# data[].attributes.body
"There was no doubt that the town respected him and even admired him in a way. But any man who walks in the way of power and property is bound to meet hate" (48).

# data[].attributes.body
"She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there." (87)

# data[].attributes.body
Janie letting down her hair represents her finally being free from Jody. Janie's hair represents her freedom and it being let down represents her being set free from Jody's rules and oppression.

# data[].attributes.body
"This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store...She was there in the store for him to look at, not those others" (55).

# data[].attributes.body
Jody forces Janie to wear the head rag to hide her hair because Janie's hair represents her beauty and strength. Jody uses the hair rag as another control over Janie and her freedom.

# data[].attributes.body
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees...She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!" (11).

# data[].attributes.body
The pear tree represents Janie maturing and discovering the idea of love and marriage. This quote represents her seeing and gaining the idea that sexuality, marriage, and love are all intertwined. This comes to represent Janie's idea of a perfect relationship where she can be happy.

# data[].attributes.body
"She had no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man, neither any glistening young fruit where the petals used to be. She found that she had a host of thoughts she had never expressed to him, and numerous emotions she had never let Jody know about...She was saving up feelings for some man she had never seen" (72).

# data[].attributes.body
Janie realizes that her marriage to Jody is not like her ideal marriage that she saw in the pear tree. She realizes that she needs someone other than Jody to give her a marriage that will make her happy, that will give her the marriage the pear tree represents.

# data[].attributes.body
"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 to death by Time. That is
the life of men" (1).

# data[].attributes.body
The horizon symbolizes the dreams and wishes of people. This quote shows that some people can attain their goals, while others sail on forever, never quite reaching it. It shows that time is against men and their dreams.

# data[].attributes.body
"Here Nanny had taken the
biggest thing God ever made, the horizon—for no matter how
far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond you—and
pinched it in to such a little bit of a thing that she could tie it
about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to choke her" (89).

# data[].attributes.body
Janie is saying that Nanny made her horizon or her dream unreachable. Nanny was the one who put Janie in her marriage with Logan which eventually lead to her marriage with Jody, both of which treated her horribly. Her dream was to find love and a man who would treat her well, and because of Nanny she had not found that.

# data[].attributes.body
"Yes, she would love Logan after they were married. She could see no way for it to come about, but Nanny and the old folks had said it, so it must be so. Husbands and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage meant" (21).

# data[].attributes.body
Janie believes that love comes with being married, her Nanny has told her that she will learn to love Logan after marrying him so Janie believes her. She believes that one day she will wake up and love Logan. Though she later learns that this is not how love works.

# data[].attributes.body
"He set it up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside. 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 one of his good points. Those full, lazy eyes with the lashes curling sharply away like drawn scimitars. Then lean, over-padded shoulders and narrow waist. Even nice!" (95-96).

# data[].attributes.body
Janie's attraction and later love for Tea Cake can largely be credited to him seeing that she is intelligent and more than just a housewife and showing her that he feels that way. He doesn't try to control or limit her like Logan or Jody did, Janie realizes that this is what love is, treating each other well, encouraging each other, and helping each other grow.

# data[].attributes.body
"Nanny sent Janie along with a stern mien, but she dwindled all the rest of the day as she worked. And when she gained the privacy of her own little shack she stayed on her knees so long she forgot she was there herself….Towards morning she muttered, "Lawd, you know mah heart. Ah done de best Ah could do. De rest is left to you." She scuffled up from her knees and fell heavily across the bed. A month later she was dead" (24)

# data[].attributes.body
Nanny entrusts herself and Janie to God. She believes that He will help guide Janie to have a good life thanks to her preparations. She believes that since she has done her best and worked hard, that God will reward her by helping Janie through life.

# data[].attributes.body
Fate seems to dictate that powerful men are hated by others who are less powerful and are jealous of their power. Fate makes it that since Joe is powerful and has wealth, that the townspeople resent him in a way.

# data[].attributes.body
"Honey, de white
man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out.
Maybe it's some place way off in de ocean where de black man is
in power, but we don't know nothin' but what we see. So de
white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it
up" (14).

# data[].attributes.body
In the time period the book is set, white is still seen as the superior race and black people are constantly looked down on. It was only recently after slavery was abolished so much of the progress that has been made today hadn't been made yet.

# data[].attributes.body
"But Mrs. Turner's shape and features were entirely approved by
Mrs. Turner....To her way of thinking all these things set her aside from Negroes. That was why she sought out Janie to friend with. Janie's coffee-and-cream complexion and her luxurious hair made Mrs. Turner forgive her for wearing overalls like the other women who worked in the fields" (140)

# data[].attributes.body
Like Janie, Mrs. Turner is partially Caucasian. Janie doesn't necessarily take pride in her white features though like Mrs. Turner does. Mrs. Turner believes that the lighter a person is or the more white they appear,the more superior they are which is a very racist view towards black people, especially people with dark complexion.

# data[].attributes.body
" 'Whut Ah seen just now is plenty for me, honey, Ah don't
want no trashy nigger, no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor
usin' yo' body to wipe his foots on.'...
'...Ah'm ole now. Ah can't
be always guidin' yo' feet from harm and danger. Ah wants to see
you married right away.' " (12-13)

# data[].attributes.body
Nanny was born in a time of hardship and grew up learning that she had to fend for herself. She wants the best for Janie, for her to have a good life and never like to struggle like she did in her past. Because she can't be there to protect her forever and wants her to marry a man that she knows will take care of Janie, she sends Janie off to be married. Nanny's past had an influence on her decision because she knows how difficult life can be for a black woman.

# data[].attributes.body
"She was broken and her pride was gone, so she told those who asked what had happened. Who Flung had taken her to a shabby room in a shabby house in a shabby street and promised to marry her next day. They stayed in the room two whole days then she woke up to find Who Flung and her money gone...The thing made itself into pictures and hung around Janie's
bedside all night long." (119-120).

# data[].attributes.body
The history of Annie Taylor had an influence on Janie. It made her nervous that Tea Cake would do the same to her that Who Flung did to Mrs.Taylor. It is part of the reason she brings the 200 dollars and it is why she was so worried when Tea Cake wasn't back the next morning and her money was gone.

# data[].attributes.body
"She looked hard at the sky for a long time. Somewhere up there
beyond blue ether's bosom sat He. Was He noticing what was
going on around here? He must be because He knew everything.
Did He mean to do this thing to Tea Cake and her? It wasn't anything
she could fight. She could only ache and wait"

# data[].attributes.body
Janie is questioning why God would do this to her and Tea Cake. She wonders why He would use his great power to punish them, she doesn't think they've done anything wrong. She feels powerless because she doesn't have any control over the situation and prays that God will have mercy on them.

# data[].attributes.body
" 'Can't nothin' be done fuh his case, doctah? Us got plenty
money in de bank in Orlandah, doctah. See can't yuh do somethin'
special tuh save him. Anything it cost, doctah, Ah don't
keer, but please, doctah.'
'Do what I can. Ah'll phone into Palm Beach right away
for the serum which he should have had three weeks ago. I'll
do all I can to save him, Janie. But it looks too late...' " (177)

# data[].attributes.body
Tea Cake can't be saved by Janie's money, or anything for that matter. Fate has decided that it is Tea Cake's time to go and Janie can't do anything to stop it, no matter how hard she tries. Tea Cake is already too far gone.

# data[].attributes.body
"The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light
for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other
shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls
asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His.
They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were
watching God" (160).

# data[].attributes.body
The Hurricane represents the ultimate force of nature. It overpowers any human power, they can do nothing to stop it, they simply can wait and hope they get lucky and survive.

# data[].attributes.body
"...Dis evenin' we'se all assembled heah tuh light
uh lamp. Dis occasion is something for us all tuh remember tuh
our dyin' day. De first street lamp in uh colored town. Lift yo'
eyes and gaze on it. And when Ah touch de match tuh dat lampwick
let de light penetrate inside of yuh, and let it shine, let it
shine, let it shine..." (45).

# data[].attributes.body
The people of Eatonville came together to light the first street lamp in a colored town. They feel a sense of community surrounded by people like themselves.

# data[].attributes.body
" Then it was dice. Not for money. This was a show-off game. Everybody posing his fancy shots...The others forgot the work and the weather watching them throw. It was art. A thousand dollars a throw in Madison Square Garden wouldn't have gotten any more breathless suspense. It would have just been more people holding in" (157-158).

# data[].attributes.body
The sense of community the people living in the Glades have with each other is very strong. They have such a strong bond that it even helps them not focus on the incoming horrible weather and only focus on making each other happy. They are having a good time as a community, even with the threat of the hurricane looming above them.

# data[].attributes.body
" 'And now we'll listen tuh uh few words uh encouragement from Mrs. Mayor Starks.' The burst of applause was cut short by Joe taking the floor himself. 'Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home' " (43).

# data[].attributes.body
This is just one of the many times in the novel that Joe prevents Janie from speaking or doing something because he believes that since she's a woman she shouldn't be doing so. Janie is silenced by Joe simply for being a woman, and Janie doesn't think that's right and despises him for it.

# data[].attributes.body
" 'Naw, Ah ain't no young gal no mo' but den Ah ain't no old woman neither. Ah reckon Ah looks mah age too. But Ah'm uh woman every inch of me, and Ah know it. Dat's uh whole lot more'n you kin say. You big-bellies round here and put out a lot of brag, but 'tain't nothin' to it but yo' big voice. Humph! Talkin"bout me lookin' old! When you pull down yo' britches, you look lak de change uh life' " (79).

# data[].attributes.body
Instead of being silenced by Jody's insults and power like she had in the past, Janie finally spoke out for herself. She didn't let herself get pushed around by him anymore. Janie was done being silent, she had found her voice against Jody.

# data[].attributes.body
" 'Jody, dat wuz uh mighty fine thing fuh you tuh do. 'Tain't everybody would have thought of it, 'cause it ain't no everyday thought. Freein' dat mule makes uh mighty big man outa you. Something like George Washington and Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln, he had de whole United States tuh rule so he freed de Negroes. You got uh town so you freed uh mule. You have tuh have power tuh free things and dat makes you lak uh king uh something' " (58).

# data[].attributes.body
Jody had great power in the town because of his money and authority. He has the power to do things such as free the mule and the townspeople respect him because of his power.

# data[].attributes.body
" Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession" (147).

# data[].attributes.body
Tea Cake showed that he had power over Janie. He whipped her to let her know that she belongs to him and no one else. She didn't do anything to deserve the whipping and show of power, but he did it to assert his dominance.

# data[].attributes.body
" A feeling of sudden newness and change came over her. Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good" (32).

# data[].attributes.body
Janie showed her independence by leaving Logan. She showed that she is going to be the one to decide her own fate, not some man she had to marry. She had the confidence and drive to take control of her life and make this decision.

# data[].attributes.body
"  ''Tain't dat Ah worries over Joe's death, Pheoby. Ah jus' loves dis freedom.' 'Sh-sh-sh! Don't let nobody hear you say dat, Janie. Folks will say you ain't sorry he's gone.' 'Let 'em say whut dey wants tuh, Pheoby. To my thinkin' mourning oughtn't tuh last no longer'n grief.' " (93).

# data[].attributes.body
Janie feels very independent and free after Jody's death. She is free from his control over her actions and she is also free from grief. She uses this new gained freedom to exert her independence and she doesn't care what everyone else thinks about it.

# data[].attributes.body
" They cried out as best they could, 'De lake is comin'!' and barred doors flew open and others joined them in flight crying the same as they went. 'De lake is comin'!' and the pursuing waters growled and shouted ahead, 'Yes, Ah'm comin'!', and those who could fled on" (162).

# data[].attributes.body
All the people could do was run from the power of the hurricane. They could do nothing to fight it, only run and hope they could be fast enough and lucky enough to survive. The hurricane didn't care who you were, it wouldn't hesitate to kill you.