It is often said that the truth will set you free, but is freedom always worth it? Janie is battling this dilemma throughout the continuous whirlwind that is her life. In What Janie Found, Janie finds a folder in her father’s filing cabinet that is labeled “H.J.” Inside this folder is a check book that reveals that Janie’s dad has been paying Hannah, Janie’s kidnapper, money four times a year. Since Janie’s dad is in the hospital, she has to decide if she would like to continue to pay Hannah, or cut her off completely. To decide this, Janie travels with her brother and best friend to find Hannah so that she can finally confront Hannah and resolve her opinion of the person that changed her life forever. In Janie Face to Face, Janie goes to …show more content…
The first reason for Janie’s excursion is that she wants to come face to face with Hannah. Hannah has caused Janie, and her two families, to suffer immeasurably over the last 15 years. Hannah crushed her parents when she left to join a cult, she agonized the Spring family when she abducted Janie in the mall, and she battered Janie now that she knows the truth about what her life could have been. Because Hannah had caused so much damage in her lifetime, Janie wanted to find her so that she can understand why. Why Hannah left her family, why Hannah took Janie, and why she never came back or apologized :). Janie also partly went to Colorado to see if she can find Hannah. Besides talking to Hannah, Janie wanted to look at her. She wanted to see how she lived and what she looked like. Janie wanted to be able to put a face to the name that she had cursed so many times. Secretly, Janie wants Hannah to be in misery and suffering that way Janie can feel as though she got what she deserved. Another reason for Janie’s trip, though not as significant, was to see her brother. Janie’s brother, Stephen, goes to college in Colorado. Stephan rarely makes trips back to see his family and is quite separated from his family. Janie and her siblings, especially Brian, miss Staphan alot, and it would be wonderful to catch up with him: “Brian adored Stephen, and missed him terribly” (Cooney, Caroline B. What Janie Found 85). Colorado provides …show more content…
In Janie Face to Face, Caroline B. Cooney describes Janie’s dynamic wedding gown and the bridesmaid’s vibrant dresses. Janie’s dress is shimmery, with a hundred silk-covered buttons following the contours of her back. At her neckline, there is a double row of ribbons with small, scalloped cap sleeves resting on the sides. The dress hugs her tightly along the bodice and flares right below the waist. The satin skirt of the gown flows with every move she makes. The bridesmaids dresses are almost just as elegant. It glows a soft pink hue. The ruching and ruffles gather at the waist, attractively accentuating the delicate bodies of the bridal party :). The sleeves form thin lines of silk that frame the girls’ elegant features. The dress brushes the ground and covers all but the tips of the bridesmaids’ black shoes. The chapel that holds the wedding is also impressively described. The church is brimming with life and excitement for the day to come. The delicate white and pink ribbons lining the pews add a softness to the animated spirit in the church. The flowers throughout the chapel perfectly matched the bouquet that Janie lovingly held in her hand. The flowers were just as Janie pictured in her dreams: “The florist passed out the bouquets. Hers was beautiful. Just what Janie would have chosen if she had chosen” (Cooney, Caroline B. Janie Face to Face 332). Every aspect and detail of the wedding
Janie's first marriage was to Logan Killicks when she was just a young girl at the age of seventeen. Janie?s wardrobe mainly consisted of aprons and work clothes. Logan was very demanding and controlling over Janie, he made her work in the field and cook all day. Most of her time was spent cooking and she almost always wore her apron. ?That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road an walked on??(page 32). Janie threw off her apron while she was leaving Logan, symbolizing how she was no longer under his control and she was now back on her journey for love.
By the end of the story, Janie has accomplished finding and conquering self-actualization, she has reached her enlightenment through the her marriages to Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake. It is apparant when she tells Pheoby, “You got tuh go there tuh know there..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" (Hurtson 183).
2) Hannah tells stories of her “other” life in which she attends school and looks forward to the weekends. As Chaya, her new friends are again shocked by the fact that she-a girl-attends school. Hannah explains that he...
In the beginning of the novel, Janie attempts to find her voice and identity; the task, of harnessing
Janie’s character undergoes a major change after Joe’s death. She has freedom. While the town goes to watch a ball game Janie meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake teaches Janie how to play checkers, hunt, and fish. That made Janie happy. “Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 96). Tea Cake gave her the comfort of feeling wanted. Janie realizes Tea Cake’s difference from her prior relationships because he wants her to become happy and cares about what she likes to do. Janie tells Pheoby about moving away with Tea Cake and Pheoby tells her that people disapprove of the way she behaves right after the death of her husband. Janie says she controls her life and it has become time for her to live it her way. “Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine” (Hurston 114). Janie becomes stronger as she dates Tea Cake because she no longer does for everyone else. Janie and Tea Cake decided to move to the Everglades, the muck. One afternoon, a hurricane came. The hurricane symbolizes disaster and another change in Janie’s life. “Capricious but impersonal, it is a concrete example of the destructive power found in nature. Janie, Tea Cake, and their friends can only look on in terror as the hurricane destroys the
Janie's outlook on life stems from the system of beliefs that her grandmother, Nanny instills in her during life. These beliefs include how women should act in a society and in a marriage. Nanny and her daughter, Janie's mother, were both raped and left with bastard children, this experience is the catalyst for Nanny’s desire to see Janie be married of to a well-to-do gentleman. She desires to see Janie married off to a well to do gentleman because she wants to see that Janie is well cared for throughout her life.
Instead, Janie becomes the center of attention and her hopes become the main focus. By doing this, the focus of the story changes making Janie the only focus and the inclusion of the other characters never reaches closure, making their expectati... ... middle of paper ... ... an Diego, 1 Apr. 2005. Web.
That same night, I walked by Hannah’s cell and I saw her staring down at a newspaper clip out of a young teenager shaking hands with another man. I recognized that the boy was the man who visited today. Could he be Hannah’s son? If he is, then why hadn’t he visit her all this time? Hannah brushed her fingers across the books on her shelf, and took out a sheet of paper and started writing in it. This time, her eyes turned grey and they were empty, but free.
Later that day she goes over to her friends house Reeve (neighbor), and helps him rake leaves. She has always liked him, and they have always been close. He then leans in and kisses her out of nowhere. After this, he runs off inside and leaves her outside in the pile of leaves. She then sleeps everything off and wakes up the next morning. She then has the idea to skip school. So, Janie and Reeve decide to skip school and drive to New Jersey. New Jersey was where she was taken/kidnapped from the mall. She then realizes that she must have been kidnapped from another family, because no one in her family (her mom or grandparents) has that kind of red hair. So she looks up the last name that she had on the missing child poster. She then finds out who her real family is and tries to see them in New Jersey, but she has mixed feelings again. One side of her is saying that they haven’t seen their baby in close to 12 years and need to see her. The other half of her is thinking, they probably moved on and besides I already have grown a bond with my “grandparents.” Having those mixed thoughts, she decides that she is going to write a letter to her real “family.” She writes the letter and then loses it.And as if it wasn’t bad enough, she lost it at school. So on top of the fact that someone might just go mail it for her, there was also a possibility for her business to be spread across the school
“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 by death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then act and do things accordingly.”
The beginning of Janie’s marriage to Joe shows promise and adventure, something that young Janie is quickly attracted to. She longs to get out of her loveless marriage to Logan Killicks and Joe’s big dreams captivate Janie. Once again she hopes to find the true love she’s always dreamed of. Joe and Janie’s life is first blissful. He gives her whatever she wants and after he becomes the mayor of a small African American town called Eatonville, they are the most respected couple in town. Joe uses his newfound power to control Janie. When she is asked to make a speech at a town event, she can’t even get out a word before Joe denies her the privilege. He starts making her work in the store he opens and punishes her for any mistakes she makes. He enjoys the power and respect her gets when o...
As the novel begins, Janie walks into her former hometown quietly and bravely. She is not the same woman who left; she is not afraid of judgment or envy. Full of “self-revelation”, she begins telling her tale to her best friend, Phoeby, by looking back at her former self with the kind of wistfulness everyone expresses when they remember a time of childlike naïveté. She tries to express her wonderment and innocence by describing a blossoming peach tree that she loved, and in doing so also reveals her blossoming sexuality. To deter Janie from any trouble she might find herself in, she was made to marry an older man named Logan Killicks at the age of 16. In her naïveté, she expected to feel love eventually for this man. Instead, however, his love for her fades and she beco...
Janie’s life with Joe fulfilled a need -- she had no financial worries and was more than set for life. She had a beautiful white home, a neat lawn and garden, a successful husband, and lots of cash. Everything was clean, almost too clean. A sense of restraint is present in this setting, and this relates to the work as a whole due to the fact that this is the epitome of unhappiness for Janie.
As an aristocrat in Black Stamps, Mrs. Flowers is a revered woman. She dresses in a sophisticated way and possesses a graceful demeanor. She acts in a refined manner, and it is proven in line 4: “She had the grace of control to appear warm in the coldest weather,”. As a gentlewoman, Mrs. Flowers acts with elegance, thus according to Marguerite, she is the epitome of a human being. Mrs. Flowers also wears elaborate dresses which include “her printed voile dresses and flowered hats which were
The ballroom at the Yacht Club was decorated with deep red roses and black ribbons, the perfect combination of colors for a winter wedding. Long, tall windows covered the walls to let all the guests experience the view of the nearby ocean. Each round table was decorated with a long black underskirt cloth, a shorter bright white tablecloth, with each placemat arranged around a beautiful vase full of red roses. The wooden dance floor, full of chairs for the ceremony, took up half of the room, while the other half was occupied with 15 round tables and one rectangular Head Table. As the guests walked up the stairs to our ballroom, they would see a guest book that was decorated with pictures and captions and ready for their signatures.