Use details from the novel to explain what the quote reveals about Janie's search for fulfillment. "Nanny: "De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. Ah been prayin' fuh it tuh be different wid you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!"(29).
Once this quote has been "analyzed to death" suggest a new quote that addresses this same theme.
24 comments:
I hope I'm doing this in the right place...
The first thing that jumped out at me was when Nanny said "Ah been prayin' fuh it tuh be different wid you" was that this was an adaptation of the American Dream - the desire for your children to be more successful than you. Of course, Nanny means successful in terms of material wealth, which Janie clearly does become with Joe. However, Janie didn't care about her material success; her American Dream comes in the form of finding true love. (I still say that TEWWG is a romance more than a story of females rising to power)
I can't really think of anything else relating to the American Dream, but here are two tid-bits that I found, I hope the rest of you can make something of them:
- Nanny says "so fur as Ah can see." Is this another play on the horizon metaphor, the fact that Nanny has such pitifully short horizons?
- Nanny calls black women the "mules" of the earth. Any link to that old mule in Eatonville?
Immediately I noticed the image of the mule which shows huge correlations to the old mule in Eatonville. Nanny remarks that black women are equivalent to mules, which in the context of the novel, implies labor and a sordid state of humanity. The mule in Eatonville was forced to work by its master without much nourishment or sympathy. Once Jody bought the mule to free it, the mule was able to do as it pleased and as a result, was treated much more favorably. In this sense, the citizens of Eatonville saw Jody was some sort of "great liberator" who assisted those in need of help.
This is extremely important when related back to Nanny's beliefs on marriage and material wealth because she wanted Janie to marry for financial security. Even though Nanny was not alive to witness Janie's marriage to Jody, she probably would have been content in seeing her granddaughter "liberated" by Jody's wealth and status. Ironically, this "liberation" did not turn out so well.
Because of the struggles that Nanny has gone through with slavery, she has been brought up with a completely different mindset from Janie- one that is centered on more superficial qualities such as money and a higher social standing. Hence she wants things "tuh be different" for Janie in terms of acquiring a higher position in society, and not necessarily her happiness in the process. Janie's revelation that marriage did not bring happiness marked the end of her childhood naivety.
However, I also feel that Janie's view of the world is completely different; she would rather be free from societal standards. For example, Jody's death removed the pressure from her life, even though she maintained a mournful facade. Thus her view clashes with Nanny's completely, which causes Janie to feel resentful of the way she was raised.
One of the aspects of this quote that stuck out to me is Nanny's use of the word "nigger" in front of women. We are all aware of Nanny's past with slavery and how she resents that time period in her life. She desperately wishes that "things will be different with you," as far as Janie's social and economic means are concerned. So however simple or common it may be for the word "nigger" to be used, I still think that classification is contradicting Nanny's hopes for Janie. Although she wants Janie to have finical stability and a highly regarded social status, Nanny is stuck in the past. From using that word she is essentially accepting the harsh past, and the common disbelief of African American women leading a "successful" life in society.
Altogether, this could not be very motivating for Janie to hear. But this did not stop Janie from her hunt of personal happiness, which she neither found in money or a high social status.
Nanny lived the life of a slave and to make the situation worse, she was a woman. So as a result, she enjoyed little to no freedom from labor from the white man and the black man. As a result, Nanny wants the best for Janie so that she doesn't have to be treated the way Nanny was. Nanny marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, a man who is suppose to provide for Janie and pamper her. Janie does not love the man but assumes as the marriage progresses, love will come naturally. However, that does not happen and ironically, Janie is treated like a mule in the sense that Logan imposed manual labor upon her.
Since Nanny grew up as a slave, she had a life of hard work and felt she was "de mule uh de world". Because of this, her dream is to see Janie become wealthy and lead a life of leisure, even if it means sacrificing her happiness or free spirit.
Janie's first two husbands, Logan and Jody, are both wealthy and can provide for Janie the life that Nanny wants her to have, yet she is not happy with either of them. It is her third husband, Tea Cake, a man Nanny would never approve of, that helps Janie find fulfillment. This is especially ironic because Janie is at her happiest when she is working out in the fields with Tea Cake, something Nanny never wanted Janie to have to do. This shows the fundamental differences in Nanny's and Janie's perspectives on the relationship between wealth and happiness and proves that Janie doesn't need money to be happy.
Oppression due to race or gender is a prevalent theme in Their Eyes Were Watching God. This quote's function is to foreshadow the inevitable struggle Janie faces because she is both black and a woman in a time period where these characteristics left one bereft of equality. Nanny imposes her metaphor on Janie during a time where Janie is just beginning to identify herself. Not many pages earlier, she had just realized her ethnicity, and at this point in the story, she begins to truly understand the circumstances she was born into. Being the free-spirited individual that she is, Janie is dissatisfied with being a "mule uh de world," so she resists it vehemently. Her resentment of the black woman's mistreatment quickly manifests when she flees from Logan Killicks, who attempts to use her for domestic labor as one might use a mule.
Throughout Nanny's life she was continually opressed, from being raped, growing up as a slave, and just simply being a women. Nanny's unlitimate goal before she dies is to let janie fulfill the life that she never had. Marrying Janie to Logan Killicks is Nanny's destorted idea of marriage; one based off of material wealth and safety. This is something that Nanny never had.
Your comments are wonderful so far! You have put great time and thought into analyzing this starter quote! I particularly was impressed by the analysis of the American dream and the juxtaposition between Nanny and Janie's perspectives on life. The next person to post (after this comment) please post a new quote to discuss that shows one of the stages Janie endured to gain fulfillment. Thanks for all your hard work!!
Nanny has limited sight in the novel, both figuratively and literally. She claims that it is,"so fur as Ah can see," but does not realize that she cannot see much into the future. She aims to help Janie, but instead hinders her progress. Janie's view of the world is a far more open one, in contrast with Nanny's limited and harsh one. After all the hardships that Janie encountered, she still felt "the horizon" in the future. She "saw" more in the goodness of people and not expect the black people to be necessarily tied down like a mule. Also, the "Lawd, Lawd, Lawd" part is pretty interesting. Other than the title, I think that's the only religious mention in the novel. Maybe it means that Nanny was "watching" God to see a different sort of life for Janie, while Janie was "watching" only to see that the sort if life she wanted came true...
Okay- new quote about one of Janie's stages of fulfillment... How about when Tea Cake came along and accepted Janie for the actual person she was, not only as a trophy wife?
Tea Cake first proves to Janie that he appreciates her for her own self and opinions by inviting her to play checkers with him. "He set it up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice" (95-96).
Janie's dream of being seen as an equal is finally fulfilled with Tea Cake's acceptance. Do you agree or disagree? In what other ways did Janie achieve fulfillment?
Tea Cake feeds Janie's need to feel like she belongs as an "equal" member of society. Janie felt as if she was not spiritually fulfilled because her history of abusive relationships. (Nanny, Jody, Logan) However, these relationships were predominately mentally abusive. In other words, these people met her physical needs but did not meet her spiritual needs. Janie sees Tea Cake as her spiritual equal, and essentially her savior. However, though Tea Cake's acceptance of Janie is a changing point in Janie's life, it does not leave her fulfilled. Where Tea Cake lacks in emotional abuse, he makes up for it in his physical abuse of Janie. Though Tea Cake is seen as Janie's way to fulfillment and her "saving grace" he is really no better than her other two lovers. It is almost as if Janie has traded in one poision for another.
Tea Cake's small gesture of asking Janie to play checkers is absolutely Janie's first feeling of fulfillment. It is an entirely juvenile moment for the mature adults, but considering that Janie has never felt happy in a relationship before, it makes perfect sense that the first step be similar to what a young person might ask of their first object of affection. While it is true that to reach ultimate fulfillment Janie must be free from a man's grasp, this romance gives her a sense of why many people believe that in order to be fulfilled, one must find true love.
The fact that Janie was so thrilled to be taught to play checkers is a sad commentary on her life thus far. Sad as that may be, it is her first sense of being truly wanted. Logan merely wanted a wife. To him this meant someone to share the workload with. Being a woman of this time and still under the care of her grandmother, she had little choice. Joe saw that she was very attractive, and he "rescued" her from Logan, although he essentially ended up bringing her into another form of legal slavery. She was an ornament for his arm and served only to elevate his position in society. Tea Cake, in contrast, showed Janie that he wanted her for her inside, as well as her physical appearance. He continued to teach her to do new things, such as how to shoot a gun. However, keep in mind that at no point in this novel is Janie ever truly viewed as Tea Cake's equal. Tea Cake is still the man, and Janie is still the woman.
Nanny's use of "de mule uh de world", shows the reader that Nanny has grown up learning that her role as a woman is to be the hard worker and the slave. As she reflects in the story of her hard and unfortunate life, she realizes that what Janie needs is a wealthy and secure life. She sees Janie's need for happiness and desire to be a free spirit unimportant. This pathway Nanny builds for Janie proves to be unsuccessful and the two wealthy relationships Janie goes through both fall through. Ironically. the one man that Nanny sees as not worthy for Janie, Tea Cake, is the one key to Janie's fulfillment in the end. The differences in Janie and Nanny's perspectives are visible through the way Janie enjoys working in the fields in the Everglades and Nanny despised her slave work. Also, Janie is much more independent and strong-willed than Nanny in all of her actions and decisions.
In some ways I do agree, in others I do not. While Tea Cake does accept Janie's spirit, she is not truly fulfilled until she is completely independent of men (post-Tea Cake's death). The self-sufficiency and self-reliance she achieves from this independence is what fulfills Janie. This is something that Janie could never achieve with Tea Cake...for despite his acceptance of her spirit, he never accepts her sufficiency. While it is often seen as proof that Tea Cake doesn't use Janie for her money, the fact that he refuses her wealth to support their lifestyle can also be seen as a refusal of his reliance and dependence on a woman.
However, one cannot overlook the importance Tea Cake holds in Janie's life. This quote is an excellent example of what Janie gained from their relationship.
Tea Cake accepted the basic joy Janie held for simple pleasures of life; this acceptance was an experience Janie had never had before. Additionally, checkers is a game that can be played regardless of age or time. By teaching Janie to play checkers, Tea Cake teaches Janie a simple joy that she can keep with her for the rest of her life. (...Though a devil's advocate might argue that Tea Cake's teaching of Janie reflects his need to be superior in the relationship...)
In short, while Tea Cake was a step up from her previous husbands and the first to accept her spirit, Janie did not reach true fulfillment until her complete independence of men.
-Diana Heriford
When Tea Cake encouraged Janie to play checkers, she felt free for the first time in a long while. For several years, Jody restrained Janie from being the individual that she is by making her his trophy wife. Although she detested this lifestyle, she had to cope with it until Jody became ill. When Jody died, she experienced a spiritual rebirth and felt free for once. During Janie’s liberating transformation, she experienced many new things, one of which was being treated as an equal. It was the first time in a long while that she had been treated as such, especially by a male. It marked the beginning of their romance, which would guide Janie closer to her quest for self-fulfillment.
Thanks, Ashley for getting another good discussion rolling about Janie's fulfillment through her relationship with Teacake. For those of you who still need to post, how about some discussion of Janie's relationship with Jody and/or the porch watchers? Great job, everyone!
Janie strongly believed that Jody would treat her as an equal and that they would be able to share a life together.Instead, Jody took advantage of her youthful ignorance and made her a slave to the store. He placed her behind the counter as a way of restricting her individualism. By doing so, the porch sitters and other townspeople only saw Janie as Jody's wife, not as a person with her own thoughts and ideas.
Janie's relationship with Jody was undoubtedly suppressive, as he continually told her what to do. His domineering attitude towards life in general got in the way of the romance that Janie ultimately desired. Although her quiet rebellion helped her retain her desire for something more, she slowly gave up her life as time passed. Her near-infinite patience shows she is willing to wait for an opportunity to search for that fulfillment she desires. It is technically similar to when Jody swept Janie from her relationship with Logan; She really had no concrete plan to find her fulfillment until a stranger charms her away. While this same kind of event happens with Tea Cake, she's more at liberty because of Jody's death. By the time of Tea Cake's death, she is fully at liberty to do as she pleases and knows she has found the fulfillment she always desired.
To both Ashley's quote about the game of checkers and to Abby's statement that it was her first feelings of fulfillment:
Although Janie was "glowing inside" about having been asked to play checkers, I disagree with Abby's assertion that this is a hint of fulfillment. Rather, I see it as a mere facade of fulfillment. Although it is new for others to truly accept her as Tea Cake instantaneously does, it is just happiness and not fulfillment she feels. Tea Cake has to die for Janie to be completely fulfilled because her fulfillment is derived from her full acceptance and appreciation of herself and her life, not another's acceptance and appreciation.
Janie entered her marriage with Jody believing that it was an escape from the oppression that dominated her marriage with Logan. Jody, however entered the marriage with Janie's good looks in mind, as he planned to transform her into what he considered the perfect mayor's wife. As a result of this, Jody prohibits Janie from participating in one of her favorite pass-times, porch talk. He believes it will hurt her reputation, considering it trashy. By taking this pleasure away from Janie, and putting her through other forms of oppression and abuse, Jody has become another obstacle in Janie's path to fulfillment. In her third marriage with Tea Cake, Janie finds joy in the gatherings at her and Tea Cakes home in Everglades, where Tea Cake plays his guitar and the men entertain each other with jokes and stories. We can relate Janie's love for porch talk to Hurston's passion for folklore. A part of Hurston's passion for folklore came from her desire to embrace and honor the heritage of the south. She shows her love for folklore not only through Janie's character, but through the multiple porch scenes found throughout the novel.
So... this blog makes me feel inadequate and unintelligent. I like that Hurston addresses the importance of playing. Granted, in context, playing seems like a frivolity or distraction rather than an actual point of emphasis. But, to me, where Hurston introduces play, it seems that she is defining the fresh energy that Tea Cake brings Janie. Just such a youthful indulgence is representative of the rebirth Janie experiences after the death of Jody.
This discussion is now closed to comments because the deadline has come and gone. Thanks for all the insightful commentary and for being "courageous" enough to disagree with other students and offer you own "take". I believe you all have a firm grasp of the novel and of how to analyze text with sophistication and support. John, you are right up there with everyone else! Be inspired by each other's genius, not discouraged.
The next Blog post will contain a quote about existentialism, and you will be required to related Metamorphosis to this quote. The due date for this posting will be by midnight next Thursday, 9/17.
Post a Comment