“Death, that strange being with the huge square toes who lived way in the West. The great one who lived in the straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof. What need has Death for a cover, and what winds can blow against him? He stands in his high house that overlooks the world. Stands watchful and motionless all day with his sword drawn back, waiting for the messenger to bid him come. Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then. She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now. She was sad and afraid too. Poor Jody! He ought not to have to wrassle in there by himself. She sent Sam in to suggest a visit, but Jody said No. These medical doctors wuz all right with the Godly sick, but they didn’t know a thing about a case like his. He’d be all right just as soon as the two-headed man found what had been buried against him. He wasn’t going to die at all. That was what he thought. But Sam told her different, so she knew. And then if he hadn’t, the next morning she was bound to know, for people began to gather in the big yard under the palm and china-berry trees. People who would not have dared to foot the place before crept in and did not come to the house. Just squatted under the trees and waited. Rumor, that wingless bird, had shadowed over the town.” (Hurston 84)
· Personifies death
o The personification of death makes the reader see it as Janie is seeing it and not as something that just happens. It causes the death of Joe to be a bigger event than if death had not been personified.
· Capitalizes No
o The “no” is capitalized to put emphasis on the word. Joe was very upset with Janie and I think he wanted to show that he had power over her by making her feel bad and making her feel guilty. The capitalized “n” in the word adds to that effect.
· Gives a “rumor” the characteristics of a bird
o Hurston does this because a common saying is that “rumors fly through areas.” They do this without wings. I think Hurston is trying to make readers put a physical image to a rumor so that they can see the effects that a rumor has within a group of people.
· Continues the motif of trees
o Because people gather under the trees while they wait for the death of Jody, it makes the reader see a tree as a symbol of death. It could also make the reader see the tree as a symbol of judgment because the people are waiting to judge Janie after Jody dies.
· Refers to death with masculine pronouns
o This causes the reader to connect the death figure to the men of the book. It makes the reader connect with Janie more and see the male characters in a more negative light
o A motif of men having power over women is a prominent in the book. Because death is characterized with male pronouns, it contributes to that motif.
· “wuz”; the only word in a southern dialect in the narration
o This word connects the narration with Janie and makes the reader understand that this passage is Janie’s thoughts.
· The “s” sound is prominent in the underlined sentence
o Because the “s” sounds is so prominent in the sentence, it causes to “No” to be emphasized because it doesn’t have the “s” sound.
· Janie sympathizes with Jody and feels bad for him.
o Before this passage, Hurston made Joe seem like a bad person and made the reader sympathize with Janie instead of with Joe. Because Janie begins to feel bad for Joe the reader begins to as well. This lends itself to the motif that men have power over women because even though Joe did bad things to Janie, she still feels something for him.
· Death stands “watchful”
o The word “watchful” adds to the motif of eyes and judgment. Death is standing there watching and then judges when a person needs to die. This lends itself to the theme that judging with the eyes can be dangerous.
· Uses the word “overlooks”
o This word contributes to the motif of eyes.
o It can also contribute to the motif of power because Death is overlooking the world. When something overlooks the world, it usually means that it has power over something, if not the world itself.
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