Their Eyes Were Watching God Test Flashcards
Pear tree
Metaphor for sex/sexual awakening (bees, flowers blooming)
Johnny Taylor
The personification of her sexual awakening (goes from nothing special to an object of desire)
Safety first
Nanny wants her to have a good, stable husband to take care of her and give her an easy, comfortablel life (saftely before love, Nanny prioritizes Janie’s protection before her desire to marry for love) SAFETY FIRST
Logan Killicks
Metaphor for the manure pile (“shit field”) because that’s what he wants Janie to tote, nanny says well tough luck, logan is like @janie u do what i tell u to do, nanny is like i dont know what you are talking about u have safety that is what matters
Mule of the world
Black women are the mules of the world, below everyone else in the world (white men > black men > black women), has a horrible life (black men) and then come home and take it out on their wives
Rapes
The two generations of rape in Janie’s family (Nanny was raped by the white plantation owner and Janie’s mother was raped by her white schoolteacher)
Jody’s dream
Go to Eatonville, put it on the map
Post office
Makes Eatonville an official town
Street lamp
Indication of what Jody wants to turn Eatonville into
Mule’s funeral
Janie isn’t allowed to go to the funeral because it is bellow her (according to Jody), Janie could not go because jody would’nt let her; shows how Jody wants control
Speech-making
people want Janie to make a speech, but Jody says she doesn’t know anything about speech making
The porch
The setting for the oral culture (like hallway, cafeteria, locker rooms, TEXTING, Twitter, etc.), center of town, central meeting spot, Janie not allowed to participate in conversations (classed off), how much is lost because of texting & more modern communication?, comparatively, what can be gained from this new communication?
Change of life
Shows up Jody in front of a lot of people at the store (Jody = male menopausal woman), VERY HARSH
Listen to me one time before you die
Unloading it all, ultimate closure between her and Jody (both cruel and necessary)
Kerchief
Janie lets her hair down, metaphor for her freedom, and tight kerchief hair was a metaphor for her life with Jody, no longer in Jody’s control, jody wants Janie under his thumb, catharsis
“Starch and iron” face
Janie’s face at Jody’s funeral
Checkers
Tea Cake teaches her how to play checkers, treats her as an equal (no longer classed off), girls at wash u wnated to play sports like (called title 9) like janie wanted to play checkers, girls didnt go out in the muck just stayed and watched the store
“Janie, everybody’s talking”
About Janie and Tea Cake (he’s young, below her class, not good enough for her according to people in Eatonville), she shouldn’t be with tea cake because he is a gold digger and young but Janie does not hear a word they’re saying
Nunkie
Shows Janie cares for Tea Cake and doesn’t want him to be with anyone else, girls who likes tea cake and janie is like i do not trust her, she roughed him up a little bit
$200
Tea Cake took her money and threw a party, Janie doesn’t want Tea Cake to go out and have fun without her, Tea Cake wins back the money he lost gambling, janie does not tell tea cake about this but he finds it and throws a party, and she is not upset about money she is upset that she wasnt inviited to it - boxed off again
The muck
Janie finally gets to be a part of things, not seen as being too good for anything (Garden of Eden?), ms alexander went to a muck sketchy school and now she is teaching at friends and it is like she is teaching on a porch now - from muck to porch - rags to riches - opposite of Janie, she wants to be in the muck because to get an experience, no longer has Jody classing her off
House slaves vs. field slaves
House slaves had food and shelter, field slaves were more often beaten and worked harder, house slaves are lighter (ms turner bc she was racist vs dark skinned bc she was light skinned) and the field slaves are darker
Mrs. Turner
Worshiped lightness of skin, lighter skin = more power, Janie was lighter skinned than Mrs. Turner, tries to tempt Janie into being with her brother instead of Tea Cake (the snake and Eve in Eden), Mrs. Turner = the snake, that broke up adam and eve
“Barbie doll that never gets opened”
Metaphor for Janie in the store, not allowed to be a part of the action, only there for her looks
Biblical illusion
Noah and the Ark, the flood, bean field (tea cake and Janie) in garden of eden, Mrs Turner is the serpent
Jim Crow burials
White people in coffins, black people just thrown in the ground, white people
Folk
Black characters are always referred to as “black FOLK” and white characters are always referred to as “white PEOPLE”
