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"Oh to be a pear tree-any tree in bloom!" (11)

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The pear tree symbolizes Janie's desire for growth and independence to grow.

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"The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree, but Janie didn't know how to tell Nanny that. She merely hunched over and pouted at the floor." (14)

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The idea of Logan Killicks was destroying Janie's hope for independent growth which is symbolized by the pear tree.

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" 'Cause Ah hates de way his [Logan] head is so long one way and so flat on de sides and dat pone uh fat back uh his neck" (24)

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It was Nanny who made Janie marry Logan and ultimately decided her fate. This ended up in Janie being unhappy in her fate as decided by Nanny.

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"Folkses, de sun is goin’ down. De Sun-maker brings it up in de mornin’, and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at night. Us poor weak humans can’t do nothin’ tuh hurry it up nor to slow it down. All we can do, if we want any light after de settin’ or befo’ de risin’, is tuh make some light ourselves. So dat’s how come lamps was made. Dis evenin’ we’se all assembled heah tuh light uh lamp" (45)

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Joe believes fate is unable to provide him with the means necessary to build up the town.

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"There was no doubt that the town respected him [Joe Starks] 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)

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The town respects Joe Starks and views him as a man of power. However, power is not always the greatest place for those who want to be loved.

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"The familiar people and things had failed her [Janie] so she hung over the gate and looked up the road towards way off. She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman" (25)

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During her first marriage, Janie feels trapped and powerless to do anything. This is something she will overcome, but at this point, she feels controlled by her more powerful husband.

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"The spirit of the marriage left the bedroom and took to living in the parlor" (71)

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Janie's marriage with Joe has downgraded from love to a burden. There is no longer love in their marriage.

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"Things lak dat got uh whole lot tuh do wid convenience, but it ain't got nothin' tuh do wid love" (105)

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Tea Cake doesn't care about the social standards concerning love. He loves Janie for who she is and illustrates a true vision of love in it.

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"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 they act and do things accordingly" (1)

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The author calls into question the memory of women and the lives they have previously lived.

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"Old Nanny sat there rocking Janie like an infant and thinking back and back. Mind-pictures brought feelings, and feelings dragged out dramas from the hollows of her heart" (16)

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Nanny relives her experiences in the rocking chair. She remembers all the things that occurred in her life and all the feelings she experienced.

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"It was a cityfied, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn’t belong in these parts. His coat was over his arm, but he didn’t need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world. He whistled, mopped his face and walked like he knew where he was going. He was a seal-brown color but he acted like Mr. Washburn or somebody like that to Janie" (27)

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Janie moves to this new town and see others and is confused by their mannerisms. She has never experienced a community life like this before.

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"Joe’s funeral was the finest thing Orange County had ever seen with Negro eyes. The motor hearse, the Cadillac and Buick carriages; Dr. Henderson there in his Lincoln; the hosts from far and wide. Then again the gold and red and purple, the gloat and glamor of the secret orders, each with its insinuations of power and glory undreamed of by the uninitiated. People on farm horses and mules; babies riding astride of brothers’ and sisters’ backs. The Elks band ranked at the church door and playing "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" with such a dominant drum rhythm that it could be stepped off smartly by the long line as it filed inside. The Little Emperor of the cross-roads was leaving Orange County as he had come – with the out-stretched hand of power" (88)

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The people of the town come to Joe's funeral in their best attire. This show how society values those in power over the average citizen.

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"Ah thought you would 'preciate good treatment. Though Ah'd take and make somethin' outa yuh. You think youse white folks by de way you act" (30)

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Logan seems to think that a black woman, like Janie, shouldn't have respect.

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"Us colored folks is too envious of one 'nother. Dat's how come us don't git no frther than us do. Us talks about de white man keepin' us down!" (39)

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Logan thinks the blacks are very jealous and hating of each other. That's why he believes they haven't gone far.

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"The familiar people and things had failed her so she hung over the gate and looked up the road towards way off" (25)

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After her first marriage, Janie feels like she has lost her independence because of her ensnaring marriage.

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"Whut make her [Janie] keep her head tied up lak some ole ‘oman round de store? Nobody couldn’t git me tuh tie no rag on mah head if Ah had hair lak dat" (49)

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Janie's hair rag symbolizes her own independence and freedom. With it on, she is oppressed by her husbands and the drag of society.

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"So the beginning of this was a woman and she had come back from burying the dead...She had come back from the sodden and the bloated; the sudden dead, their eyes flung wide open in judgment" (1)

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The death of Tea Cake might symbolize the rebirth of Janie and her character. Maybe a spiritual change due to the loss of her favorite husband.

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" 'Just a matter of time,' the doctor told her. 'When a man's kidneys stop working altogether, there is no way for him to live. He needed medical attention two years ago. Too late now.' " (83)

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This news that Joe is soon to pass is an eye opener to Janie and how she has been treated. She thinks she is heavenly made and is happy to escape this "bondage".

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"The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky. It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment" (1)

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While under the watch of a supervisor, the people of Eatonville become silent. But in his absence, they feel more empowered to speak.

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"Yeah, Sam say most of 'em goes to church so they'll be sure to rise in Judgment. Dat's de day dat every secret is s'posed to be made known. They wants to be there and hear it all" (6)

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The people of Eatonville live off the gossip they get from other people's lives. As statement, they await Judgment day when every secret is revealed.

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"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. It didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was" (55)

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Joe forces Janie to hide her hair because he finds her beauty to be a concern to other townspeople.

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" 'What good do combin' mah hair do you? It's mah comforable, not yourn' 'It's mine too. Ah ain't been sleepin' so good for more'n uh week cause Ah been wishin' so bad tuh git mah hands in yo' hair' " (103)

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Tea Cake appreciates and loves Janie's hair, which is a new feeling for her. Tea Cake appreciates her beauty and shows how different he is from the other husbands.

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"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board" (1)

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The horizon clearly represents the dreams of men and the main character, Janie. However, it is shown to contain many obstacles.

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"...they sail forever on the horizon never out of sight...That is the life of men" (1)

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Some seek their dreams forever and never find it because it isn't their destiny.

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"Everybody was talking about it [the hurricane] that night. But nobody was worried" (154)

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Everyone knew about the incoming hurricane, but no one seemed shook or worried in the slightest.

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"Sometime that night the winds came back... By morning Gabriel was playing the deep tones in the center of the drum. So when Janie looked out of her door she saw the drifting mists gathered in the west – that cloud field of the sky – to arms themselves with thunders and march forth against the world" (158)

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The hurricane is on its way and still people aren't taking action. This may prove to be a huge mistake because it is compared to the angel Gabriel.