Identity and empowerment in Janie's silence

In the novel ‘Their eyes were watching God’, Janie’s silence begins to be her way to show her identity, but when it begins to be repressed it also develops to represent her move towards empowerment.  When Janie initially returns back to Eatonville, she walks into town in dirty overalls, unlike when she first came dressed in a fancy dress, and there the townsfolk gossiped about her, as “They sat in judgement.” (pg. 1).  But when Pheoby came to confront her about the towns gossip by saying “You better make haste and tell ‘em ‘bout you and Tea Cake gettin’ married, and if he taken yo’ money and went off wid some young gal… and  why you got to come back here in overhalls.” (pg. 6), Janie refused to say anything to them by stating that “They don’t need to worry about me and my overhalls…” (pg. 7).  When Janie stays silent about her life it portrays her as a character that is very confident and dependent on herself since she doesn't need the approval of the town and instead keeps her own privacy.  But while it shows her independence, it portrays Janie as a woman who is cold and distant, as the townsfolk complain that “...She could stop and saw a few words with us. She act like we done something to her, she de one been doin’ wrong.” (Pg. 3).  While Janie’s silence shows how she is as a person, it often allows people to perceive the wrong perception of her.  

When Janie was married to Logan, she realized that despite her efforts to love him, she couldn't.  She felt no real connection with him and she “Knew now that marriage did not make love.” (Pg. 25).  Her silence with him began to show her development into becoming her own person, and it begins to show when Logan threatens to kill Janie, and she realizes that she doesn't need him; “Janie turned from the door without answering, and stood still in the middle of the floor without knowing it… What was she losing so much time for? Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south.” (Pg. 32).  Instead of fighting back against Logan, Janie uses her silence to show her power against Logan by showing how she doesn't need him.  Janie’s silence is her way to show her identity and also display her empowerment.  

Society in the 1920's

Society in the ‘roaring twenties’ was distinguished as being an era full of wealth and booze, where everyone danced to jazz and anyone could get rich.  In all actuality though the 1920’s was a time where diversity and modernity were transforming American culture and society.  Even though society was greatly influenced by easy money on the stock market and speakeasies sprouting from prohibition, America was becoming a modern era because of improvements technologically and culturally, all leading towards drastic changes in society.  These changes offered more possibilities to women and African Americans the most, while immigrants were still a big part of society they received little to none opportunities.

Socially, women had considerable change in the 1920’s.  At the start of the era women were finally given the right to vote, giving them more equality and now an even greater sense of freedom.  This freedom was at its highest in northern urban areas, where women began to find more jobs in retail and factories, and also as teachers, nurses, typists, and stenographers.  But even their morals and goals changed as well, women’s hair and dresses became shorter, their began using more makeup, took up drinking and smoking, which F. Scott Fitzgerald used to show the fast, upbeat times in 'The Great Gatsby'.  Women began to live life for themselves and didn't even care what they did, as shown in the picture, five young women pose by lifting up their skirts, something that would have cause extreme problems before the 20’s. Being referred to as ‘Flappers’ or ‘Vamps’, they also prolonged marriage and having children as it was no longer a top priority, and even made birth control known to prevent such things.  While some women enjoyed this new freedom many others did not get to experience it in the same degree.  In the more rural areas, such as the south and west, women didn't necessarily get the same treatment, as they were still under the influence of traditional roles.  Their clothes were still modest, marriage and children was their top priority, they didn't have jobs and depended on either their husband or their fathers for their money, and they were expected to virtuous and pure and act that way, not like flappers in cities.  Even though the 20’s were a time of new found freedom, women all over the country though were still struggling for complete equality, they may have finally ended the battle for women’s suffrage but were still victims of discrimination.

Just as the 20’s were beneficial to women’s society, it also presented new opportunities for African Americans as well.  There began a social movement that promoted racial pride for African Americans, which led to a new self expression and economic independence.  The movement, or the harlem renaissance, was centered around Harlem, becoming ‘the capital for black America’.  This sparked African Americans to become more creative leading to the start of jazz music.  Once jazz was born it quickly spread to the rest of the country and racial pride grew even more, their music had proved that they had many things to offer the world and in some aspects racism had diminished, as shown in the picture below an African American plays jazz to a crown filled with whites and African Americans.  While F. Scott Fitzgerald doesn't really write about African Americans in general, he uses their jazz music to show the popularity of the parties mentioned in ‘The Great Gatsby’. But the majority of African Americans were still poor, and living in ghettos in the cities with poor conditions, and as they fought for jobs with whites there came a new discriminatory threat, the resurrection of the Ku Klux Klan.  With nearly 5 million members they were still anti-black but even more powerful than before, they had political influence and it even spread to movies, as shown in the ‘Birth of a Nation’ which glorified the KKK and disparaged African Americans.  So while the 20’s did bring new social changes for African Americans, they were still treated unfairly, and forced to live in poor conditions because of it.

Out of everyone who benefited in the 1920’s, immigrants were not one of them.  In the start of the 20’s, America, the great melting pot, was over pouring from over 9 million immigrants who came over, mainly from eastern and southern Europe.  The Emergency Quota act was then quickly passed to limit immigration to 3 percent based on the number of the group already in America, which was then replaced by the Immigration Act which limited groups to only 2 percent.  While groups struggled to make it in, the ones already in the country were faced with other problems.  Often unable to speak English and as shown in the picture, living in an overcrowded ethnic community with their countrymen, they were separated socially and culturally from others.  Being given the low wage, hazardous jobs they had very little money and on top of that were also hated by the newly formed KKK.  Even though some Americans tried to ‘Americanize’ new groups, many immigrants stuck to their native roots, wanting to balance american and native culture. Social  life for immigrants in the 1920’s was overall harsh compared to the opportunities society offered others.

the 1920's as described in pictures

The 1920’s were full of prosperity but behind the scenes organized crime began to take place because of the new prohibition.  As alcohol was labeled a crime more and more people began to turn to smuggling to get alcohol to the public.  In this picture you can see boxes piled up on each other full of confiscated alcohol, and then behind that you see the cops who probably made the bust.  The authors message about this picture probably was to show peoples increased resentment to prohibition leading towards higher criminal activity relating to smuggling and selling of alcohol.  Overall, the picture evokes the time when prohibition had caused the main crime to be selling and distributing alcohol, and the police’s main objective was focused around stopping all illegal sales of liquor.   

Before gender equality women could have been considered a minority, as they couldn't vote, couldn't work most jobs, and were taught to only take care of a family.  Shortly after WWI though women, on a national scale, were finally given the right to vote, after almost seventy years of campaigning for women’s suffrage.  I think the authors main purpose was to show how women were actively trying to participate in politics of any kind because when your first look at the picture you’re drawn to a sign that has “vote” written on it and it’s being held up by a group of women.  I think the picture mainly focuses on women’s rights and their transition from being labeled a minority to finally being able to vote and be an active member in society without it being frowned upon.

Not only was the 1920's a time about art, but also about music, all kinds of new upbeat music came into play, especially jazz, as it was labeled the 'Jazz Age'. Dance halls and clubs opened up for people to party all night and enjoy the new entertainment, as Broadway also gained fame. This photo is showing a small band of musicians playing a mix of jazz and orchestra, as said on the drum. I think the authors main message of this photo was to show how no matter what class or color you were that music and art let anyone participate. Usually African Americans were left little rights compared to the wealthy elite but when it came to music anyone could take part. This picture mainly focuses on the type of music popular during the 1920's and how everyone eventually got into it, like the people in the photo to combined two music genres to create something new.

"government is best which governs least"

The people, as Thoreau argues, have made the government “[There] only mode which [will] execute their will” (lines 14-15), but with that decision the government is prone to “... be abused and perverted before the people can act through it.” (lines 15-16).  Since that makes government able to abuse the people, Thoreau also states that because of that “government is best which governs not at all and when [people] are prepared for it that will be the kind of government which they will have.” (lines 5-7), though he is just asking for a better government, not the ultimate termination of one.  But this overall idea of “government is best which governs not at all” has significant pro’s and con’s to it, present in both Thoreau’s writing and in modern times. 

Pro’s: Thoreau writes, “I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward.” (lines 37-38), people should put their human obligations and wants above the political obligations their government wants from them.  If the people have a government that does not necessarily govern they can do that, people can be free to be men or women first, before being a subject.  In this sense, when the government governed less and people could put their needs first, people choose to experience a greater sense of religious freedom.  Every culture has their own practices and morals they live by, but some are restricted to those values by their government.  For instance, in Western Europe, during the 16th and 17th century, the only acceptable religion was Catholicism, which was enforced heavily by the king and church.  People had no choice but to obey the church or else face persecution for their beliefs; when government enforced religion there was no real religious freedom.  Now in modern history when a government doesn't really regulate religion, people have the option to worship whoever or whatever they wish; whether it’s Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, or even if they chose to follow no religion at all, it’s the people’s choice.  They have no government influence on what they choose to believe all because there’s little regulation on religion, which makes little government in this case a pro in the defense of religious freedom.

Con’s: Thoreau writes, “The government itself… is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it.” (lines 13-15).  He states that the government can be used to hurt the people before they even have a chance to use it for their own good.  In this sense, having a government that does little governing can indeed be used to hurt the people.  For instance, in the ‘Gilded era’ of history around the 1800’s, there was little government presence in the country.  With no real government influence people could run their own lives,but they had no protection really from outside influences.  Without the safety of government protection, big businesses were able to form into monopolies and take over the economy.  When  monopolies formed it became very hard for other businesses to compete with them, as they usually controlled all aspects of the manufacturing process (i.e. transportation, raw materials, labor force, etc…) and would partner up with other monopolies to ensure they both stayed up top, either by making deals to help each others business or running other competition out of business.  This made it difficult for people to compete with big business but to also have an independent job, with monopolies being the main source of labor most people had to work there because of economic necessity.  But with a growing labor force and little jobs available, wages were extremely low and safety precautions for employees were non existent; but because there was no real government influence businesses could get away with it and they would do anything to save money.  If today’s modern world went by the theory “government is best which governs least” big businesses could still have been controlling the economy, without government aid child labor laws wouldn't be active, employee benefits and safety would be a joke and workers would be vulnerable to the employer.