Nanny is described in chapter two as a grandmother who cares about her granddaughter and wants to see the best for her. “Nanny didn’t love tuh see me wid mah head hung down” (13). But she is concerned for Janie when she catches her kissing Johnny Taylor and doesn’t want to see her walked all over on. That is why Nanny wants her to get married so badly because it feels like it is the only way that Janie will be protected from other men trying to hurt her. Nanny then tells Janie that she has decided for her that she is going to marry Logan Killicks and it has been decided for Janie for some time now. “Every tear you drop squeezes a cup uh blood outa mah heart” (21). Janie is Nanny’s most prized possession and Nanny is trying to give her the best she can.
I wonder why Nanny decided to wait to tell Janie so long about the arranged marriage? Also I wonder does Nanny like Logan at all or was she just trying to find anyone that would marry Janie? Why does Janie have to get married at young age in the beginning?
Many times throughout chapter two Hurston compares Janie’s life to one of “a blossoming pear tree” (14). It is a great analogy to compare it to Janie’s life. “She had glossy leaves and bursting buds” (15). Hurston is talking about right here that Janie’s woman hood just started and she is finally blooming into a beautiful women. Janie looks at the pear tree and to her it is a symbol of freedom outside of the farmhouse and of her grandmother or also like her hopes and dreams of where anything is possible. Janie is unhappy in the third chapter because she just wants a “marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think” (32). Janie just wants a marriage when you can talk under a pear tree all day and enjoy simpler things. The pear tree goes throughout the book and Janie will mention it here and there.
I wonder why Hurston chose a pear tree? Why does Janie like a pear tree? Does it relate to her in some way?
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