TEWWG Dialectical Journals #51-55

DJ-51

…uh white man and uh nigger woman is de freest thing on earth.’ Dey do as dey please. – Anonymous black man PG 189

This sentence uttered by an unnamed black man is the exact opposite of what Nanny told Janie when she was young. It is also contrary to theme of black women trying to gain freedom present in the book. This serves as an opposing opinion and view to Janie’s thoughts and goals. It exhibits how different people, and those in power, can see a situation so differently.

DJ-52

…because they wanted to think well of themselves, they wanted their hostile attitude forgotten. So they blamed it on Mrs. Turner’s brother… - Narrator

Embarrassment causes many people to attempt to place the blame for whatever incident on others. A faux pau usually occurs for embarrassment to follow. The people publicly doubted Janie, a perfect wife, and realized they were incorrect about her involvement in TC’s untimely death. This also is a reflection of the black community in Eatonville, who accused Janie of witchcraft when her husband died of natural causes. This repetition emphasizes the fact that people wish to put their own welfare first and by making others look bad, they further their own position by default.

DJ-53

Anyway their anger against Janie had lasted two whole days and that was too long to keep remembering anything. Too much of a strain. – Narrator PG 191

The black folks are the same mob-herd animals as the white people. Glades = Eatonville

The complete lack of motivation or memory pervades in the herd-like people. The people have no strong emotion behind their persecution of Janie, so they drop it quickly. They appear as empty people, just following the herd. It is a depressing view of society because it lacks any real intelligence or thought process.

DJ-54

The seeds reminded Janie of Tea Cake more than anything else because he was always planting things. – Narrator PG 191

Although TC did plant seeds in the ground in Eatonville and again in the Everglades, his true value lay in the metaphorical seeds he planted in Janie’s life and mind. Because of him, she was able to feel love, fun, and hope again. He introduced her to a life of freedom and happiness, something she did not have before. TC was a catalyst for Janie in her quest for self-fulfillment in life.

DJ-55

…they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves. – Janie PG 192

On the very last page, Janie explains that individuals cannot use others to learn about life. Different experiences happen to everyone, and each is unique to that person. It is impossible to perfectly redo any moment in life. To find self actualization, Janie had to go out into the unknown. She took a risk with TC and it worked out for her, not everyone is so lucky, but that is a part of living. Janie has come full circle, from being the one listening to others and wondering, to being the person sharing her experiences and wisdom as the teller.

TEWWG Dialectical Journals #41-50

DJ-41

Dey laughs to much and dey laughs too loud. – Ms. Turner PG 141

Mrs. Turner is Janie’s antithesis. As Janie and TC lead an uncertain but ultimately happy life, Mrs. Turner is bitter and glum. Although there are moments in the novel where white people are clearly put in a negative light, Janie doesn’t really hold much resentment or dislike for them or anyone due to their skin color. Mrs. Turner’s intense dislike of African-American’s dominates her life causing, in her mind, a division between black and white that is impassible. Janie accepts African-Americans and Caucasian-Americans equally in the Everglades.

DJ-42

He was a vanished-looking kind of man as if there used to be parts about him that stuck out individually but now he hadn’t a thing about him that wasn’t dwindled and blurred. – Narrator PG 143

As this man’s personality and life got sucked out of him by his bitter wife, so too did his physical impression. He appears beaten down and shadow-like. Like Janie was a ghost of herself towards the end with Jody, so too is Mrs. Turner’s husband.

DJ-43

 You couldn’t have a hurricane when you’re making seven and eight dollars a day picking beans. – Narrator PG 155

This line is verbal irony by the narrator, though it doesn’t appear that way at first. It is also a comment on how money causes foolishness. TC doesn’t want to leave the Muck because the pay is good and he thinks he knows best. TC learns the painful lesson to heed others’ advice after the couple are forced to flee the Everglades. Money, and the greed to get it, was the root of TC and Janie staying in the Everglades despite many warnings to leave. The whole situation shows how quickly everything good can be wiped away and emphasizes the negatives of greed.

DJ-44

The people felt uncomfortable but safe because there were the seawalls to chain the senseless monster in his bed. – Narrator PG 158

This line highlights the reliance of humans on their inventions and tools. They make tools for everything from cleaning their teeth to shooting their enemies. Delusion is a defensive mechanism for humans. It allows them to remain calm and ignore the often scary outside world. This monster is symbolism for how a men-led society encourages the perception of women as unreliable. Women are kept in subservient positions and scorned if they attempt to escape that path. Janie is a perfect example of that.  

DJ-45

He stood once more and again in his high flat house without sides to it and without a roof with his soulless sword standing upright in his hand. – Narrator PG 169

Waiting with patience for more victims

Death is a fearful thing for most humans. The fact that death is possible every single day in practically every moment  is nervwracking. Humans ignore death because otherwise they would only think of it and be unable to live their lives. Death as a person is described as a silent and war like being, needing no human comforts like water or shelter. Words could be seen in the same manner. They live upon every tongue and the majority of humans communicate with others every day. However, they can be deadly and unpredictable weapons upon the spirit.

DJ-46

De ones de white man know is nice colored folks. De ones he don’t know is bad niggers. – Janie PG 172

Familiarity breeds comfort. Although Janie is putting down white people in this sentence, she makes a very valid point regarding the correlation between comfort and knowledge. Knowledge, or even perceived knowledge, about a subject instant gives confidence to its beholder.

DJ-47

But the demon was there before him, strangling, killing him quickly. – Narrator PG 175

Hydrophobia and rabies is described as a demon strangling the life out of TC. Although neither TC nor Janie were aware of it at the time, he died for her. The dog was wild as was his life. He gambled, he drifted, and his ending happiness came from marrying someone wanted the same life-style. However, the dog is a representation of both chance and a thing turning against it’s controller. Dogs are servants to humans, or at least below them in the heirarachy. For a dog to attack a person, it means a loss of control. Ironically, TC was killed by an abnormal phenomena as he led an abnormal life.

DJ-48

Well, she thought, that big old dawg with the hatred in his eyes had killed her after all. – Janie/Narrator PG 178

Life got her down afterall.

The dog is a symbol of society. Usually dogs are perceived as loyal, good animals. However, when the society senses a person different or abnormal, they are a threat. That is why people are often teased or excluded when they are different. Society went after Janie; first it crushed her dreams of marrying for love, then it ruined her ruined her reputation by proclaiming her affair with TC wrong. Janie went against society and society (Eatonville) shamed her. She escaped from that with TC.

DJ-49

God made it so you spent yo’ ole age first wid somebody else, and saved up yo’ young girl days to spend wid me. – Tea Cake PG 181

Janie spent everywhere from sixteen to about fourty being married and mainly unhappy. Forced to be solemn and proper by Jody, she acted the part of an older dignified lady. With TC, she could let her self relax and enjoy life like young people generally do. Her spirit was revived with the chance at freedom and happiness with TC.

DJ-50

They were there with their tongues cocked and loaded, the only real weapon left to weak folks. The only killing tool they are allowed to use in the presence of white folks. – Narrator PG 186

Words are the most basic and easily accessible weapon. They cost no money and no difficulty to the owners. They can be unleashed like a bomb all at once, or they can be deployed a few at a time to slowly kill the enemy. They are effective by targeting not the physical world, but the mental and emotional one. However, for people their emotions and mind control their actions, psychological weapons can be the most effective of all.

Critical Essay On TEWWG

Patrick S. Bernard, "The Cognitive Construction of the Self in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God" is the essay I chose. Here is a link to it: The Cognitive Construction of the Self in Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

TEWWG Dialectical Journals #31-40

DJ-31

Yuh can’t beat uh woman. Dey jes won’t stand fuh it. – Tea Cake PG 96

From the beginning Tea Cake is glaringly different than Jody. Where Tea Cake asks and respects women, Jody didn’t. Janie finds companionship in Tea Cake by being in his company and just having fun. Jody made Janie his trophy, not his companion. After being abused by Jody, this must come as a refreshing change to her life.

DJ-32

You’se got de world in uh jug and make out you don’t know it – Tea Cake PG 104

Everything in this book has to do with potential. There was potential in the first boring marriage to live an average but comfortable life. She rejected it. The was a chance at greatness through marriage to Jody, it didn’t satisfy her. Janie has the potential to be happy, she just doesn’t recognize it, Tea Cake does. Her beauty, wit, and charm all make her attractive to other characters once she is given a chance to shine.

DJ-33

…youngness don’t satisfy me lak yo’ presence do…Things lak dat got uh whole lot tuh do wid convenience, but it ain’t got nothin’ to do wid love. – Tea Cake PG 105

Convenience is what Nanny wanted for Janie, convenience is proper in society because it mean stability. Janie has been there and done it twice over. With Tea Cake, her normal shell is broken. She was crammed into a perfect Ms. Mayor Wife position and not allowed to do anything for her desires. Tea Cake is the bee to her tree, he allows her to blossom into confidence.

DJ-34

Somebody done tole ‘em what to set down for. – Janie PG 112

Janie speaks of the educated women as being told things to consider as they sit patiently. For herself, Janie has nothing to consider because she has done nothing by her account. She was educated, but her interests were outside the schoolroom by the trees and nature. To sit in a room just thinking not doing goes against her grain. Especially as a represented by nature. Nature is always moving and shifting, for good or bad. It also doesn’t take advice from others, Janie dislikes that others told the woman what to think about.

DJ-35

Git up on uh high chair and sit dere…So Ah got up on de high stool lak she tole me, but Pheoby, Ah done nearly languished tuh heath up dere. – Janie PG 114

Victory was in Janie’s possession. However, when she got it, she realized it wasn’t as great as made out to be. Nanny wanted Janie to have a ‘grand’ life as a perfectly kept wife. Janie wasn’t sure what she wanted but she followed her grandmother’s wishes. Sitting up in the spotlight wasn’t as pleasant because there was no one to share it with and no place to take it. Thrones and castles aren’t meant to move or change much, but Janie as a human is.

DJ-36

…he talked and acted out the story. – Narrator PG 122

This is what Tea Cake is all about. He is enthusiastic, charming, and has a huge joie-de-vivre.  Janie has been lacking this in her life due to unsuitable matches and circumstances. TC is an embodiment of freedom, including its risks and rewards. He enjoys a life in the fast lane, with gambling and odd jobs always looking for something new. However, he knows the uncertainty of his next job as well. This bit of wildness attracts Janie as it is in huge contrast to everything she has ever known and parallel to her own inner desires.

DJ-37

Tea Cake: So you aims tuh partake wid everything, hunh

Janie: Yeah.       -PG 124

With these two lines, they become partners. Partners are equal, but can preform different duties within the relationship. Although Janie still is the classical stay-at-home wife, she gets a say in where they go and what they do. TC encourages this, the opposite of Janie’s other husbands opinions on women speaking.

They are partners now.

DJ-38

You done married one uh de best gamblers God ever made. – Tea Cake PG 125

Despite his many good characteristics, TC does have bad qualities. Gambling, a dangerous and often risky business, is one of his favorite pastimes and moneymakers. This past time helps develop TC as a character because it gives him diversity and the black-and-white present in every person.

DJ-39

From now on, you gointuh eat whatever mah money can buy yuh and wear de same. When Ah ain’t got nothin’ you don’t git nothin’. – Tea Cake PG 128

Although TC means this in a good and honest way, only wanting to provide for Janie and make her happy, the quotes also has a dark side. TC is going to be the provider and Janie will have to abide by him financially in order for him to be happy. She couldn’t get a job she likes or do work she believes in valuable. Overall though, this snippet shows TC’s devotion to Janie and the relationship, not to her money or other assets.

DJ-40

…the way Janie caught on… She got to be a better shot than Tea Cake. – Narrator PG 131

This page of the story is a part of Janie’s blossoming. She becomes an accurate shooter and can outshoot even her husband. This not only shows her physical ability and capability, but is very symbolic. Guns are valuable killing weapons, for food or defense, they can be used many things. That Janie is in control of such a powerful tool expresses her growth in power and self-actualization.

TEWWG Dialectical Journals #21-30

DJ-21

So he picked out the eyes in the ceremonial way and the feast went on. – Narrator PG 62

The head vulture is a satire of Jody’s pompous leadership. The heade honcho takes the most juicy cut of meat, but the vast majority of the body is left to those under him. They will never reach the pinnacle of fulfillment, but they will never want for anything either. This keeps them in a sort of limbo. It also shows how everything is reduced to dead matter over time.

DJ-22

Then Jody ruined it for her. – Narrator PG 69

Ruining other people’s happiness is a trait of someone who is unhappy with their own selves. This also seems to be a summerazation of Jody’s role in Janie’s life. He ruins her joy, her self-confidence, really her desire for anything.

DJ-23

Dat’s cause you need tellin’ – Jody PG 71

Despite what Jody incorrectly states, Janie has plenty of ideas and thoughts to share. She also has her own way to do things, but because that would mean a certain level of independence, Jody fears it. He fears her intelligence and beauty because it casts a shadow on his own person, so he tries to shame her. The continuation of people putting down others continues. The whites put the blacks down and they tear themselves apart from within, trying to climb to the top.

DJ-24

She got so she received all things with the stolidness of the earth which soaks up urine and perfume with the same indifference. – Narrator PG 77

Humans are not supposed to be immovable rocks, they are born with life. That comes with emotions, but Janie puts on a hard shell to ignore her own emotions regarding Jody. It is a defense mechanism, but it also can crack. Eventually Janie will come out of the shell swinging because she’s intelligent and unhappy with her life. It also composes a part of the Janie-as-earth-mother theme in the book. In her natural state, she is a beautiful fertile tree, in her tense form, she is an unshakable and inanimate stone.

DJ-25

For the first time she could see a man’s head naked of its skull. – Narrator PG 77

Janie is beginning to come into her own. She realizes Jody’s ploy to keep her down and submissive. She now has the first key to reversing her fortune. Knowing her enemy allows her an insight into his pathetic mind.

DJ-26

…for people began to gather in the big yard under the palm and china-berry trees. – Narrator PG 84

This flocking of people brings to mind the earlier vulture parable. All of them sense death and the potential for weakness. The perceived vunrability due to the looming death of her husband is a place for people to try and dig their claws in. Most just want her money or patronage. Janie isn’t really fooled though, she recognizes the vultures for what they are. It is a testament to her intelligence and determination that she essentially ignores the crowding people.

DJ-27

…so busy worshippin’ de works of yo’ own hands… - Janie PG 86

This is at least the third time Janie mentions self-praise in a negative light. This is the kind of confidence that leads to excessive pride and downfall. Janie realizes Jody was victim to this and wants him to understand it as well. As a sort of revenge on him, she unloads all her feelings from the past twenty years of marriage. His neglect to her feelings has left a very bitter taste, but she still goes on. Despite troubles, Janie is left intact and with a sense of honor and dignity.

DJ-28

She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. – Narrator PG 87

The return of Janie to her natural state is celebrated in this line. She is full of life and letting down her hair symbolically releases her of constraints. With this she returns to a pear tree, escaping life as a cold rock. It also marks the beginning of her defiance of society. Kerchiefs were her obedience to Jody (man) now she is burning them along with her submission and unhappiness.

DJ-29

Weeping and wailing outside. Inside the expensive black folds were resurrection and life. – Narrator PG 88

The outside can be dramatically different from the inside. For most of Janie’s marriage with Jody, people thought she has happy with him, but in reality Janie resented Jody deeply for his treatment of her. The description of Janie’s soul coming into the world refreshed is similar to that of a new baby coming into the world.

DJ-30

…mourning oughtn’t tuh last no longer’n grief. – Janie PG 93

Janie really hates the idea of false pretense and is tells her best friend about her true feelings with no remorse. Her morality and frankness contrast with the townspeople, who secretly poke and prod and pry at everything. This puts Janie in a very honest and seemingly righteous light.

TEWWG Dialectical Journals #11-20

DJ-11

Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard…It stirred her tremendously. – Narrator PG 10

It seems as if Janie is drawn to a symbol of her own blossoming life. She is technically coming into her own as an adult and the pear tree is a reflection of that stage in her life. As she looks into the mystery of the tree, she looks inward to herself. This is also a transition period in her life, between girlhood and adulthood.

DJ-12

De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. – Nanny PG 14

This is a huge foreshadow. Janie experiences this firsthand in her second relationship by her forced store job. It also appears with Logan Killicks when he asks her to help in the yard more and more. This is a reoccurring theme in the book and Janie has to overcome it in order to find self-fufilment. As long as a person allows themselves to be stepped on, they won’t be in a place to rise in the world.

DJ-13

You know, honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways. – Nanny PG 16

Nanny is an example of a woman whose been beat down and is still struggling to survive. Her life has been difficult, fist as a slave, then as a single mother, then as a single mother but to a grandchild. Slavery left her without roots and she doesn’t wish the same for Janie. However, what Nanny doesn’t realize is that Janie already has roots, new as they may be. Janie’s life with a loving grandmother gave her roots in the town and a happiness to look back on as she gets older.

DJ-14

Ah don’t want yo’ feathers always crumpled by folks throwin’ up things in yo’ face. – Nanny PG 20

Janie doesn’t really understand Nanny at this point in the story. She hasn’t yet experienced the troubles of adulthood or real hardship. This is a Nanny Life Lesson. Nanny understands that people are cruel and bring others down to make themselves feel better, but Janie doesn’t understand yet. This is normal and Nanny realizes Janie will face it in her life, but hopes to curb the worst of it. It also goes back to the idea that black women have it worse in life than most others.

DJ-15

Dis Love! Dat’s just whut got us pullin’ and uh haulin’ and sweatin’ and doin’ from can’t see in de mornin’ till can’t see at night. – Nanny PG 23

The average person views love as the ultimate happiness, and occasional heart break. Nanny has a more cynicle view of love. To her, love is wielded as a tool for binding others to their will. Nanny picks out one huge flaw of love and that is its ability to be cause great harm. By following love, people especially women, are enslaved. This correlates with a theme of woman empowerment. Love is a blockade to success.

DJ-16

They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged. – Narrator PG 33

This sounds like a huge foreshadow. Janie thinks she leaving a life of unhappiness with one man for an easier, more loving marriage with another. However, it doesn’t seem that she realizes the irony in wanting more freedom and trying to achieve that by marrying another. For her, they are shackles. It also brings up the idea of nature. Pear trees (Janie) thrive in the sunshine and warmth, not in the darkness. Lack of light will wilt plants. Humans are the same, without happiness they also become dour.

DJ-17

Us keeps our own selves down. – Coker PG 39

Although the man who speaks this is talking specifically about white people keeping black people down, it doesn’t just mean one people’s sorrow. People often keep themselves down by thinking they can’t do something or it isn’t their place or a multitude of other excuses. Janie also does this to herself by marrying one man and escaping that marriage by wedding another. She also feels trapped in her position as wife of a mayor to do what is proper. Jody may encourage that sort of thinking, but ultimately it’s Janie who makes herself follow the submissive propriety when she wants more.

DJ-18

…but none had the termerity to challenge him. They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of these things, and then again he was all of these things because the town bowed down. – Narrator PG 50

Jody is a representation of a greater system. People want security and they see him as a certain security. He is smart, a savvy politician, commanding, and confident. These traits are all necessary for a good leader who can keep their position at the head.  However, it also means for the little people that they will never be in charge and will have to follow the leaders dictations. Jody is safety for both Janie and the townspeople, but he is also a prison. For Janie, he is the master of the house and controls her every move, but brings the assurance of food, shelter, and a comfortable lifestyle. The townspeople, have roads, a post office, lights, and other creature comforts in exchange for occasionally being bossed around.

DJ-20

They’s jus some puny humans playin’ round de toes uh Time. – Jody PG 54

While belittling others Jody unwittingly tells Janie a nugget of truth. He meant others were just little things, but being that all humans are very similar, he was speaking about himself as well. Time is much greater than Jody or Janie, as their lives quickly pass. Janie is wasting her time with Jody being miserable in her current situation. Janie’s life-tree may be growing and will eventually die, but for the moment she can still grow bigger instead of dry in Jody’s endless scorn.

TEWWG Dialectical Journals #1-10

DJ-1

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. – Narrator PG 1

In Z. Hurston’s novel the idea that it isn’t how long life is, but how a person chooses to use the time allotted. This is brought up in the opening paragraph of the book. Two examples are given to illustrate it, one of a person who gives up on their dreams after a life of chasing the other of a person whose wishes are fulfilled easily. Chance’s role in life is exceedingly obvious, but it is the person’s own goals that can get in the way of their happiness regardless of luck or outside factors.

DJ-2

…skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things…They sat in judgment. - Narrator PG 1

The transformation of average people to something more symbolic is presented strongly in page one.  At first these people just chatting away on their porches in the evening light seem like a happy normality, but by changing the words accorded to them, Hurston alters the scene significantly. She uses the people in a syndoche to show a society of judgment spawned from envy and boredom. They had worked hard but thoughtlessly all day and now their minds are switched on. This repetition and lack of mental stimulation gives way to envy and fear of anything new and challenging.

DJ-3

Pearl Stone opened her mouth and laughed real hard because she didn’t know what else to do. - Narrator PG 3

Uncertainty creates anxiety and distrust. It can be a weakness as well because uncertainty is a lack of knowledge. One defense against seeming weak is a counter attack. In page three, Pearl Stone attacks the protagonist by mocking her. This outside character illustrates how oftentimes society opposes an individuals wishes or desires, no matter the cause. Her name is also a contrast to her inner personality which seems to be lacking in both beauty and steadfastness.

DJ-4

De booger man might ketch yuh. – Mrs. Sumpkins PG 4

Mrs. Sumpkins is an embodiment of the nosy, uselss people in TEWWG. She has so little in her own life that is fulfilling, that she has to resort to threats and hints to make a point. She tells Phoebey about the boggie man, but the deeper meaning is Janie might not be so nice or her story not that enjoyable. This relates back to her own fear that Janie has lead a more fulfilling and interesting life than herself.

DJ-5

Gal, you sho looks good. You looks like youse yo’ own daughter. – Phoebe PG 4

The years have been kind to the free-wheeling Janie. Most people associate youth with wildness and a certain freedom, and the characters in TEWWG are no different. Janie, for the times, is wild. Her outer youthfulness is reflective of her inner spirit. This comment on her physical appearance shows how noticeable her character is. Others envy her both her appearance and interesting life.

DJ -6

…still sittin’ in the same place. – Janie PG 5

Although there is security in home and roots, which is mentioned many times in TEWWG, there is freedom in the opposite. Janie’s life is patches of different scenery and people, but she comes back to the place she was from. Janie expresses a certain disgust regarding her watchers. Her life has opened her eyes to many different people, place, and things, while the stuck folks are in the same place. To someone that has traveled, these people seem mundane and boring.

DJ-7

…they liable to hurry theyself to Judgment to find out about you if  they don’t know soon. – Phoebey PG 6

Phoebey is very astute when describing the townspeople. Her description of them as being so curious they would bring everything to an end just to get information is astute. Through this hyperbole, Phoebey describes their viciousness. They seem willing to do anything, moral or not, to get what they want. Their lack of morals is disheartening, especially in comparison with Janie, who has a solid base of virtues.

DJ-8

So ‘tain’t no use in me telling you somethin’ unless Ah give you de understandin’ to go ‘long wid it. – Janie PG 7

Janie shows her wisdom and thoughtfulness in this quote. She explains that there is information in everything, but most can’t understand it until a key is given. The key could be a hint, or a book, or a friend’s explanation. It also describes many situations where people know only a part of the thing/situation and miss an essential part thereby misinterpreting the whole point. This is what happened to the townspeople in regards to Janie.

DJ-9

Time makes everything old… - Narrator PG 7

This description by the unknown narrator is ominous. The quote fits many of the chapters in Janie’s life. He relationship with Logan got old and rotted, her relationship with Jody got so old and unhappy, Janie felt like the earth, old and solid, but unfeeling. This line also emphasizes how even Janie’s vibrant life can become old and reflects her coming back to her first town.

DJ-10

Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches. – Narrator PG 8

At this point in the story, Janie has done and gone thorugh many stages of her life. A tree is a beautiful creation and to have Janie’s life compared to it is very flattering. This also relates back to one of the themes, Janie’s life as a living, evolving thing. Her being is compared with nature and fertility.