Blood Wedding Journal #2

Diary entry written by the Mother in Blood Wedding

Now it is over, I need not fear the loss of another son, for I have no more sons to loose. Curse the man who first thought it right to kill his fellow man. His heart was black as ash and ashes is what he should become. Why is it me who must suffer, why is it my sons must die. Why does god choose to take away all who would keep me company. Oh if only I had one daughter to sit by the fireplace with. To hold close to me and not have to worry about her flying off to death. But in the end it is not met to be. I am destined to live alone, to sleep alone, and to die alone. This is the punishment for a crime I know not of. My one hope is that when I die, my life will be as it should have been, with my sons and husband at my side.

Blood Wedding Journal #1

"Not rounding off, but opening out." The ending to both Blood Wedding and Wild Duck the ending is used to show the consequences of secrets. Whether it is a forgotten love that was so forgotten or an old affair that produced a child, secrets are shown as a serpent that waits to be forgotten, then strikes. In this way both writers open up to the audience, the dangers of these secrets and motivates them to not let them penetrate their lives. It is the primary function of a tragedy to comment on a flaw in human behavior or culture. Both authors choose secrets as the the poison their characters must swallow.

Wild Duck Journal #4

The gap between the audience and the charters in both Oedipus and The Wild Duck is extremely important. Its primary function is to show the reader or audience member how foolish people can be when they don't now all the facts. Oedipus pushes the messenger to reveal the truth about his origins. Oedipus has no idea the pain the answer will cause him, but since the audience has been able to look at the facts with an unclouded mind they see the truth before Oedipus does. This causes the reader to become more emotionally involved in the story as they see the charters on the stage destroy themselves. Likewise The Wild Duck shows Gregers insisting that he tell Hjalmar the truth about his fathers guilt and why Werle has been so kind to him. The audience has heard Gregers plan ahead of time and knows what pain it will cause Hjalmar. Again the audience is pulled into the story and come to pitty the ignorance of the charters and how it ultimately leads to their despair.

Wild Duck Journal #3

Letter written by Gregers to a friend back in the mine

All hear is just as I left it, may father has done his work well. All the city looks to him as the honorable man and to his ex-partner Ekdal they shower blame and disgust. My father tries to pretend like the past had not happened, he greats me with open arms but all I see are claws made of lies. With my cooperation he would be able to put the past behind him completely and move into a second marriage without suspicion. I turned down his offer, he may find comfort on his pedestal of descite but I will not join him. I will never forget the pain he caused my mother and I plan to do everything I can to keep it from happening again. Hjalmar is a poor fool who has been blinded by my fathers money and favors. He does not see that while he may appear to support him out of good will, it is only to cover his own back. I will bring Hjalmar into the light and show him the true face of my father, the face that only I can see.

Wild Duck Journal #2

I think that the plot should always be valued over style. While the style of great plays may change over time, the plot remains almost the same. The plot of tragedies from many eras share a basic set of characteristics that allows them to move an audience. The play Oedipus could be done in many styles and the plot could remain relatively untouched. This is also the case with The Wild Duck, it show that while styles may change, the plots stay. In essence the style is mealy rapping paper to make the plot inside seem more familiar to the reader or audience member.

Wild Duck Journal #1

"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out" This statement is the pure definition of what drama is. All good tragedy and even comedy is based on real life. Its ability to draw us in with a situation in life that we may not have experienced personally but definably can recognize as a part of the human experience. But drama is not just observing the boring parts but rather those that are most intense. In Oedipus and Wild Duck the play focuses on the most important and emotionally charged points of the play and neglects to give to much time to past events. It focuses on moments were the charters go through struggle and not when they are at peace.

Oedipus Journal #4

Diary entry by Jocasta

The truth, that is what I fear now. That my husband should discover his true origin, that the when he thought he was running away from his fate he was in truth running towards it. Oh curse the day that I did not see to it that he was dead, for surely he will wish it on himself soon enough. Oh my poor husband, you have no idea how much the truth can hurt, how it takes the apperance of a flower only to stab at you with thorns. I have chosen that I cannot live in this world of truth. It piles on pain after pain though people still urn for it.

Oedipus Journal #3

In Oedipus as well as Romeo and Juliet, physical actions by the characters on the stage are extremely important. With out movement on the stage the play would seem dull and dead. In the real world most human communication is nonverbal and so it is only fitting that this ratio is repeated on the stage. In both plays the characters use their bodies as a way to communicate their emotions. As a character first steps on the stage, the audience immediately looks at his posture, gait, and facial expressions to get an idea of what kind of character he/she is. These physical actions are not spelled out in the script and it is up to the director and actors to bring life to the words they are given. Both Oedipus and Romeo and Juliet display extremely intense emotions and the reader can almost see the physical movement of the characters on the stage.

Oedipus Journal #2

In a moments of intensity in Oedipus characters breakout into long monologues. This is a common feature in both Greek and Shakspearian plays. In Oedipus we find that Oedipus' original claims of innocence are not entirely true and calls into question his reliability as a character. In his long monologue he confesses to his wife that he came upon and killed a group of travelers that may have been his predecessor Laius. This moment is a big step in the plot because it is the first time Oedipus mentions any fault on his part. The long monologue also catches a reader visually as it stands out from the rest of the text.

Oedipus Journal #1

The point of view for Oedipus is third person narrated by the traditional "Greek Chorus". This stays constant throughout the play. The Chorus is put in place to keep the audience informed about the stories progress so they are very reliable. The reader gets to know the characters through their actions. With the part I read there is no insight given about the characters and the reader is expected to make their own conclusions. The character of Oedipus is presended as a strong leader but the way he speaks makes us suspicious of his activities. He seems over eager to find the killer of his predecessor almost as if he is trying to hide something. When the priest is finally convinced to tell who is responsible and points the blame at Oedipus the king is outraged. The writer wants us to distrust Oedipus and side with the wise priest.

Poem XX

When thinking about songs that have the same what as the poem I thought of "When you see my face" by the all American regents. The song focuses on a guy who is trying to get over the loss of a girl. He even contradicts himself like the man in the poem by saying "Truth be told I miss you, but truth be told I'm lying" this show indecision in the person singing the song just like the man in the poem. Both characters deal with the event differently in that in the poem the man feels sad and alone while in the song the man lashes out in anger to cover up his grief. Both these are classic examples of human behavior in this type of situation and make both the poem and the song successful at delivering a message to the listener or reader

Poem XIII

This Poem is about the never ending struggle of love. It begins with a man talking about having sexual relations with a woman but then he shows that despite his best efforts he is unable to express his emotions to her. This leads to him becoming distant from her in both a physical and romantic sense.

The speaker in the poem is a man, I know this because the other person he is in love with is a girl. I can tell by the way he refers to her as a doll that she is obviously female. It could be that the speaker is a girl as well but the idea of ms. Wecker giving is us a poem about lesbians is highly improbable.

This poem was written to show one of the hardest things about love and relationships. The thing is the expression of feelings between two people. If one person it the relationship is unable to express his or her feelings, the relationship is doomed. It also shows that physical relationships with out an emotional connection are also meaningless if the two cannot express feelings to each other.

The poem is written in a way that replaces human emotions with physical things. The begining of the poem starts by having water represent the life of the relationship. As the poem progresses water fades away until he last mentions it by saying, "only a few drops left trembling". This shows that there is little life left in the relationship.

Revised 3rd paragraph

Huxley uses contrast between the society in the World State and the savage reservation to show how materialism has replaced religion. The savage reservation is a very primitive form of a not so far from our own, religion is a huge part of the society and the source of purpose for the people living in it. This is put in contrast to the World State that has no religion, who instead worships the industrial ideas of Henry Ford. These two lifestyles contrast each other in almost every way, where on the reservation pain and suffering are thought a natural part of life the World State has eliminated it completely. This contrast is best expressed by the conversation between John the Savage and Mustapha Mond, the Controller. John expresses what he values; "I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger," (Huxley 240). Mustapha Mond tells him that "God isn't compatible with machinery...we prefer to do things comfortably" (Huxley 234, 240) This shows that the contrast between the reservation and world state is two different ways of life that cannot coexist. Huxley presents us with these to worlds and we see pieces of our own world in both of them. Through the contrast of the two he shows that we are slowly moving toward materialism and away from God.

Rough Draft

Hey so im quite sick but i put together this so you guys will have something to work with, hopefully i will be better by tomorrow but please forward all advice to me so we can get the final in on time

In many traditional religions, God is a figure that gives comfort, is trustworthy, is the Creator of mankind and has many other supernatural characteristics. He is the only thing or being that can bring true fulfillment. While many people believe in God, believers are lessening all the time. People have but their trust is material items, leaving their religious beliefs behind. We are persuaded by media that superficial things are able to bring comfort while this is truly, only temporary. In Brave New World, Huxley uses symbolism, word choice and contrast to show the concept of God being replaced with Ford to warn the reader about the negative effects of replacing religion with superficial pleasures. This occurs due to the materialism that is represented by Ford.

Huxley uses both God and Ford as symbols. God represents old religious customs that are no longer part of the World State. The people on the reservation still worship God, because their culture still values spirituality and emotion. But in the World State, Ford has replaced God as the accepted deity. Because Henry Ford was the inventor of assembly line production, Huxley uses him to represent industrialization and the concept of efficient manufacturing. The World State’s society is very focused on efficient production of material goods. They use the assembly line concept in every aspect of life, even the creation of life – “The principle of mass production at last applied to biology” (Huxley, 6). Ford is their deity because he represents these principles. The assembly line principle represents materialism. Ford first applied it to cars, which were a luxury item. In the World State, it allows people to lead perfectly conditioned, content lives, without families or the need to question their situations. It turns them away from emotional needs, and makes them more focused on material items. By using Ford as a symbol of the assembly line principle, and showing how the principle causes materialism, Huxley makes Ford into a symbol of materialism.

Huxley uses contrast between the society in the world state and the savage reservation to show directly how materialism has replaced religion. The savage reservation is a very primitive form of standard American life as far as values are concerned, religion is a huge part of the society and the source of purpose for the people living in it. This is put in stark contrast to the World State that has no religion, instead they worship the industial ideas of Henery Ford and that lives can be manufactued and maintained just like a Model T assembly line that Mr. Ford is most famous for. These two lifestyles contrast eachother in almost everyway, where on the reservation pain and suffering are thought a natural part of life the World state has eliminated it compleley. This contrast is best expressed by the conversation between John the Savage and Mustapha Mond the controller, John expresses what he values, "I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger" (Huxley 240). Mustapha Mond replys to this by saying that, "God isn't compatatible with machinery...we prefer to do things comfortably" (Huxley 234,240) This shows that the contrast between the reservation and world state is chaos verses organization, each has there value but they cannot coexist, just as the two worlds cannot.

Through the replacement of God with Ford, Huxley demonstrates his negative view towards superficiality. He warns of the risks our society is facing when becoming part of this materialistic world. Huxley uses symbolism, word choice and contrast to show the possible outcome of a society that has leaned more onto the temporary fulfillment of material items rather than leaning on God's power, comfort and undying love for his creation. In the end, the reader is faced to question their life, are they headed to a depressive downfall as the materialistic characters in Brave New World? Or are they heading towards the eternal life only God can bring?

Rough Draft 3rd paragraph

Huxley uses contrast between the society in the world state and the savage reservation to show directly how materialism has replaced religion. The savage reservation is a very primitive form of standard American life as far as values are concerned, religion is a huge part of the society and the source of purpose for the people living in it. This is put in stark contrast to the World State that has no religion, instead they worship the industial ideas of Henery Ford and that lives can be manufactued and maintained just like a Model T assembly line that Mr. Ford is most famous for. These two lifestyles contrast eachother in almost everyway, where on the reservation pain and suffering are thought a natural part of life the World state has eliminated it compleley. This contrast is best expressed by the conversation between John the Savage and Mustapha Mond the controller, John expresses what he values, "I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger" (Huxley 240). Mustapha Mond replys to this by saying that, "God isn't compatatible with machinery...we prefer to do things comfortably" (Huxley 234,240) This shows that the contrast between the reservation and world state is chaos verses organization, each has there value but they cannot coexist, just as the two worlds cannot.

Dystopian Journal 2

John the savage is an excellent example of a protagonist who rebels against his society. He spends his entire life on a savage reserve and is taught a way of life that would not be uncommon to a person in present day. In this John becomes a lone supporter for and American style society in a world that sees such an existence as barbaric and repulsive. John screams out for freedom as the people around him conform to blissful submission.

A person that John develops a relationship with is Lenina. He is struck by a wild love for her but is unable fulfill his desires. This is not because she is unwilling, quite the contrary she is attracted to him as well but because she has been taught the ways of Ford her advances are repulsive to John. When John is unable to make her see that her way of life is wrong he forbids himself from her embrace. Lenina is the example of a perfect woman in the society and John refuses to be apart of such a despicable way of life.

Dystopian Novel Journal # 1 (Topic C)

The vision Aldous Huxley creates in Brave New World is as powerful as it is plausible. The vision of a world based on one of the strongest human emotions like happiness is very possible if conditions of the current world became bad enough. The detail that is given is given about the events that lead to the end result are not very detailed but give us a logical path of events that don't seem incredibly impossible. The problems of the present day are inherently solved in this new society but the cost is extremely high. Unlike most Dystopian novels that show an obviously horrible future, Huxley's world is seems surprisingly pleasant to most of the people in it. This makes the world all that more believable and illuminates the path that a society would follow to get to such an end. The worshiping of Ford was the only thing that stuck out as less than believable, the idea of worshiping such a person doesn't seem to be possible. The times where Ford is used in the same context as God seem quite silly and out of place. A general respect for the man would have been more realistic but for the books purposes it is and element that helps remind us that this is not our world. The alternative that Huxley give us is freedom sacrificed for happiness, it is a price that Americans especially would reject at first glance but given the right perspective the idea starts to be more appealing.

Stranger Journal #6

Camus wants shows Meursault coming to a very existentialist conclusion about his life in general. Meursault is finally pulled out of the mindset that his life has no meaning, he instead finds that his life has always had meaning and that is up to him, not some priest, to find it and take strength from it. Camus has often been called an existentialist himself and it appears that is the kind of conclusion he wants the reader to find by the end of the book. Meursault express his new found meaning in life when he says "for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars". Meusault pairs signs and stars together to show that there is meaning in the world but it is personal not universal. Meusault keeps this attitude tell the end of the book with a new found glee that was absent in any other part of the book. This kind of conclusive feeling tells the reader that this is the conclusion Camus wants us to come to.

Stranger Journal #5

Camus splits his novel into to parts to not show a change in Meursault but a change in his situation. The first part of the novel shows that he sees life as meaningless and the reader would almost agree with him due to the boring nature of his activities. Part two bears a sharp contrast in that with the murder of the Arab on the beach his situation is completely changed. Meursault does not seem to be much affected by this rapid change in circumstances, he seems to go on with the same careless attitude even with the seriousness of the crime he has committed. Even when he is finally put on trial he behave like a sleepy student in a boring classroom, barley listening to battle for his life that rages on. His final show of his unchanged attitude is his response when the judge tells him that he will be executed for his crime, "the presiding judge asked me if I had anything to say. I thought about it. I said, 'no'" (Camus 107). His relatively calm reaction to the verdict shows that his has not changed his attitude toward life.

Journal #2

Personal Philosophy

1. There is no predetermined meaning to the universe
2. Meaning is completely personal and is different for each person
3. The human race has no set purpose
4. Meaning is a method of motivation people use to reach goals
5. People who think otherwise are scared that they mean nothing
6. Religion is a product of loneliness and a search for purpose
7. Religion is not inherently bad, it is simply a source of motivation
8. It should be the goal of everyone to seek out immaterial well being
9. Material well being is not truly well being it is only a very convincing facade
10. Good deeds do not go unrewarded but reward should never be the goal

Motifs

1.Indifference of Meursault "I answered the same way I had last time, that it didn't mean anything but that i probably didn't love her" (Camus 41) The way Meursault responds to this very serious question shows that he is for some reason emotionally detached but is likely to change by the end of the book.

2.The two layered relationship "His life had changed now and he wasn't to sure what he was going to do" Salamano is pictured in the beginning of the book as abusive but is deeply hurt when his dog is lost, this twist is repeated in other relationships and is likely to have an impact on Meursault.

Stranger Journal #1

Summary: Meursault's actions in the first few chapters would be deeply emotional for anyone but by his description he treats his mothers death almost with the same emotional weight as a normal person would describe a tough work week. His mothers death causes him pain but his short and mostly bland listing of his activities portrays it as mild. He mearly goes through his day talking about each event in chronological order only branching out slightly with massively important things but for the most part treats every event with the same value and time.

Personal Reaction
Boring, is the only word that seems to come to mind after reading the two first chapters. Not only was bored by his simple unimagiative description of his actions but it seems like Meursault himself would consider himself and his life boring. He even says at the end of the second chapter by saying "really, nothing had changed." (Camus 24)

Analysis
Campus is trying to throw the reader off in these first two chapters. The reader doesn't expect to read about such a-up until this point-boring character. This causes the reader to ask why Meursault is like this and if he is hiding his feelings for some reason.

Research
Algiers was a patch of French civilization along the coast of Africa. By 1942 Algiers would no doubt be involved in WWII and the effects of war would be obvious. The story takes place slightly before WWII since there is no mention of it and I looked it up on sparknotes. The tenseness of impending war would no doubt be in play.

Journal #9

In the final chapters of Eyes Hurston uses the atmosphere of Palm Beach and Tea Cakes sickness to develop the theme that life sucks, get used to it.

The atmosphere of the decimated city of Palm Beach is one of death and racism. This is most prevalent when Tea Cake goes downtown and is told how the dead will be sorted, "They makin' coffins fuh all de white folks...Don't dump no white folks in de hole" (171). This idea that even a dead man is more important than a black man is sick and disturbing. Hurston uses these events to snap the reader out of the heroic mood of the previous chapter and change the mood of the book to one of despair and sadness. Where as the aftermath in Palm Beach is a detached and generic event that the reader is not meant to have a strong connection to, Tea Cakes fate at the hands of rabies is much more personal. The slow disintegration of Tea Cakes mind and body is ment to drain the reader of any hope that the end of Eyes will be positive. Hurston pulls the reader even farther down when Jaine is forced to kill Tea Cake to defend herself, and leaves the reader questioning how Jaine will be able recover from such a traumatic experience. But in the final chapter Janie shows that she is not the weak girl who was lead away from her desires by her grandmother or her past husbands, she is now strong enough to stand on her own against any obstacle. Hurson ends the book this way to give a sharp edge of realism to the sword that is her book.


P.S. to Ms. Wecker and anyone who reads this-probably no one-I have a question and it goes thus...would any male character in the book even including Tea Cake care about Jaine if she wasn't so beautiful. I feel that the answer is a resounding NO, and that makes Tea Cake especially seem like just as much of a shallow prick as the rest of the men. I really want to hear peoples opinion on this because I find it to be quite a big hole in the entire plot.

Oh and to Ms. Wecker personally I would really like some feed back either over the blog or in class. If i don't get any then i will assume that you didn't read my blog and i will wear a sad face for the next to classes two show my disappointment.

oh yeah and here is my plot diagram

Jim is a single parent living in a large city during the third world war. His city is bombed and he barley makes it to his shelter in time. When he emerges he surveys the devastation, he also realizes that his 12 year old daughter, Julia would have been on her bus ride home about the time the bombs started to hit. Fearing the worst Jim starts to run toward the school, before he is halfway there he finds what remains of his daughters bus. He cries and screams for a while but eventually starts to make his way home to examine his house and to see if other need help.

Journal #8

Hurston uses the setting of the hurricane to develop the theme that when love overcomes challenges, it grows stronger. During the course of the book up to this point Jaine has been in search of true love, the reader is given hints that she has found it in Tea Cake but the events during the hurricane prove it beyond doubt. It is unclear if Jaine has been aware of how much she loves and trusts Tea Cake but her words to him during the storm are clear, "We been tuhgether round two years. If your can see the light at daybreak you can die at dusk. It's so many people never seen de light at all"(159). Janie tells Tea Cake that there is no place she would rather be than by his side even if that means she might die in a hurricane. This kind of pure unconditional love in the face of death itself reveals the true strength of Tea Cake and Janie's relationship. Tea Cake keeps trying to apologize for not seeing the storm but Janie refuses to blame him for what he did not know. Tea Cake even shows surprise at the deepness of Janie's love for him and this fact seems to push him harder to get out of the storm. With these words to each other their love becomes stronger that ever before and helps them escape the hurricane.

Journal #7

Janie gathered herself "Nanny, I ben thinkin bout my future and what want and it ain't Logan". Nanny face seemed to tighten, but she said nothing so Janie continued, "I know you want me to be safe because of what happened to mama, but I ain't her Nanny. Im old enough to be sterin my own ship. Deres a whole world out there I wanna see before settle down and when I do decide to marry, it gonna be with someone I love". Janie looked at the damage she had done but was confused my the neutral look that blanketed Nanny's face. Finally nanny spoke, "Well it look to me like you got your mind made up then, can't say I'm happy bout the whole thing but der seems to be no way to convince you otherwise". Janie tried to hide her surprise at Nanny's words, "Now i don't mean to leave you just yet Nanny". "Oh i think you do mean leave, there ain't no reason for you to stay here, if you mean what you just said I don't mean to hold you back, you get your things together and be ready to leave by tomorrow monrnin. Ain't know way im keeping you her cooped up takin care of me". So despite her protests Janie packed all her clothes into a suitcase and set it by her bed. She slept soundly knowing that she had escaped a dull fate. The next morning rose and the world seemed new and fresh as the sun peeked its head over the hills to see what had happened during the night. Janie got herself dressed and decided that she would make breakfast for Nanny. She put the meal on a tray and slowly opened the door to Nanny's room. She looked at the old woman, her head peaking out from under the covers was calm and peaceful. Janie went over grap Nanny's hand, she jumped back at the coldness of the touch. She felt Nanny's chest and realized that the poor woman had died in her sleep.

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.

Journal #4

With that William wondered about fear. Fear, the small scrawny man who lives just under the ground. He lives quietly, just under the toes of men. He fears no one, for none can see him when he hides himself with a cloak of dirt and grass. He looks though the cracks in the earth and waits for the moment to grab the legs of brave men and keep them from moving. He is still with a mythotical patience, waiting for a man to move forward. He has lodged there many a year pressing pressing his ear to the surface and his eye to the openings to pear at us. William was bound to see one of his holes on a the hill top where they all stood. The poor bastards! they should have hope by their side rather than emptiness. He sent his second in command up and down the ranks but they refused to get up. His priests knew how to cure most fears but they appeared useless to stop coldness that engulfed his men. They would be when they were forced to fight, when they had to choose between bravery or death. They would not cringe at the sight of the enemy. That was what he told himself. But his secound in command said different, so he was ready with a white flag at the ready. And if he hadn't know then he would know by noon the next day, for when the that dark slinking line of men found them on the hill and roped around through the forest like a noose around a condemned man. The army of the country that had once feared them now stood on the opposite side of the fence post. Vengeance, the vulture that circles over the victorious, waiting to strike.

Journal #3

"They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged." (33) -Imagery

"He kin be de king uh Jerusalem fuh all Ah keer." (39) -Allusion

"She knew that the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether" (25) -Metaphor

The townspeople praise Joe Sparks as a savior but when soon learn that he is no saint, "The rest of the town looked like servants' quarters surrounding the "big house"" (47). Hurston uses irony in making Joe Starks as a revolutionary bringing the townspeople out of oppression but he slowly takes up the position of the master. The use of irony shows that no one is a saint, it shows that every one has an agenda and for Joe he is after power. He comes in the town preaching to the townspeople to rise up from their past of servitude but only as long as they listen to him. Hurston is also sending a message to his readers to not trust someone just because they appear to be a saint, she advises us to look at their motives.

Janie decides to run off with the charming Joe Sparks, her descriptions of him are more true than she knows "Janie took a lot of looks at him and she was proud of what she saw. Kind of portly like rich white folks." (34) Hurston uses Janie's observations as foreshadowing to what lies beneath Joe Sparks charm is man hungry for power. Later in the book Joe sheds his angelic mask to show that he didn't arrive in Eatonville to restore the town but instead to take it over. It is almost impossible to see and it lets us sympathize with Janie and the townspeople for not seeing it at first.

Journal #2

O lawd, we omen of the world pray yuh shelter us from harm. We who have suffered so much, lawd give us de strength to take our lives in our own hands and steer it were we wish. For too long has it been lawd, too long has our sufferin dragged on, too long have we been powerless. Lift this burdun of oppression as you lifted the shackles of the white man. Why is it lawd, that while the black man is free, the black woman is still trapped by de rules of a master, a master that we are encouraged to find less we be left helpless. So here us now lawd, we wish to be free and equal amung de men, let us walk at our own pace and not one that someone else dictates, let us choose which road we travel on.

Journal # 1

My image of Janie is one of a woman who has started to lose hope. She is by no means weak or compromising in her actions but there seems to be something broken in her. She still displays that she is strong by shrugging off insults and accusations that the people sitting on the porch throw at her "her speech was pleasant enough, but she kept walking straight on to her gate."(2) Even when she ignores those who accuse her she shows that she has lost the desire to care, so where some might see strength I see regression. The narrator it quite withdrawn from the sufferings of Jaine. he does not seem to take personal interest in her suffering but rather comments on it as if it were a stranger he is quietly observing. He shows this by not using much emotion in his speech and really uses most of his descriptive dialog to describe the stabbing questions of the people on the porch which is to draw attention to it as an important part of the book. I couldn't help enjoying the narrators parts as they lack the heavy dialect of the characters speech that feels like wading though a deep patch of mud. This contrast is used distance the narrator further from the characters.