All rights reserved. Toggle navigation. Sign Up. Sign In. View the Study Pack. View the Lesson Plans. Table of Contents. Plot Summary. Major Characters. Topic Tracking: Identity. Topic Tracking: Nature.
Topic Tracking: Voice. Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Previous Next. Chapter 6 Some of the men like to tease Matt Bonner about his skinny yellow mule. Though everyone loves the conversation except Matt , Joe has forbidden Janie from joining in. He thinks she is too good for them, and Janie resents him for it. The most irksome thing, of course, is his staunch resolution for her to wear a head-rag in the store. But he does not tell Janie this; he simply commands her to wear the head-rag.
Janie watches helplessly, feeling sorry for the poor beast. Then, Joe does something unexpected. He buys the mule from Matt Bonner. Jody tells her to be quiet and orders her to fetch him a checkerboard. On the other hand, by experiencing the richness of life in Eatonville, in particular the rich folk traditions of conversation, Janie begins to see how she might live the life that she so desires. Jody continues to exert the same kind of control over Janie that he does in Chapter 5.
It is important to note, however, that Jody is not an evil character. Indeed, there are no true antagonists in the book, and evil is not manifested in specific individuals.
He is living the only way he knows how. In his heart, he does not intend to hurt people, but his unfailing belief in a social hierarchy dominated by wealthy males inevitably hurts those around him. It is a noble display of power both because it frees the mule from cruelty and because it is meant to please Janie.
Though this incident is not a matter of anger or ambition but rather tender kindness, he can demonstrate this kindness only by means of money. He is unable or unwilling to interact on equal terms with Janie; he uses his purchasing power to express his emotions. One can argue that he senses Janie slipping away from him and that he intends the act to woo her back under his dominion. But in the lengthy passages of dialogue, we are brought deeper into the world of the novel: instead of being told a story, we are actually being shown a world.
As Henry Louis Gates Jr. Cornmeal is the staple of the poor, used in corn bread, corn pone, hush puppies, cornmeal mush, and a host of other stomach-filling items.
Biscuits are special and an indication of some prosperity. Side meat is meat from the side of a pig, specifically bacon or salt pork. In Joe's store, it would be sold by the slab to be sliced at home by the purchaser or sliced and weighed in the store. This is another indication of Matt's poverty or ignorance — or both.
For Joe, they would be a classy sort of houseslipper. Drag him out to the edge of the hammock a precarious place to be because a hammock tips very easily when the occupant gets too close to the edge.
No Matt Bonner with plow lines Plow lines control an animal. Now that the mule is dead, he will no longer be hitched to the plow. Ah knowed you would going tuh crawl up dat holler In other words, I knew that you were going to take that path in the discussion.
Sam will "smoke out" Lige in his rebuttal. The two men engage in regular and predictable arguments. Each one knows pretty well what the other one will say, but all of this is part of the entertainment on the porch of the store.
A dinosaur was the logo of Sinclair and was prominently displayed at their filling stations. In all likelihood, the men do not know it is a dinosaur. Daisy is walking a drum tune The drum is the key percussion instrument in a musical group. It sets the tempo. Daisy is walking with the stylish snap of a precision solo drummer — and she knows it! Sam Watson, you'se mah fish a good catch — not an empty hook for the fisherman or woman. Joe plans to beat Sam at checkers — that is catch him like a fish on his hook.
Previous Chapter 5. Next Chapter 7.
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