When initially presented, Jody was described to be a proud and ambitious man, someone who could treat Janie well and lead her to a happy, privileged life. But after Janie married Jody we saw that Jody was actually very self centered and oppressive.
Jody reduced Janie to being nothing more than a prized possession. As years of their marriage passed he became more oppressive, but Janie submitted to his harmful nature. Eventually, “no matter what Jody did, she said nothing. She had learned how to talk some and leave some. She was a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept beaten down by the wheels”. As time passed, it was discovered that Jody had damaged kidneys. Janie finally decided to confront Jody and he tells her that she never appreciated all that he did for her, while she replied back that he never let her have emotion. Jody died after the argument. As soon as Jody died, Janie pitied Jody that life had mishandled him too. She then questioned what other way she could have talked to him but had no idea. She began to think about herself. She walked over to a mirror and saw that a handsome woman had taken the place of her young self. “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair”.
Her hair trapped in the kerchief was a symbol for Janie herself. Janie was originally restrained and oppressed by Jody. When her hair was put up in the kerchief, on the surface it may have seemed nice and beautiful, but in reality it was being restrained and prohibited from being down. When Janie let down her hair she freed it from being confined by the kerchief. Her hair was free to move as it pleased. Just like her hair being put down, Janie was now liberated and free with the death of Jody. She was not constrained by anyone or anything anymore.
I connected the hair experience with my own encounters with hair. Whenever I put my hair up, I feel like it’s trapped and it occasionally gets irritating. But whenever I let my hair down after it is up, I honestly get a sense of freedom for not just my hair, but my whole body.
I think this is a really good insight because I can definitely relate to feeling different when your hair is different. I think it's similar to the stereotype that women change their hair when they're going to change their life, in that this letting down of the hair signifies a significant change in her life.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 1, one of the women on the porch commented "What dat ole forty year ole ’oman doin’ wid her hair swingin’ down her back lak some young gal?" which also suggests Janie letting her hair down connects her back to her youth.
ReplyDeleteThere definitely does seem to be a huge focus on Janie's hair by Hurston, it's a defining part of her appearance. I agree with what you said and I wonder, if the hair represents her status of freedom, then what is Hurston trying to say with the scene where she wakes up to Tea Cake brushing her hair? Does Tea Cake now have hold of her freedom under the guise of pleasure?
ReplyDeleteThis is a kinda cool observation actually
DeleteAs a guy with pretty boring hair I can't really relate to anything because my hair never really changes unfortunately. However, I do see people differently when their hair is different as different hairstyles can symbolize several things.
ReplyDeleteThe crucial thing here is that Janie doesn't *choose* to wrap her hair at the store--she does it because Joe is controlling and jealous, paradoxically wanting her to "look good" and be on "display" in the store, but not to look *too* good so that the guys who come in check out her hair.
ReplyDeleteSo the act of letting it down *immediately* upon his death is a strong suggestion that she feels free, in the sense that she can determine for herself what her hair looks like. (And, we might point out, it is one of the things Tea Cake claims to really like about her, and their first "intimacy" comes from him combing her hair for her, the first time in her experience that a man has done something for *her* comfort and not his own.)
I think you've come across a very important recurring symbol throughout this book. As you said, after her incredibly long and taxing period of stress living with Jody finally ends, Janie lets down her hair from the restrictive state it had been in before--signifying her physical and mental relief, and her preparation for a new chapter in her life. It is important to connect the theme of letting down her hair to the first scene in which Janie is seemingly in a position of independence and finally in control over her own life; her hair is repeatedly described as being let loose and long down her back.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what you're saying about Janie's hair as a symbol. It's interesting what a significant role Janie's physical features play in the novel, and how they might be symbols for other aspects of her life. There are several scenes where people are commenting on what she's wearing, or how her hair looks, or how she's old. It seems like there's a recurring theme of people using Janie's looks to judge or control her, and then when she lets her hair down, or walks back into town wearing just overalls, she finally gets control over her own life.
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