Zora Neale Hurston writes as if she were composing a symphony. Each character has a clear instrumental voice, and there is immense clarity as to when they enter and exit the story. Her use of dialect defines a culture, and her use of color brings it to life. Through poetic imagery and symbolism, the reader is able to clearly follow Janie's journey, as she searches to define her own voice, and find meaning in her existence.

Since she was raised in a household of white children, Janie didn't realize that she was different until she saw a photograph of everyone together. "Aw, aw! Ah'm colored." Janie said, when she understood that she was the dark one. This moment captures the naivety Janie possessed early in her childhood, and the importance of visual contrast within the novel. Mis' Washburn, Nanny's boss, dresses Janie in her grandchildren's old clothes, setting her apart from other black children. Janie was acting and living the life of a white child. She grew up surrounded by uncommon privileges. These early impressions influ

After seven years of marriage, "the bed was no longer a daisy-field for her and Joe to play in. It was a place where she went and laid down when she was sleepy or tired." Janie was no longer "petal-open" with Joe, and he began to abuse her. Years passed. Seasons changed. Janie aged and Joe got sick. While on his death-bed Janie finally musters the courage to say everything she wants to say to Joe. "Naw, you gointuh listen tuh me one time befo' you die...you ain't de Jody ah run off down the road wid. You'se whut's left after he died. Mah own mind had tuh be squeezed and crowded out tuh make room for yours in me" (86). The purging of her silenced soul, and the death of her second husband, releases Janie from the second dream, which had become a nightmare.

money. And she knows what God gave women eyelashes

The presence of Daisy Blunt, serves to contrast the normal Eatonville woman. Unlike Janie, Daisy is free.

Thus, the disappointment of her arranged marriage affects both the protagonist and the reader. After learning that she must marry Logan Killicks, Janie responds, "naw, Nanny, no ma'am! Is dat what he been hangin' round here for? He look like some old skullhead in de graveyard" (13). Similes of death, foreshadow the sterile, love-less relationship that is to develop between Logan and Janie. Janie wondered if "marriage compelled love, like the sun the day, (21) but even Logan's stern last name, Killicks, suggested that it did not. Logan's house is compared to a stump in the middle of the woods and is "absent of flavor." There is no life in these images, only symbols of destruction and decay. Janie soon learns, that marriage does not promote, lead to, or become love. Her "first dream was dead, so she became a woman" (25).

Her second dream, and her new life with Joe was supposed to have "flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything," and it did for a very short while. However, Joe's desire for power, money, and success dominated the twenty years they were married. As time passes through this section of the book, Hurston uses Janie's voice very sparsely. These years represent submission, obedience, and s

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Approximate Word count = 1461
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)