Johnny Got His Gun 8

Someone is finally able to understand the Morse code that Joe is tapping by using his head. A man replies by tapping, asking what Joe wants. Joe is taken aback by this question because all he really wanted back were his limbs and his life. Joe then decides what he wants. He wants to be used as an educational tool. He wants to be an exhibit to teach people about the horrors of war. He thought he would be on exhibit in churches, Congress, Parliament, etcetera. When Joe asks the man this, the man says that it would be against regulations. It is against regulations because he is not allowed outside of the hospital. If Joe were to have done this, he would be classified as a freak show gathering people of all classes and ethnicities. Also, doctors are afraid as to how others will respond to Joe’s condition. New nurses can barely handle the sight of him, so we could only imagine what a young child’s response would be like. Also, if people were to see the condition that Joe was in, they would be terrified and would not want to fight in the war. People would not go to war for fear of death, or even worse, fear of ending up in the same condition as Joe.

Johnny Got His Gun 7

When under sedation, Joe has a dream about Christ. He dreams that he sees a woman looking for her son, and the woman’s son happens to be Christ. In the dream, Christ is traveling through the desert from Tucson and comes to the railroad station. He then proceeds to play cards with Joe and some other men. While playing cards, each man talks about his death. The men then realize that Joe does not belong in the group because he did not actually die in war, but the men also acknowledge that his fate is worse then death. This dream reinforces how Joe is different from others, even those who have died in war. The men who died in war categorize Joe and decide that his fate is worse than their own. Joe feels alienated once more.

Johhny Got His Gun 6

Joe is still struggling to find a way to communicate with others. One day, it dawns on him that he knows Morse code, so Joe decides to try to tap messages to communicate with the outside world. Joe taps his head to conduct the Morse code. Unfortunately, the nurse does not understand Joe when he tries to tap “SOS.” Joe continually taps out messages, but the nurse still does not understand. She tries to soothe him thinking that he is in a state of distress. Joe feels trapped inside his body. He is hopeless with no one able to understand what he is trying to say.

Johnny Got His Gun 5

Joe wants to master time so that he can get a sense of this new world that he is living in. He tries to remember different stories such as A Christmas Carol but is unable to because he never memorized it very well. Joe is frustrated because he is unable to recite simple things such as his times tables. Therefore, he decides to teach himself to tell time. Joe wants to do this because time is a way that he can be connected with everyone. Time is universal. Everyone knows how to tell time regardless of their ethnicity or language. Joe originally tries to count the seconds, minutes, and hours between the visits of the nurses, but he soon loses tracks of the seconds. He then decides to focus on trying to time his bed changes and bowel movements. He realizes that the nurse probably bathes him in the morning and visits him every two hours after that. Eventually, Joe is able to tell time, and he is even able to sense the environment around him. He is able to tell the sunrise apart from the sunset based solely on the temperature and warmth on his neck. He is also able to tell the nurses apart based on the vibrations that they make.

Johnny Got His Gun 4

Joe believes that concrete things are worth fighting for, and he does not think that ideals are worth fighting for. He claims that men go to war and do not even understand what they are fighting for. They may be fighting for liberty or honor, but in the end, how do they ever get what is won? Joe wants something concrete to fight for because at the conclusion of the war, even if he lost everything, he would still know what he won. Joe specifically mentions fighting for democracy. Several men died fighting for democracy, but when fighting, they did not think about fighting for democracy. When fighting, the soldiers were thinking of concrete objects like their friends and families.

Johnny Got His Gun 3

Joe realizes that he has a hole in his face that has yet to have healed. That night, he has a nightmare about a rat gnawing at his face. He has this dream because of something he saw when he was at war. Joe and some other soldiers found a Prussian soldier that had been dead for several weeks. They had found that a rat was chewing on the soldier’s face. The rat symbolizes Joe’s previous war experience. It shows that no one is really going to benefit from going to war. There are just going to be several deaths like the Prussian soldier that Joe stumbled upon. The rat shows that the people not fighting the war will benefit just like the rat that lives off of the flesh of the soldiers that died.

Johnny Got His Gun 2

One of Joe’s recollections is working at the bakery. The bakery was located in Los Angeles, and Joe remembers working late nights there. Joe remembers working at the bakery because he used to walk eleven miles to work each night. Joe cannot do that anymore because he had his legs amputated. Jose is a man that Joe works with at the bakery. Jose came to California so that he could find a job at a studio. Originally, Jose worked in New York City as a chauffeur for a wealthy family. He left his last job because the daughter of the man he worked for fell in love with him. The workers at the bakery initially don’t believe him until a letter arrives from the daughter who fell in love with him. One of the reasons that Joe likes Jose is because Jose had the audacity to leave the wealthy family to find a new job. Most people might decide to marry the daughter to inherit the money.

Johnny Got His Gun 1

In the novel, the main character, Joe, just returned from war. He is in pretty bad shape, bandaged from head to toe, and he thinks he is deaf, unable to hear the sound of his own heartbeat. Joe keeps remembering certain events that occurred in the past. One of those is when he saw his father dead at his house, and the men carried him away. Both of Joe’s arms are amputated, and he has just woken up from being unconscious for some time. Joe compares this to drowning because he is struggling and can’t really do anything to relieve himself. The doctors are trying to cure him, but Joe is unable to help in anyway. Joe can’t move or see, being bandaged up, he has no arms, and he can’t hear. The only thing that Joe can really do is feel. Joe feels in a sense of distress, shock, and helplessness just as someone would feel if they were drowning.

The Bell Jar 10

Throughout the novel, Esther had always dreamt of sleeping with a man. Esther had always wanted to sleep with a man but did not want to worry about what could possible come with it such as pregnancy. Finally, the opportunity to have sex arose when she met Irwin. Irwin was a math professor at Harvard. After sleeping with Irwin, Esther was not satisfied. She complained of it hurting reprehensibly. Afterwards, Esther began to bleed a tremendous amount. She showed Joan how much she was bleeding, and Joan immediately sent her to the hospital. The doctors said that it was very unusual to have that much bleeding after her first sexual experience. In conclusion, Esther’s first sexual experience was nowhere near what she had dreamt of.

The Bell Jar 9

In chapter 15, for the first time in the novel, Esther refers to the bell jar by claiming that her life is like a bell jar. By saying this, she means that wherever she goes, she is constantly trapped by the bell jar. A bell jar is used to cover delicate objects, and in this scenario, it is meant to symbolize covering Esther. Even if you move a bell jar, the object inside of it is going to remain enclosed. It is the same way with Esther. The doctors keep moving her from hospital to hospital, but she is still is unable to let out her emotions. Later in the novel, in chapter 19, she refers to a bell jar again, but this time, it is on a more positive note. She says that she feels much better after the shock therapy and is able to lift the bell jar a bit. She is now able to let out her emotions some more and communicate with others more clearly.

The Bell Jar 8

Philomena Guinea suggests that Esther go to a new, different asylum. Guinea had gone to one when she was growing up and thought that Esther should give it a try. Esther and her mother agree, and Guinea flies to Boston to take Esther to the new hospital. Esther’s new doctor is Dr. Nolan, who also happens to be a woman. Esther gets daily injections of insulin and later gets a lobotomy. She becomes happier and moves into a sunnier room. Esther loves her new hospital and does not want to leave. If she had been forced to stay where she was, I think that she would have literally gone insane or gotten so depressed that she would have killed herself.

The Bell Jar 7

Throughout the novel, we have witnessed Esther’s mental sanity go from okay to worse. In chapter 13 and 14, Esther begins to seriously think suicide. The first attempt at suicide in these chapters was when she was at the beach with Jody, Mark, and Cal, and she tried to drown herself. Later, she took her sleeping pills from her mother’s lock box and took fifty of them, which is obviously a very unsafe amount. The next morning, she woke up in the hospital.
It really did not matter whether Esther was seeing Dr. Gordon, receiving shock therapy, or even seeing a different doctor. Esther has suicide on her mind and is very depressed. Esther has reached that all time low where she believes that killing herself is the only solution. Even if she did go to another institution, she would still want to kill herself because she believes that suicide is the only remedy to all of her problems.

The Bell Jar 6

We first meet Dr. Gordon in these two chapters. At first, I think that Esther is a bit anxious, but excited, about seeing Dr. Gordon. She hopes that he can bring her back to her normal self; however, when she first walks into his office, she sees a picture of him with his family. Esther now claimed that she did not like Dr. Gordon because he had an attractive family. Esther goes on to tell him how she has had trouble eating, sleeping, and reading. When she reads, the words jumble up after a short time, so it is difficult for her. After just two sessions with Esther, Dr. Gordon decided that Esther needed shock therapy, and her mother was to bring her to the hospital in Walton.
I think Dr. Gordon is helping Esther, because she clearly has some mental imbalances. The fact that she is considering slitting her wrists or drowning herself marks that Esther needs some kind of help; however, I do not know if Esther necessarily needed shock therapy. I do not know much about it, but I think Esther just needs someone to talk to and maybe some depression medication. I am not sure if shock therapy is right for her because after her sessions, she always feels dreadful and as if it the “end of the world.”

The Bell Jar 5

Doreeen asks Esther to go on a double date with Lenny and a “mystery” person. Esther agrees to it and finds out that she has been set up with a man named Marco. Marco immediately gives Esther a diamond pin and says he will perform something worthy of a diamond. When he is telling her this, Marco grips her arm and leaves her with several bruises. Later, he tosses her drink into some bushes and forces her to dance with him. He then pushes her to the ground and undresses her. At first, Esther lied there motionless. Then, Marco called her a slut, and she begins to fight back. Esther refuses to return the diamond he gave her, and Marco begins to beat her. He smeared his blood all over his face and threatens to break her neck. Esther then returns back to the Amazon and throws away all of her clothes. This is a way for her to get clean, just like how she took a bath earlier in the novel to rid herself from sin. Plus, Marco’s actions influenced her to return to Boston and do something that she wanted with her life like writing a novel or pursuing her education.
The next day, Esther returns to Boston. When she arrives, she found out that she did not get into the writing program that she signed up for. A couple days later, Esther received a letter from Buddy saying that he has fallen in love with a nurse. He also says that if Esther comes to visit him, he may be able to love her again. Esther writes back saying she is engaged and never wants to talk to him again. Esther decides to write a novel, and then later she decides to spend some time in Germany. She is very indecisive at this time and I think this has some relation to what Marco did to her. Esther wants to do activities she enjoys instead of just doing them to do them.

The Bell Jar 4

Esther wants to sleep with Constantin because she wants to get even with Buddy. After Esther and Constantin have dinner one night, Constantin invites Esther back to his apartment to listen to some balalaika music. Esther accepted the invitation, and the two headed back to Constantin’s apartment. Once there, Constantin continuously filled up Esther’s cup with wine, and Esther became really drowsy. A bit later, she decided to call it a night and went to sleep in his bed. Later, she heard Constantin come into the bedroom and lie next to her; however, they did not do anything. This is kind of a strange reaction on Constantin’s end, but it also shows some respect from him as well. You can tell that he likes Esther because he does not want to rush into anything, and he is also willing to drive her home at three in the morning. He also admired little things about Esther like the way her hair looked when she got out of bed.

The Bell Jar 3

Esther really likes Buddy and would always admire him from afar. She would always see him at church when they were both home from college, but they never really talked. One day, Buddy stopped by Esther’s home to say he would like to see her while he was away at college. Later, Buddy invited Esther to the Junior Prom at Yale, and they started dating after that. They were getting along really well until one day, Esther asked if he had ever slept with a woman. Buddy confessed and said that he once slept with a waitress while working for a summer job. Esther was mad and later, after some deliberation, broke it off with Buddy. Right when Esther decided to dump Buddy, Buddy called her to tell her that he had tuberculosis. Esther was pleased to hear this because that meant she would not have to see him as much. Buddy, however, was not happy because he wanted to marry Esther. Esther went back to tell all the seniors that she was living with that Buddy had TB. The seniors then left Esther alone to study because they thought she was just covering her pain of breaking up with Buddy.

The Bell Jar 2

In college, Esther is required to take the typical sciences classes like at most schools. She excelled in botany because she liked cutting leaves up and observing them. She then found out that she had to take Physics. Esther did not like Physics because it dealt more with equations and variables instead of working with tangible objects like plants. Esther’s professor created his own textbook for the class, hoping it would someday be published. 99% of the girls in her Physics class failed it, and Esther was the only student who got a solid A. Esther did not enjoy taking the class and knew that Chemistry would be much worse, so she went to talk to her Class Dean about it. Esther suggested that she still take Chemistry but not receive a grade. She would take the class simply because she “enjoys” it, and it would free up time in her schedule to take a class over Shakespeare. Professors allowed Esther to do this because they thought it signified “intellectual maturity.” Esther may not enjoy Chemistry very much because she is not really into numbers and equations. Because Esther is an English major, she is more interested in poems and stories and other tangible objects. Equations and the periodic table are concepts that are too intricate for Esther.

The Bell Jar 1

“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenberg’s, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.”

Esther is in a position that most girls would be envious over. She currently resides in New York and is attending college there. She is completing a one-month internship for a fashion magazine as well. Because she is working for the magazine, she gets a ton of great clothes and gets invites to all of the best parties. Aside from all of these great bonuses, Esther is not happy. For some reason, all she can think about is the Rosenberg’s. The Rosenberg’s were Communists that lived in the United States. The reason they were executed was because they took information about the atomic bomb and gave it to the Soviet Union in 1951. All of this just shows that Esther may not be enjoying her time in New York, and it may not be the best fit for her. After Doreen came home drunk and passed out, Esther realized that she was more conservative than Doreen and should be spending more of her time with the more reserved Betsy.

Mona Lisa Smile 2

During the 1950’s, there was a general sense of conformity. All of the women had the general goal of getting married and beginning a family while all of the men had the goal of providing a steady income for his wife and kids. When someone broke out of this conformity, it was frowned upon. During the movie, Betty made a decision that revokes a value from the 1950’s. She divorced her husband because he was cheating on her. This was a decision that most women would have never thought of even making. This revokes the values during the time period because it was different than anyone had ever done before. Women were beginning to come out of their shells and pursue a life for themselves. Divorce was becoming a larger statistic as the decade rolled on. Divorce was originally something that totally contradicted the family values of the 1950’s; however, today, it has become a common occurrence in everyday living.

Mona Lisa Smile 1

The film did a remarkable job of portraying the 1950’s. During this time period, family values were all relatively the same. The goal of most women was to marry young and have a family. They enjoyed cooking, cleaning, and pleasing their husband. The men of this time period were expected to provide the money for the family. Also, the men and women had a strict policy of waiting to have sex until after they were married.
As the 1950’s progressed, values shifted as well. Like Joan in the movie, women wanted to achieve a higher education instead of just becoming the normal housewife. Also, divorce was virtually unheard of during this time; however, more and more people began to get divorced as time grew on. Men and women wanted to break out of the mold that they had built for themselves. Women wanted to pursue a higher education and not have to worry about having dinner on the table at five.

A Streetcar Named Desire 4

In the final chapters of the play, a very terrible thing happened to Blanche. She was raped by Stanley one night while Stella was in the hospital preparing to have a baby. When Blanche confronted Stella about the situation, Stella did not believe her. Instead, Stella decided to send Blanche to a mental hospital and continue to live her life with Stanley.

Ever since Blanche first came to live with Stella and Stanley, she completely ruined their relationship. Stella and Stanley were very close before Blanche came, but as time grew on, Blanche caused the two to drift apart. Blanche would constantly get in weird moods and drift in and out of reality. With Stella constantly trying to help her sister, she did not have as much time for Stanley. Stanley would become increasingly paranoid and frustrated with Blanche.

Stella was right to send Blanche to a mental hospital. Blanche was obviously very emotionally unstable and needed some professional help. Stella and Stanley need some time alone to rekindle their relationship, especially with a new baby.

A Streetcar Named Desire 3

In these chapters, Blanche reveals more details about her first marriage. She married at the young age of sixteen, and she was madly in love with her husband. Then, one day, she came home to find her husband in bed with a much older man. Apparently the two had been friends for a very long time. Blanche tried to pretend nothing happened, and all three of them went out to a casino that night. After a couple of drinks, Blanche approached her husband and said how she felt about the situation and how disgusted she was. The boy ran out of the casino and shot himself in the head. Finding this out about Blanche’s past was a little shocking at first; however, it always seemed like Blanche was hiding something. She was very insecure about the love letters she had from her husband and wouldn’t even let Stanley look at them. This incident that Blanche witnessed could also be an indicator of why she was on a leave of absence because earlier in the novel, she admitted “It would be nice to keep you, but I’ve got to be good and keep my hands off children.” (pg. 84) She saw the older man in bed with her young husband, so she could have been doing just that with her students.

A Streetcar Named Desire 2

Blanche does not approve of Stanley because she does not like the way the he treats her sister, Stella. Stanley constantly beats on Stella for the smallest issues. Then, later, he goes back to Stella to apologize, and Stella accepts it. She claims that that is just the way he is. She also told Blanche about how Stanley went around the room smashing lightbulbs with her shoes on their honeymoon. Blanche sees Stanley as a vulgar man with no respect for Stella. She thinks that it is crazy that someone like Stella, born and raised on Belle Reve, could put up with a man like Stanley. Blanche does not like Stanley one bit and continually referred to him as a brutish man. He constantly humiliates and beats Stella, yet Stella comes running back every time thinking that it is just the way that Stanley is.

A Streetcar Named Desire 1

When we first meet Stanley in the novel, he seemed like a relatively normal guy who loves women and likes to go out with his buddies. After reading Scene two and three, we discover a new side to Stanley. In Scene two, Stanley proves that he is untrustworthy because as soon as he got home, Stella told him not to mention her pregnancy to anyone; however, a couple minutes later, he ends up sharing that bit of news with everyone. Stanley is also insecure because he constantly questioned why Blanche had so many clothes and whether or not she sold Belle Reve. Then, in Scene three, when Stella and Blanche return home, Stella tells Stanley that it was time to call it a night and stop playing poker. Stanley refused and told Stella to go upstairs to Eunice as he slaps her on the butt. Stanley is a disrespectful and untrustworthy man. Finally, the final piece of Stanley’s personality that we encounter is a bit of aggression. Stella and Blanche were talking in one room while Stanley and the boys were playing poker. Blanche turned on the radio, and Stanley stormed out of his seat to shut it off. Later, Stella started yelling at Stanley to keep the radio on because Blanche wanted to listen, and Stanley started violently beating her. In conclusion, the reader learns that Stanley is violent, untrustworthy, and disrespectful in Scenes two and three.

Essay Ideas

For the essay, I will probably start off by describing Norma and Willy. I will go over their personalities, habits, etc. Then, I will go into more depth by comparing and contrasting Norma and Willy. Finally, I will critique the poem written by Langston Hughes. In 1951, Hughes wrote a poem about a dream deferred. He claimed what happens to a dream when it is put aside. He asks several questions throughout the poem such as “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” or “Does it stink like rotten meat?” I will relate this poem to Norma and Willy. Overall, my main objective is going to be to describe Willy and Norma’s failed dreams. I will go into depth about why they do not succeed and their reactions to it.

Norma vs. Willy

Norma Desmond and Willy are two very similar characters. They both are people that used to be “big” and are still pretty caught up with it. In the movie, Norma says, “I am big, it is the pictures that got small!” She was once successful and thinks she still is. Willy was the same way. He always bragged about how good of a salesman he is/was. He also thought he was going to die the “death of a salesman” where everyone would come to his funeral; however, only his family, Bernard, and Charley came. Another similarity is that Willy and Norma are both a little weird. Norma has a dead monkey in her house that she wants to put in a coffin and bury in her backyard, and Willy has “memories” that sometimes interfere with his everyday life.

Death of a Salesman 7

Willy’s final actions in the novel were certainly not notable. Committing suicide is a sign of weakness. By killing himself, he thought he would please his family by granting them with $20,000 through his life insurance. He did not consider how much it would hurt his family. The only notable thing about Willy’s suicide is the fact that he pursued it because he thought he would be helping his family; however, it did not. Biff wants to go do his own thing and will not even be around the family much more. When Biff confronted Willy to tell him that he was leaving, Biff started crying. By crying, Willy assumed that Biff loved him. Willy then made further assumptions that by killing himself, Biff would step up to the plate and take care of the family; however, this is not the case. Committing suicide shows how weak Willy was. Overall, Willy’s reasons for killing himself proved to be inaccurate.

Death of a Salesman 6

We learn that Biff has flunked math in this part of the novel. He goes to see his father, Willy, who is on a business trip. When Biff arrives at the hotel, he tells his father how he has flunked math. He begs Willy to go home right then to talk to Biff’s math teacher about changing the grade. Willy tells Biff that he will get his math grade changed; however, if he is unable to, then Biff will have to take summer school. Biff agrees, but he soon notices that Willy is not alone in his hotel room. There is a woman in there as well, naked. Willy tries to play it off saying that the woman is a buyer and that her room is being painted. He claimed that she just came to his room to shower. Biff just stands there in awe. He is especially mad at Willy because he gave the woman Linda’s stockings. This encounter with the woman severely strained Biff and Willy’s relationship. Biff no longer wants Willy to go back home to talk to his teacher. Also, we later learn that Biff did not even want to go to summer school to make up his math grade.

Death of a Salesman 5

In this section of the reading, Charley comes to Willy and offers him a job. It pays fifty dollars a week, and it has the added bonus of Willy not having to travel anymore. Willy does not accept the job because he is jealous of Charley, especially of Charley’s son, Bernard. Bernard was always a dorky, nerdy kid when he was younger; however, today, Bernard is a very successful man with a family. Willy is embarrassed of that because he always thought that Bernard would not be successful because he was not well-liked. Willy thought his two sons, Biff and Happy, would be much more successful because they were popular. Willy does not want to take the job because he does not want to lose his integrity. I do not think that this is the right decision because of the simple fact that Willy is without a job. He is making no kind of income and is unable to support his family. Willy should have taken the job so he could receive a steady flow of money and not have to travel anymore, especially considering the mental condition that he is in.

Death of a Salesman 4

Ben is Willy’s older brother and is much wealthier than what Willy is. I think that Ben is a positive influence on Willy. Ben is a successful man and is someone that Willy should look up to. Ben also wants Willy to be successful. He wants Willy to join him on his Alaskan adventure to try to make a good sum of money in the diamond mines. On the other hand, Willy easily becomes consumed by material goods. He believes that his sons will be successful just because they are popular and well-liked. Willy has to understand that it takes hard work to become successful as well. I think that Linda thinks the Ben is a bad influence because throughout the novel so far, she is trying to get Willy to find a stable job in New York so he does not have to travel as much. She wants him to stay close to home as he ages. Therefore, she does not want Willy to become like Ben and go off searching for wealth in diamond mines. She wants him to stay with his job and be close to home.

Death of a Salesman 3

In this section of the novel, Happy and Biff decide to embark on a business adventure. Happy thinks that he and Biff should ask Bill Oliver for a business loan. By doing this, Happy and Biff would not only have decent jobs, but they would make their father happy as well. Happy creates a business proposal for a campaign to sell sporting goods. Willy, their father, thinks that the boys are going to be great candidates for the new business proposal. He believes that because they are attractive and well-liked, they are going to be successful. I do not think that this new business is going to work out very well. We learned earlier in the novel how Biff only wanted to work on a farm. He was never satisfied with working in an actual office environment; therefore, I do not think that he will be able to hold up his end of the bargain. Happy may be able to follow through with this business proposal, but he would also have to forget his other job. Also, Happy is very materialistic, and if the business is not successful, he may want to follow through with it.

Death of a Salesman 2

In this section of the novel, we meet a character named Charley. Charley is Willy’s next-door neighbor. We also learned that he has a son named Bernard. Willy always makes fun of Bernard because he is good at school. Willy claims that his two athletic and popular sons, Happy and Biff, will be more successful in life than Bernard will be.

After meeting Charley for a somewhat brief moment in the section, he and Willy do not get along too well. They get together to play cards and hang out, but they have a sort of “love/hate” relationship. They are friends, yet they still bicker at one another. They are similar to the two characters on the movie Grumpy Old Men. They fight over card games, yet at the end of the day, they are still friends.

Death of a Salesman 1

In the first few pages of the text, we meet two boys, Happy and Biff. They are Linda and Willy’s children. Biff is two years older than Happy, but he is not quite as successful. When Biff was talking to Happy in one of the passages, he claimed how he was thirty-four years old, and he was only making twenty-eight dollars a week. I do not think that either of the characters is necessarily happy. Biff is unsatisfied because he cannot find the right job to settle down with while making a decent amount of money. Happy is worried about how their father always talks to himself and how that has gotten worse. From what we have read so far, I cannot assume whether these characters are reliable. I think that they both love their family. Biff may be a bit more unreliable than Happy because Biff is constantly searching for a job and will not settle for one, even though his parents are stressing for him to. Happy might be a little more reliable considering that he is worried about his father’s health. Overall, nothing from the text strikes me that these boys are extremely unreliable.

Trial

When Janie is on trial for murdering Tea Cake, she does not talk much. During the trial, Janie wanted people to realize that she is as devastated as everyone else is that Tea Cake is dead. She really loved Tea Cake and was mortified when she killed him. After the mad dog bit Tea Cake, he became very sick. By shooting Tea Cake, Janie saved Tea Cake of his misery. Janie does not care about the outcome of the trial. She just wants people to realize that she did not kill Tea Cake because she does not love him. She murdered Tea Cake to save herself, but also to put him out of his misery. All that Janie really wants out of the trial is to gain the respect of Tea Cake’s friends once more. Throughout the novel, Janie always had trouble finding her voice and speaking for herself. Then, when she met Tea Cake, she found her inner voice and was able to voice her opinion; however, as soon as she found her inner voice, it escaped her. During the trial, Janie did not talk much because she did not care about being proven innocent or guilty; she just cared about rekindling her friendship with the people of the town.

"Their Eyes were Watching God"

One day, Janie sees several Native Americans leaving the Everglades to head for Palm Beach. Janie is puzzled to see them leave, so she asks them why they are going. They say that there is a hurricane coming. Over the next few days, more people as well as animals flock from the Everglades to find safety. Tea Cake decides to stay behind. The other people who decide to stay gather together at Tea Cake’s house, and they have a party. As the party goes on, the weather gets even worse. All of the men return home to their respective houses, except a man named Motor Boat stays behind. The three of them, Janie, Motorboat, and Tea Cake, all stay together as the storm picks up. This is when the narrator states how “their eyes were watching God.” This quote implies how all three of them are in it together and how it is them versus the hurricane. It shows how everything happens according to God’s plan. They personally decided to stay behind and endure the hurricane, so it is now up to God as to what will happen to them.

Life with Tea Cake

With Logan, Janie was expected to work in the fields to help Logan out, and she was expected to prepare meals and take care of the house. Logan even went as far as to buy Janie a mule, so she can help out with the fieldwork even more than she already was. Then, when Janie and Jody were together, Jody wanted Janie to stay in the house or the store all day. He said that women should not be out in the fields working. Plus, since Jody was the mayor of the town, he expected Janie to be Mrs. Mayor. In this role, Janie had to be refined, and she was never allowed to work outside or hang out with Jody and his friends. Finally, Janie stumbles upon Tea Cake. So far, Tea Cake has been the best husband. He reimbursed her when he took her money to buy his friends dinner. He also taught Janie how to shoot a gun and played checkers with her. Playing checkers with Janie was a big deal to her because checkers was considered a “man’s game,” so it was something she had never been allowed to do. Tea Cake treated Janie as an equal.

Janie vs. The Man

In chapter nine, Janie told us a story. When God made The Man, he made him cheerful and glittered all over. The angels became jealous of this man so they chopped him up into millions of pieces; however, the Man continued to hum and glitter. The angels decided to beat him into nothing but sparks, but even each individual spark continued to shine. The angels then covered the sparks with mud. Because the sparks are lonesome, they hunt for one another because the mud is “deaf and dumb.” Like the mud, Janie tried to shine through but was unable to. At first, she was forced into marriage with Logan, which covered up some of her shine. Then, she found Jody, who completely covered Janie's "shine." He even tried to make her wear her long, beautiful hair up in a rag. She was being weighed down by people like Jody who were telling her what to do and not letting her be herself. The mud that covers Janie is an example of the different criticism that Janie receives from people like Jody.

Mule and Janie

In chapter six, the author introduces us to a mule. The mule’s owner is a man named Matt Bonner. People are not very nice to the mule and abuse him. Bonner does not feed the mule, so he is very skinny. I think Janie cares about the mule so much because she can relate to him. Both the mule and Janie get made fun of and mistreated and both of them are fed up with it. Bonner does not take care of the mule, does not feed it, and does not respect it. It is the same way for Janie. Jody does not treat Janie very well. He does not even let Janie make a speech in front of the town because he thought that women were not supposed to make speeches and that she did not know how. He thought that all women were good for was taking care of the home. Also, the mule really has no say and what he does because Bonner is his owner and controls what he does. It is the same way for Janie. Jody “controls” her and decides what she can and cannot do.

Jody in Eatonville

When Janie first met Jody, he was a very polite and chivalrous man. He would say nice things to Janie and would treat her well. When Jody arrived in Eatonville, his personality did a complete twist. He put Janie second and did what he thought was best for him. Because the town was small and still forming, Jody wanted to be “the big man on campus” and take total control. A good example of how Jody put Janie aside in his life was on page 51.
‘“And now we’ll listen tuh uh few words uh encouragement from Mrs. Mayor Starks.’ The burst of applause was cut short by Joe taking the floor himself. ‘Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.’”
Jody embarrassed Janie in front of the whole town by saying how she was unable to make a speech and how the only place for Janie was at home. The idea of Jody being in charge of the town is getting to him, and it is starting to affect his relationship with Janie for the worst. Jody only cares about himself and making himself more powerful. Janie comes second behind that.

Nature Imagery

Their Eyes Were Watching God is full of several different examples of nature imagery. Janie even referred to a pear tree as an example of her love. On page 17, Janie said, “The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree…” Janie claimed how Logan was ruining the pear tree. At the end of chapter four, another example of nature imagery is used. “They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged.” To Janie, the horizon represents her future and the life that Janie wants. The horizon offers something mysterious, yet exciting for Janie. Janie knows how each day is a completely new day. I think this quote is just referring to how she is going to try to make a new life for herself by running off with “Jody.” This quote might also foreshadow what is going to happen in the future. It might represent how her life with Jody will end in the same way that her life with Logan did.

Janie Returns Home

In the first chapter, the main character, Janie, is returning from a mysterious trip with a man named Tea Cake. The townspeople gather around, watching her walk back to her house. They sit on their porches and gossip when Janie returns back to town. They are envious of her looks and the fact that she traveled with a younger man for some time. Janie seems like she is not fazed by the other women’s comments when she is talking to her friend Pheoby. As we continue reading, we learn more about Janie’s past. As a child, Janie grew up with mostly white children. She never even knew that she was black until she saw a photograph of her standing with the other children. She had to ask someone where she was in the picture because the only person left was a small black child, and Janie knew that that could not be her. These two events are different in the fact that I think Janie has learned to live with being different. When she was a child, Janie was devastated to find out that she was black; yet, when she was older and being criticized by the townspeople, she really did not care what they thought. On the other hand, both of these events are similar because Janie is being critiqued in each one. At first, Janie gets criticized for being the only black child in the picture and not even knowing it. Then, she gets criticized for going on a mysterious trip with a man and for her beautiful looks.