment in the relationship, and their conversations were loveless and passionless. When Logan ordered Janie from chore to chore, she says nothing but, “Ah’ll cut de p’taters fuh yuh”(Hurston 17). This portrays how Janie has not yet released how she feels about being tied down into the marriage. The symbolism of the mule comes into play during Janie’s marriage with Logan. In American Folklore mules are silent creatures that bear the burden, yet they are still stubborn and unpredictable.

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920 Words | 4 Pages

Janie Crawford Killiks Starks Woods is the main character in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, where she learns what's it's like to go from marriage to marriage looking for love. In the novel, Hurston utilizes the pivotal moment when Janie realizes that marriage doesn’t always mean love to show Janie's coming of age and psychological development which is used to show that love doesn't always come first. Logan Killicks was Janie's first marriage, which was brought about after Nanny (her grandmother) decided that she need to be married after she caught Janie and a young boy kissing when she was 16. After that Janie finds herself being thrown into some random marriage with some man she barely knew, and for a reason

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1657 Words | 7 Pages

Janie didn 't start living until Joe died and she met Teacake. With Teacake Janie felt alive, they understood and respected each other. Their marriage was full of love and compassion, two things that Janie always wanted. Her marriage with Teacake ended in a tragedy, but Janie felt like she lived a life full of new beginnings, and she was content with that. All the men in Janie’s life

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1216 Words | 5 Pages

Addie’s ideas are very raw, so that the reader understands that what Addie says is an accurate representation of how she feels. In this particular interior monologue, Addie explains the stress that other characters put on her, which contributes to the reason why she chooses to stay away from others. The interior monologue shows that Anse affected Addie’s self-image dramatically, because of Addie’s inability to remember life before him, “The shape of my body where I used to be a virgin is in the shape of a ” (173). The blank represents Addie “drawing a blank” or forgetting what life used to be like when she was still a

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530 Words | 3 Pages

Janie goes along with Jody’s requests for a while before she realizes what he is doing to her. Jody needed to have complete dominance of everything in Janie’s life to be content with their relationship, and when Janie had different opinions than his, this caused problems in their relationship. In another instance, Jody insults Janie’s age, which leads to a significant argument between them. When Jody insults Janie, it is accepted in their society, but Janie finally gets fed up when she says, “But Ah’m uh woman every inch of me, and Ah know it. Dat’s uh whole lot

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697 Words | 3 Pages

Porch. A covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance of a building. This inanimate object served to develop various themes throughout the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. She reveals the theme of jealousy and envy, gender inequality and a sense of community with the help of the porch.

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419 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story, Tan talks her story of the English she speaks, and how much people her around can change the way you converse. For example, at home, she speaks to her mother in a “broken” English so her mother can understand the conversation. When she is talking to people she works with, she uses

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686 Words | 3 Pages

Just as Joe isolated Janie from the other people in Eatonville, John isolates his wife from the outside world, believing it will help her get better. Her isolation causes her depression to develop into hallucinations and insomnia. She envisions a woman on her bedroom wallpaper that is trapped behind a set of bars, trying to get out. The trapped woman represents the speaker, whose husband locks her away from the rest of the world. Her husband also resorts to belittling her and treats her like a child in order to get her to obey him.

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886 Words | 4 Pages

While working in the store, Joe makes Janie wear a head rag so that it would cover up her hair from the other men gazing at her luscious hair. Hurston writes about Janie’s realization of her situation by mentioning, “Her hair was NOT going to show in the store….She was there in the store for him to look at, not those others” (Hurston 73). Joe clearly illustrates that Janie’s sole purpose is to serve and please only him. Joe will do as much as to demand Janie to wear her hair in certain ways so it doesn’t distract any of the

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1937 Words | 8 Pages

How’s that Cadillac, girl? Riding fine?’” (Taylor, 1987, p.22-23) to “’Daddy say come on out and see this new car!’” (Taylor, 1987, p. 11), the dialect is present and clear without making the dialogue difficult to understand. It is an effective tool that communicates solidarity and familiarity to readers, as well as adds another dimension to the story and characters.

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