“Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves” (71).
While Janie’s anger towards how the Eatonville men treat Matt’s mule draws parallels between the treatment of Janie by Joe and the treatment of the mule by the men, it is not until Joe explicitly equates Janie to a thoughtless animal that it is clear to Janie has come into the role of a submissive, mistreated spouse. Although Janie has married, she has still not escaped the role Nanny promised marriage would exempt her from: “de mule uh de world” (14). Janie, in her marriage to Logan, learns that marriage does not guarantee love; therefore, she runs away in hopes of finding love with Joe Starks. However, in her second marriage instead of finding love her character is further diminished to an animalistic state.
Mary-You draw an apt comparison here between the mule and Janie, tying this comparison in effectively with Nanny's phrase about married women. I'd like to have seen you offer a bit of evidence to support your final assertion, though. (This post seems uncharacteristically rushed...)
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