Defiant, then Submissive

“’Tain’t too many mens would trust yuh… ‘Tain’t no mo’ fools lak me… He hoped that he had hurt” (30-31).

“De way he rears and pitches in de store sometimes when she make uh mistake is sort of ungodly, but she don’t seem to mind at all” (50).

            The quick dwindling of Logan’s kindness and his demands for her to perform manual labor ignited anger and defiance in Janie.  His lack of love fueled his defiance so much that she ran off with Joe Starks, a wealthy man who had instilled a “feeling of sudden newness and change” in Janie.  While I inferred that this change would result in a more independent and continually defiant Janie, she does not continue to express these freedoms in her relationship with Joe.  Instead, she seems to become passive and submissive to his dominant character.  This surprised me as she fought bought with Logan and continued to hope for love; however, now, she relinquishes to Joe with little protest. 

Invoking Sympathy in Janie

“Janie, maybe it wasn’t much, but Ah done the best Ah kin by you… Have some sympathy fuh me. Put me down easy, Janie” (19-20).

 Nanny’s witness of Janie and Johnny Taylor’s kiss prompts her to recount her life’s hardships to Janie.  While on the surface she is explaining her life story, she is also attempting to invoke sympathy from Janie.  She depicts how she escaped from slavery and attempted to put Leafy through school so that she would have a better life than her mom.  By explaining that Leafy got raped, fell into a habit of drinking and ran away Nanny hopes to instill “sympathy from Janie.” Nanny implies that the purpose of her life has shifted from creating a better life for her daughter to creating a better life for Janie.  By recounting her life story and explaining that she has “done the best [she] kin by” Janie, Nanny hopes to invoke sympathy in Janie that will persuade her to marry Logan Killicks. Nanny implies that by doing so, Janie would “put [her] down easy;” meaning, she would die unworried because Nanny would know Janie was safe and protected from being “de mule uh de world” (14).  

A Return to Stanley's Old Life at the Expense of Blanche

“The ‘Varsouviana’ is filtered into a weird distortion, accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle. Blanche seizes the back of a chair as if to defend herself” (174)

Stanley’s rape of Blanche not only provides a platform for Blanche to seem crazy in front of Stella, but also for her to display her supposed lunacy in front of the doctor and nurse.  Her seizing of the chair as she is followed into the bedroom is a reaction fostered by her fear of being attacked again.  While this fear is realistic as Stanley’s aggression was only a few weeks prior, it portrays Blanche in an even more insane light as everyone else, the doctor, nurse, Stella, Mitch and the other men, believes she is lying.  Stanley’s cruelty is prominent as not only committed adultery with his wife’s sister, but he raped her; and now he is witnessing Blanche being dragged away because of the reputation of a lunatic that he has cast on her.  Not only were his actions horrific, but Stanley’s selfishness is prevalent as he does not seem to care that his wife is distraught at having to see her sister go on these terms; he simply cares that he has gotten rid of Blanche by any means possible. 

Blanche: Less Arrogant More Concerned

“Stanley…reaches way over the table to spear his fork into the remaining chop which he eats with his fingers…He hurls a plate to the floor” (130-131)

Stanley’s actions throughout Blanche’s birthday dinner further place him in an animalistic light.  His lack of manners and aggressive “hurl[ing]” of a plate onto the floor causes the reader to sympathize more with Blanche’s opposition to her sister’s husband.  Initially, Blanche is depicted as arrogant as she deems Stella's lifestyle's inferior to the one which they were raised in at Belle Reve.  Her superior attitude renders the audience to be skeptical of her opinions; however, Stanley’s perpetual rudeness, bestial behavior, and sporadic aggressive actions give justification for Blanche’s objection to Stanley.   The more prominent Stanley’s uncivilized persona becomes, the more Blanche’s hostility towards him is seen as concern rather than as arrogance.  While she does deem him “common,” Blanche’s objection to Stanley’s animalism is derived from concern for her sister’s well being.