“The monstropolous beast had left his bed. The two hundred mile an hour wind had loosed his chains. He seized hold of his dikes and ran forward until he met the quarters; uprooted them like grass and rushed on after his supposed-to-be-conquerors, rolling the dikes, rolling the houses, rolling the people” (162).
Hurston’s personification of the hurricane foreshadows the insurgence of power within Janie’s character. Throughout the novel, Janie has been molded by each of her husband’s into a subservient wife. In each marriage she becomes more passive. With Logan, she felt diminished, but she finally objected and ran away. With Jody, she suppressed her unhappiness and waited for an escape, which presented itself in Joe’s death. Now, with Tea Cake, she is suppressed and mistreated; however, she does not seem unhappy. Although he beats her to impress his power upon Janie and Mrs. Turner, Janie remains attached to Tea Cake. During the storm she is glad to be in the storm because “Ah’m wid mah husband in uh storm” (159). Hurston’s personification of the hurricane and how it is uprooting his “supposed-to-be conquerors” suggests that Janie will eventually revolt against the submissive mold she has be designed to fit; she will rediscover her independent drive and separate herself from Tea Cake and all men, her “supposed-to-be-conquerors.”
Mary-You offer an interesting reading here of Janie's relationships with the primary men in her life, and then of the hurricane that comes through to obliterate her life with Tea Cake. To be determined: will she achieve that independent strength that you suggest she will?
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