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.