Journal #5

Hurston uses her awareness and manipulation of language to show what has become of Joe. "Joe wasn't so young as he used to be. There was already something dead about him. He didn't rear back on his knees any longer. He squatted over his ankles when he walked. That stillness at the back of his neck."(77). Hurston uses word choice to clearly display the sick state that Joe is in. The use of the word "dead" has an absoluteness to it and almost confirms his fate. Also the shortened sentences covey that these are symptoms being red off a list and give the piece a very grim mood. Hurston's tone only pushes the morose feeling of the entire piece further along. She doesn't list these as symptoms of a man who is getting old, but a man who is dying.