dipelli’s Blog

Whether you like Janie or not, you have to admit that she is probably the strongest female character in American literature.  In Chapter 8, even as she knows Jody is dying, she puts up her final strike against his repressive ways by exposing his tight-fisted control over her and everything he wanted to change about her.  Jody, on his deathbed, finally breaks down and shows his own weakness in the face of Janie’s inner strength, which he can no longer deny, and dies.  With great symbolism, when Jody dies, Janie rips the cloth off of her head and lets her hair go free before any mourners come.  Janie spends the next six months on her own (despite the advances made by men in the town) and reflects on the values Nanny had raised her with — these values not including Janie persevering to fulfill her dreams.  These six months were necessary for Janie, as they let her recapture any inner strength she may have lost while with Jody through her new-found independence.  This alone also makes me think about her strength, because she has always been so head-strong and is not afraid to question the values of others/society: Nanny had had Janie married off to Logan at the young age of 16, and it was not uncommon for girls to get tied down this young.  Here is Janie years later, however, reveling her independence and lack of commitment to any man — or, as Hurston puts it, Janie “was just basking in freedom.” [P.88]

It is only natural to have predicted at this point that if Janie did settle down with another man, it would be out of love and mutual respect for each other (unlike her loveless marriage with Logan and her repressive marriage with Jody).  She has just spent the past six months regaining her strength and freedom, so she would not settle for anything less.  Enter Tea Cakes. (I never thought I’d ever say that in my life. Anyways…)  The first major thing to note about Tea Cake is that he respects Janie enough to ask her to play checkers with him.  That immediately sent up a flag for me because even if Wass hadn’t spoiled that she has three relationships throughout the novel, I would have guessed from this point on that this relationship with Tea Cake would be the one that lasted.

My next prediction is that as I’m out in the hallway talking about my essay with Senor Wass, you guys have been reading my blog. And I won’t be offended if the kissy-face does not work if you guys comment. I hope you liked it. Sorry that I didn’t mention anything about Matt Bonner or emancipating the slaves through an act of compassion like Stewart…

~ by dipelli on December 11, 2008.