Their Eyes Were Watching God: Comprehension and Analysis Blog

   hurston

November 17, 2005 @ 5:10 pm

I agree with Alana and to elaborate more on her use of a bible story Janie becomes weak when she has to put up her hair too. She becomes sheltered and she is no longer able to express herself and be who she wants to be. Instead she is forced to tend to the will of a man something which she never wanted to do. Janie’s hair is also symbolic in the sense that it keeps her young. It is her connection to youth and in turn, her connection to her true self.
-Leena-

   hurston

November 21, 2005 @ 8:57 pm

The issue of Janie’s hair is an interesting one. To relate Alana’s point even further to the bible, the point of jealousy should be looked at again. Alana said, “Samson’s long hair made him strong. In the middle of the night, Delilah cut it all off to make him weak, for she was jealous.” The initial reason that Jody wanted Janie to tie her hair up was not to bring her down in essense, but it was because he was jealous. There was an incident in the store where Jody sees a man standing behind Janie sweeping his hand underneath her braid, gently enough, so that Janie does not even know this is going on. Jody is furious after seeing this and informs Janie that from now on her hair has to always be tied in a rag. Janie of course, does not know the real reason behind Jody’s order.

I also wanted to point out Jody’s emotions in this particular situation. In this scene he has an overwhelming feelign of Jealousy.  Ever since Janie and Jody moved to Eatonville and Jody became mayor i felt that Jody’s love for Janie had deminished, that he no longer though of her as his wife, but more of someone that should look up to him and do anythign for him at a snap of his finger. I was suprised to hear Jody express feelings of Jealousy because that led me to belive that Jody indeed love Janie.  And even when Janie humiliates Jody infront of the town he feels betrayed by her and stunned by her actions.  I feel like Jody was blind to the fact that Janie was unhappy.  I think ultimatley he wanted her to be happy and never intended to mistreat her, that was just the only way he knew how to function.  He did not treat her the way he did to be melicious. And in the end it was sad to see Jody dying hating Janie.  And it was even sadder to see Janie’s reaction to this: “Ah’d ruther be dead than for Jody tuh think Ah’d hurtt him. It ain’t always been too pleasant, ’cause you know how Joe worships de works of his own hands, but God in heben knows Ah wouldn’t do one thing tuh hurt nobody” (Hurston 78). Janie is crushed knowing that Jody is about to die hating her.  It is sad to think that this relationship could have worked, if Jody had not become mayor of Eatonville.

EMILY DESTEFANO

   hurston

November 27, 2005 @ 3:35 pm

This is a really intersting comparison, especailly since her hair seems to give her an individuality that Joe found infuriating. I agree with Alana, because Joe makes Janie tie up her hair because “She was in the store for him [Joe] to look at, not those others,” which poses an opposite position (Hurston 52). Her hair, by letting it down, is not a way to let her gaurd down but more a way to allow her be her own person.

Mary

   hurston

November 27, 2005 @ 7:03 pm

Janie’s hair continues to stay long and beautiful even as she gets older. When she was married to Joe, he made her tie it up because he was jealous of how young she looked while his appearance was clearly changing and his health was failing. “…He began to talk about her age all the time, as if he didn’t want her to stay young while he grew old” (Hurston 73). He made remarks to her all the time reminding her, “You ain’t no young courtin’ gal. You’se uh ole woman, nearly forty” (Hurston 75). By taking the attention away from him by reminding Janie of her age, and Joe not wanting Janie to see him sick in his bed before he dies, shows that he doesn’t want Janie to see him as weak, helpless, and old because that is how he always made her feel. He had always had power, being the Mayor, and always had the upper hand over Janie so it’s hard for him to now be powerless. After Joe dies, Janie lets her hair down showing that she is now free and no longer feels burdened. I agree with Mary that her hair gives her and individuality that she could not show before but now can with Joe gone.  It is almost like her hair is a character in the novel because it is talked about enough.  “Janie’s long, heavy, Caucasianlike hair is mentioned so many times in Their Eyes that, as one of my students said, it becomes another character in the novel” (Washinton). With Tea Cake, her hair is down all the time and with him she is happy and is doing all the things that Joe would never allow her to do. Another thing I noticed was right before Joe dies, Janie comes in and talks to him and tells him everything that she was never able to say before. Right after she does this, he dies right in front of her. I’m not saying that she kills him, but it’s almost like Joe wasn’t able to take Janie speaking up to him like this. It was the final contributor to his death. Rachel*