In Chapter Five of the novel, Janie describes Joe’s impact on the people of the town of Eatonville and his unique dominance qualities: “There was something about Joe Starks that cowed the town. It was not because of physical fear. He was no fist fighter. His bulk was not even imposing as men go. Neither was it because he was more literate than the rest. Something else made men give way before him. He had a bow-down command in his face, and every step he took made the thing more tangible” (47). Joe Starks is the husband of Janie and the proud mayor of Eatonville, the first self-governing all-black town. Starks is a control freak and incredibly stubborn when it comes to considering other opinions against his own.
When arriving in the town, Joe speaks to a group of two men and asks them about the situation of the town as well as its authority: “Soon’s we find some place to sleep tonight us menfolks got to call people together and form a committee. Then we
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How he pushed open Lindsay’s kitchen door and slept in the place one night and fought until they made coffee for his breakfast; how he stuck his head in the Pearsons’ window while the family was at the table and Mrs. Pearson mistook him for Rev. Pearson and handed him a plate; he ran Mrs. Tully off of the croquet ground for having such an ugly shape; he ran and caught up with Becky Anderson on the way to Maitland so as to keep his head out of the sun under her umbrella; he got tired of listening to Redmond’s long-winded prayer, and went inside the Baptist church and broke up the meeting” (59). The stories about the mule are ridiculous and allow the people of the town to express their creativity. The mule captures their imaginations the way it does because it allows people to create banter and humiliate Matt Bonner for being a terrible