Janie’s Growth as a Character

Filed under: Characterization, Group C — hurston at 1:01 pm on Friday, November 18, 2005

Janie, as was established from the beginning of the story, is a very strong female figure, but is treated horribly by the men in her life. Her first husband thought of her as a possession, and though she thought he was different, her second husband thinks of her in the same way. I believe that this wears Janie down over the years, and it is surprising that she actually stays with Joe Starks for such a long period of time. Throughout the length of their marriage, Janie does have thoughts of the degrading way she is being treated, and thinks about leaving. For instance, when the men of the town are baiting the mule, Janie tries to defend him, saying, “They oughta be shamed uh themselves! Teasin’ dat poor brute like they is! Done been worked tuh death; done had his disposition ruint wid mistreatment, and now they got tuh finish devilin’ ‘im tuh death. Wisht Ah had my way wid ‘em all” (Hurston 53). It seems that Janie draws a connection between herself and the mule. Like the mule, Janie is controlled by Joe Starks, and he makes her work in the store and the post office, and makes her do things just so that she will not be having fun or sharing her opinions. It is interesting that Janie draws this connection, because it shows that she realizes the injustice of Joe’s treatment, and is not just a helpless woman who doesn’t think she has any power in the world. Since these thoughts occur to Janie, it is surprising that it takes her so many years to actually stand up to Joe Starks. When Joe is trying to downplay his age by emphasizing her age, she finally says: “But Ah’m uh woman every inch of me, and Ah know it. Dat’s a whole lot more’n you kin say. You big-bellies round here and put out a lot of brag, but t’ain’t nothin’ to it but yo’ big voice. Humph! Talkin’ ’bout me lookin’ old! When you pull down yo’ britches, yuo look lak de change uh life” (Hurston 75). The fact that Janie has the courage to stand up to her overpowering husband shows great strength of character. Although it takes many years for her to do it, she finally does, which shows that over the years she has gained strength. This can only make way for Janie to further stand up for herself, and perhaps leave Joe Starks for a better life. -Lauren



3 Comments

50

   hurston

November 21, 2005 @ 10:45 pm

I agree with Lauren that Janie sees a relationship between the way she is treated and the way the old mule is treated. One critic stated that “Janie imagines her own stories about the mule, but the Joe forbids her to take part” (Bloom). Janie wants to be a part of the community talk but she is restricted. Joe buying the old mule from Matt symbolizes the freeing of the slaves: “Like Abraham Lincoln freeing hte slaves, the power to free the mule makes Joe ‘lak uh king uh something’” (Bloom). Joe’s noble action allows the community’s vision of him to grow while Janie continues to hate him. I’m happy Joe Starks dies.

Nicole Leva

58

   hurston

November 26, 2005 @ 2:10 am

I agree with Nicole; Joe Starks had to go. I also found it really surprising that it took so long for Janie to stand up for herself. Usually once people recognize that they are being mistreated they do something about it or at least take steps to, but it didn’t seem like Janie did anything at all. In fact, she even made a concious decision to pretend it didn’t bother her when she says she suddenly knew how not to express her emotions in public and how to keep on as if nothing were wrong. I guess she could just be scared to lose all for her material possesions or maybe she felt like she had missed the perfect oppurtunity to assert herself and lost her confidence.
~Sarah-Claire

102

   hurston

November 29, 2005 @ 1:32 am

I totally agree with what Lauren has to say, especially about Joe Starks not being the right man for Janie at all. I just seem to think that Janie is jumping in to everything way too fast. I mean the past two guys she has been married to, Jody and Logan, have just been waiting for a woman who wants to come and work all around alongside them. Unfortunately, Janie believes that if she is going to be married to a man, the most they are going to get from her is the laundry, dishes, and cooking. Janie is looking for the easiest way out of every situation she gets herself into. At this point, I have no pity for Janie because she is doing whatever she wants to get whatever she wants and when nobody will give it to her, she simply moves on to the next man. Her final act in chapter 7 was ripping her headrag off, then when she realized Jody is dead, she puts it back on to show that she is in mourning for the loss of the town mayor. She does not mourn for the sake of her husband, she mourns for the sake of remaining respectable in the eyes of Eatonville.
–Nicole Gollmer–

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