Skip to main content

The Curious Case of Janie Part 2

As a continuation of my last post, I want to continue to discuss more about Janie. Initially, I wasn't too fond of Janie. She is slightly arrogant and selfish. However, my whole perspective on Janie changed after the death of Tea Cake. I can't help it but feel pity for her. She finds someone who loves her for who she is. Tea Cake doesn't treat her as a trophy that is meant to be stored away like Stark did. He treats her as an actual human being.

All of this, however, was too good to be true. While trying to save Janie from the dog, Tea Cake is bitten by the dog and contracted rabies. Of course, he doesn't go to the doctors in time and eventually dies. It's hard to believe that Janie has to kill someone she truly loves to protect herself. It's almost as if the universe was working against her.

By the time Janie gets back to the present time, it's evident that Janie is done with it all. She has had 3 husbands. One where she was forced to marry. Another one where she was treated as a trophy wife. Then, Tea Cake, someone that truly loved her. Janie has experienced it all and by the end, she is content with her life.


Comments

  1. JoshuaNovember 10, 2019 at 7:48 PM

    Though it's sad that Janie can't be with Tea Cake anymore, she has found "peace" by the end of the novel. Tea Cake treated her as more of a person than her two previous husbands did, doing stuff like teaching her how to shoot a gun. By the end of the book, Janie has grown to become independent, and it doesn't seem like her life is ruined after the death of her husband.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DanbiNovember 11, 2019 at 2:34 PM

    Contrastingly, I actually loved Janie as a character in the beginning as I believed she represented feminine individuality, power, and confidence. I thought she was pretty inspiring as a character and while I didn't agree with all her choices, I actually really enjoyed her free nature. As the book went on, I found myself liking Janie less and less as she grew to be less confident and put down by her husbands. Naturally, I felt pretty bad for her as she didn't really ask to be put in this situation but I also couldn't help but feel super frustrated with her. On the other hand, I started to like Janie again as she grew more independent and free in her relationship with Teacake. While I think that the situation she was placed in and Teacake's death was super sad and frustrating, I don't think it necessarily warranted pity because of the peace and content she discovered through it. As you mentioned, at the end of the story and following Teacake's death, Janie finds her identity and satisfaction with her life. I think Teacake's death, while sad, was pretty necessary for Janie to find her independence and her identity as a woman.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Relationship Between Denver and Sethe

    Throughout the reading of Beloved , I have noticed a trend in the relationship between Sethe and Denver. Denver always seems slightly tentative towards Sethe and we know why. She is scared that her mother might kill her just like she did with Beloved. For instance, on page 206 (according to my version of the book), Denver states, “When she finishes the combing and starts the braiding, I get sleepy. I want to go to sleep but I know If I do I won’t wake up“.   It is disturbing to see the distrust Denver has for her mom, despite no ill intent from Sethe. The animosity between them, however, hasn’t always existed.      There is a point in time where Denver is clueless of Sethe’s past. It’s probable that their relationship might have actually been a normal mother and daughter relationship. The truth comes out after Denver’s incident with the bullies at her school. The effect of the truth impacts Denver so much to the point where she is unable to speak for a few years
8 comments
Read more

Athena's True Intentions

What is Athena’s true intention? We all know that Athena adores Odysseus and Telemachus. She blesses Odysseus during the invasion of Troy and guides Telemachus on his journey. As phrased by Mr. Mitchell, Athena “digs Odysseus.” However, it is not clear why she is helping them after abandoning Odysseus on Calypso’s island for seven years and allowing the suitors to torment Telemachus for most of his life.             One theory I have is that Athena feels remorse for abandoning Odysseus; after all, she is responsible for him. As consolation for Odysseus, Athena decides to free him and helps mold his son into a hero. If Odysseus had made it home in time, he would have been the one teaching Telemachus the ways of a hero, so perhaps Athena wants to develop Telemachus to make up for lost time due to Odysseus’ absence. There also seems to be an urgency for Telemachus’ development which has to do with his father’s arrival to Ithaca. It could be that Athena plans to have Telemachus ready to
6 comments
Read more

The Revenge of the Odyssey

From our class discussion last week, a topic came up that I thought was very interesting. It was that the Odyssey has a series of revenge cycles. Throughout the book, almost every character has wanted to take revenge on someone. The most notable of these is Odysseus’ mass murder of the suitors. They ransacked his house and tried to court his wife, so it makes sense that he would be looking to get back at them. Another example of revenge in the Odyssey is when Odysseus decides to blind Polyphemus after he killed Odysseus’ crew members. This incident set off Poseidon’s rage and he trapped Odysseus on Calypso's island for 7 years. The cycles of revenge continue to the very end of the book when the suitors’ fathers want to murder Odysseus. I think that all of these revenge cycles were set off by one incident: Odysseus blinding Polyphemus. If he had kept his cool and not blinded Polyphemus, then everything would have been fine. He had another chance to save himself and crew, simply
6 comments
Read more