18-20

In chapters eighteen through twenty, the climax of Janie’s story occurs. Finally, when she has everything that she wants, the hands of God take it all away from her. When reading, I felt most frustrated by Tea Cake and Janie’s refusal to leave the muck despite watching other people and animals seek safety for many days. To the reader, it seems obvious that Janie and Tea Cake should leave. Then, when a rabid dog bites Tea Cake, the fate of the storm and the couple’s decision not to escape is sealed.

Although it’s an emotional and violent scene, my favorite part of the chapters was the final fight between Janie and Tea Cake when she is forced to shoot him. Hurston’s description maps out every second of the event so that Janie’s feelings are palpable even to the reader. Then, in the aftermath, Janie must come to terms with the ending of her dream and learn to appreciate life without having Tea Cake by her side. I believe that because of her conversation with Phoeby she is finally able to have closure with Tea Cake; Janie decides that despite their premature end, she lived for herself and “pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net” (193). Janie ends her story-telling with words that she preaches to Phoeby, but I believe she is truly saying them to herself: “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (192). These final words struck me because they connect not only to the title, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” but they also remain true to Janie’s beliefs and the themes of the novel.

Although I wish that Janie didn’t have to go through losing Tea Cake, Hurston ties up her most prevalent themes with his death. Not only does Janie get to live her pear blossom dream, but she moves on knowing the love lasted until Tea Cake’s dying moment. The words spoken between the couple during Tea Cake’s last bit of sanity reveal to Janie once again that their love is unique to all others’ in the world. Knowing this, she puts Tea Cake to rest and begins her next dream, just as she has done before.

Chapters 14-17

In Chapters 14-17, Janie and Tea Cake move to the fertile fields of the Everglades and begin their new life in the muck. Soon after they settle their house becomes the center of the community where people hang out and listen to Tea Cake play his guitar. There seems to be a parallel between Tea Cake’s house and Joe Starks’s store. Both provided a place for people to play games and chat, showing a connection between Joe Starks and Tea Cake that may not have been there before.

For the first time, Janie makes her own decision to work, a change from her previous life. Tea Cake begins to stop by the house during work hours, claiming he was lonely. After suggesting that Janie should join him in the fields, Janie decides to fulfill his request. Since working in Logan Killicks’s fields, Janie finally works out of her own jurisdiction. This shows a new freedom of which Janie was deprived, contributing to her increase of individuality that she finds with Tea Cake.

During the offseason, Janie spends time with Mrs. Turner, a black woman who despises black people. Mrs. Turner’s perspective on race proposes an interesting take on racism. For the first time in the novel, racism is presented. However, Mrs. Turner’s racism is blurry and confusing, as she is a black woman. Mrs. Turner worships whiteness, respecting Janie more for her white characteristics than who she is. The significance of this type of racism emphasizes the strength of racism and how it can even seduce African-Americans. I believe that Hurston was intentional about presenting racism for the first time in the novel in this way; to stress the fear that all people have and how it can manifest itself into hatred and shame.

Ch. 7-10 of Their Eyes Were Watching God

While reading chapters 7-10 of Their Eyes Were Watching God, I noticed how much Janie’s character develops. At first, Janie is depicted almost ghost-like and lacks any emotion. Her entire life has been living for Joe and his demands. But, as Joe continues to throw verbal attacks at her about her appearance, she undergoes a change. When Janie has had enough of his insults, she finally fires back. Joe feels as if his entire manhood has been robbed from him, and we see his subsequent descent from health and ultimately his death. I believe that this scene completely changes the dynamic between the couple.

In the conversation on Joe's deathbed, Janie is finally speaking her mind to Joe. It feels as if she has reached some sort of clarity and regained her strength. She tells Joe that the years with him have ruined her mind and he still knows nothing about her. I found this scene very powerful not only because of her conviction but also because to the very moment he dies, Joe still clings onto a strand of superiority by not listening to what she's saying. After he dies, Janie feels pity and like a weight has been lifted off of her chest. Even though he was terrible to her, Janie still acknowledges how life has mistreated Joe which I found to show the strength of her character.

After that, Janie lets down her hair for the first time in years and sees a handsome woman in the mirror. From this moment on, Janie is a free woman. Her character undergoes a huge shift from the obedient, silent wife to an independent woman. I believe that Janie’s denying of suitors also shows how she is relishing in her new life. It is also important to note how desperate the town is for her to marry because they are uncomfortable with a female business owner.

Also in these chapters, we are introduced to Tea Cake. Tea Cake’s approach to her was opposite of other men, especially Joe. They speak to each other as equals and play checkers, which Joe always forbade. Janie and Tea Cake immediately hit it off and she feels comfortable and safe around him.

Overall, these chapters were a huge turning point for Janie and her dreams. But, the theme of female inferiority is still present through the town’s reaction to an independent woman.

The Crucible Act IV

In Act IV of The Crucible, everyone has seemingly reached a breaking point. Abigail has fled Salem, the court is done waiting for confessions, and hundreds of accused townspeople have confessed to crimes they did not commit. This is where people’s true colors come out. Hale has strayed from the ideas of the other members of the court and is working night and day to save the lives of those accused. Court members such as Danforth are obviously worried that they killed twelve innocent people, and now they are in too deep to stop the murders. So Danforth refuses to delay the hangings so that no doubt can be placed on his decisions by the townspeople. He is valuing the integrity of the court over innocent people’s lives, as well as condemning himself by killing people even though he probably knows he is wrong.

At this point, Proctor has been in a dungeon for three months, and he is trying to decide whether to confess. It is clear that these people accused of conspiring with the devil are devoted Christians, though, because of how they refuse to lie. They see lying as a sin and reject the option to save themselves by doing so. They would rather die pure than live as a sinner. This seems like the most obvious sign that someone has not compacted with the devil.

Near the very end, when Proctor has chosen to hang, Rebecca Nurse says, “Let you fear nothing! Another judgment waits us all!” (Miller 133). This basically sums up the whole play. Those who confessed will be saved, and those who murdered innocent people will be condemned.

The Crucible Act I

From reading the introduction and Act I, I can already tell several things about this time in Massachusetts. Paranoia spread through the town at rapid speed, everything you said and everything you did was all watched closely and analyzed because there was always a chance you were possessed by the Devil. No one was safe and, as we said in class, betrayal was not uncommon by any stretch of the imagination.

I generally don’t like reading plays because they feel choppy but Miller uses notes and stage directions to make it read smoothly and cohesively. It’s ironic that we see in this opening scene that Reverend Parris’ daughter, Betty, is one of the girls accused of doing witchcraft. During this time, religion was the government and it was what people relied on in every aspect of their life, and the witch trials were really the first time religion was put to the test. You can see in the first act just how distraught Parris is that his daughter might have been participating in witchcraft. But, I don’t think he was really that worried about his daughter and her health, I think he really only cared about his reputation. He told Susanna, “Go home and speak nothing of unnatural causes” (9) and then pondered what he was going to tell people when they asked him about Betty.

When it was revealed that John Proctor and Abigail had an affair but that he no longer feels anything for her, it made me think that he was saying that because he didn’t want to be accused of being with a witch. I’m not sure it that is accurate, but it is an example of a betrayal that could happen during this time. Husbands and wives could turn on each other because one was accused, there were no limits. It was also interesting that an affair is already a betrayal between husband and wife, so it’s almost like “if you think this is bad wait until you see how other people betrayed their spouses”.

We know, looking back, that Betty was not possessed by the Devil when she collapsed at the sound of Jesus’ name and was instead, like Rebecca said, just an overwhelmed child who was ashamed of her un-Christian behavior and frightful of the punishment that could accompany her actions.

Act I laid the groundwork for the rest of the play by introducing issues that will continue to boil up and eventually overflow as well as some background knowledge about the witch trials that will be needed to understand the rest of the play.

            While Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” was very confusing for me at some points, his overall message is meaningful and a relevant message for today. Before reading this, the word “society” always made me think of positive aspects such as community, togetherness, and building off each other’s ideas. However, Emerson’s perspective of how society changes us is much different. Emerson argues that society makes us conform to social expectations and destroys one’s true self. In other words, instead of focusing on how your community can grow together, focus on yourself and your own goals. Self-reliance and independence from one’s community will make one feel confident and complete.

            Through metaphors and references to admired individuals, Emerson effectively argues that conforming to society is self-damaging. To Emerson, giving in to society is the equivalent to death because if you are not being yourself, you’re not actually living. He also personifies society as an evil that “loves not realities and creators, but names and customs,” (47). Emerson proves that being different is key to living a meaningful life by referencing known individuals: “Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood,” (49). At this point in Emerson’s argument, I fully understood and supported his message because I related it to all the individuals he mentions. All of them made history and are still admired because they were different and introduced a new idea to society. I love Emerson’s perspective on the importance of self-reliance, but he fails to mention how this benefits society. If everyone were just focused on themselves, how would the community grow as a whole? Instead of focusing on how one should reach their own goals, they should focus on how they can help their community such as the individuals like Luther and Socrates. Being independent and believing your own ideas is important, but belonging to a supportive community is also important.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is astonishing and powerful. After organizing a peaceful protest in Birmingham, Dr. King was arrested because of a lack of city permit for the movement. In his letter, King speaks as to why he decided to come to Birmingham to help organize the rally against the racial injustice present in the city. One interesting fact to note is that King smuggled out sections of the letter through his lawyer while spending time in jail.

In my sophomore year, I studied peaceful protests and people power movements. King’s peaceful protest approach to the discrimination in America throughout the civil rights movement is influenced by Gandhi, and it is prevalent in this letter. He approaches his audience captively and urgently to move people to become involved and fight for their own or other’s civil rights. One of my favorite quotes from this letter is “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This quote from King shows how he urges people to become involved. The idea of peaceful protests is to promote awareness for a situation in hope that the people power behind the movement grows large enough that the government feels persuaded to enact on it. Sometimes this works, and other times it fails miserably. King is an overall powerful speaker and influencer throughout the Civil Rights movement, and although this letter is very impactful to history, it is like other speeches and essays that he has written. However, King’s quote on injustice provides a staple for American intervention shown elsewhere in history. While reading this letter, one thing that surprised me was the similarities between the civil rights movement and some events in the present and past. When something goes wrong in other countries, America feels the need to intervene to try to set things right per our views. This quote reminded me of the intervention that the US has had in other people power movements as well such as the Lithuanian freedom line, the Turkish Orange Rebellion, and the feminist movement. King also introduces the idea of unjust versus just laws: “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. ... By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.” This questioning that King introduces of right versus wrong allows provoking thoughts throughout the US in regards to civil rights, as well. Overall, King’s letter is powerful and eye-opening to those who may have been kept in the dark.