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.

Gaining power

Throughout The Crucible there are mainly five reasons why the people of Salem keep blaming and convicting one another; either to get out of trouble, gain power, get revenge, protect the lie, or to save reputation.  The most notable one, however, is to gain power.  Condemning the innocent people in Salem of witchcraft all started when Abigail Williams and the other girls tried to gain power by pretending to have been bewitched into working with the devil, all in order to escape punishment from being caught dancing in the woods.  “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!... She send her spirit on me in church…” (act I, 187).  Once she had the people on her side, she manipulated that power even more by causing sudden attacks on herself; “The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris’s house tonight, and without a word nor warnin’ she falls to the floor… stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out… she testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit pushed it in.” (act II, 204).  Salem is run by her trying to gain power by deceitfulness and everyone goes along with it, because the ones that don’t end up being charged of witchcraft are sentenced to hang.  

Similar ideals are found in the McCarthyism era.  McCarthy himself tried to gain power of the government by claiming to have a list of communist politicians.  Once this got out the media flooded him for more information and everything he said was broadcasted; giving him control of the media.  With the media under his power he was then able to gain more control by accusing more and more people of being a communist, and more people became afraid to do anything about because just like in Salem if you spoke you were convicted.  This idea of naming names to gain power is found in both McCarthyism and The Crucible.  It shows how people will manipulate anyone to gain control of what they want, in both cases it was control of political power and of the people.

Even in modern times this concept of gaining power to name names is found all over the media.  One example that closely resembles McCarthyism is the NSA supposedly stopping attacks from terrorism.  In the article it mentions how “During Keith Alexander’s presentation in Las Vegas, two slides read simply “54 ATTACKS THWARTED.” The NSA, President Obama, and members of Congress have all said NSA spying programs have thwarted more than 50 terrorist plots. But there’s no evidence the claim is true.”  As a way to gain power these people are blaming terrorism to make themselves look good.  In all three cases, The Crucible, McCarthyism, and the NSA, people are blaming others to gain control.  When they blame something and make it believable, it makes people think irrationally and go against whatever is being blamed.  During The Crucible Abigail blamed the women she didn’t like and got people to believe her when she acted as if possessed by witchcraft.  The other two examples did the same thing by blaming a group, in this case communists and terrorism, and made it look believable by claiming to have stopped this many terrorist attacks or this many communists.  In the end, they all are ultimately naming names to gain power.

The crucible in the modern world

 Throughout the first parts of The Crucible, the people of Salem decided to go on an all out manhunt for witches, claiming that people were giving themselves to Lucifer and bewitching others.  But the people based their accusations off of faulty credibility of some teenage girls that were trying to get out of trouble.  “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Abigail, act 1,pg.189).  There’s no solid proof that these girls have to convict these people of witchcraft, and because no one wants to challenge that in fear that they too would be convicted, things get worse.  This same idea can be seen in McCarthyism and in modern examples; when McCarthy held up the sheet of names of people who were allegedly plotting against the government for the communists, he didn't have proof that those people were in fact with the communist party.    If the people confronted McCarthy with his lies he would  ignore the question, and most people “were willing to believe his charges without any evidence or in the face of contrary evidence.” (McCarthy,202).  People began just go along with things because if they spoke out then they too would have been wrongly accused.  Even in today’s modern world you can find examples of this, such as the  claims on “attacks thwarted” by the NSA even though there’s no solid proof.  “ The NSA, President Obama, and members of Congress have all said NSA spying programs have thwarted more than 50 terrorist plots. Two weeks after Edward Snowden’s first revelations about sweeping government surveillance, President Obama shot back. ‘We know of at least 50 threats that have been averted because of this information...’ But there's no evidence that the oft-cited figure is accurate.” (Claims on Attacks).  Just like McCarthy and the accusations of communism, we now have the president and NSA on accusations of terrorism.  Both of these not only relate to each other but to The Crucible as well.  In all three cases there was a public figure wrongfully convicting people with no proof to back themselves up on. But those watching it all happen couldn't speak up otherwise they too would be now under suspicion.

Once you were wrongfully convicted in Salem, there was nothing you could do about it. Someone would take you to the jail and from there the people would try the accused in court for witchcraft. Once deemed a witch the people took immediate action; “You know yourself I must do as I’m told… I have a warrant for your wife.” (Proctor, act 11,pg.202). There officials in Salem were arresting and throwing women into the jails because someone accused them, and they couldn't do anything about it. Similar to the Salem women, the people that McCarthy persecuted for being a communist had similar problems. “HUAC reached out to ruin the reputations from private citizens from all walks of life” (McCarthy, 210). The people ruined one another and convicted them to avoid suspicion. Not only that but government organizations made it their goal to ruin them, they were left with nothing but they had to just watch it happen. This is also relevant in modern times as well, especially with one Canadian citizen whom the government arrested and detained for more than a year because they thought he was security threat. As said in the audio, all in a matter of a couple weeks the government detained him at a New York airport and then was sent to a Syrian prison. There he underwent numerous interrogations and tortures to confess to things he didn't do. But like the Salem women and people accused of being with the communist party, there was nothing he could do to prevent it or stop it. So even though society considers the Salem witch trials to be behind us, there are still examples from today’s world that are similar to what happened. Either between people being afraid to speak out in fear of being persecuted or having to watch it all unfold and not being able to do anything about it.

Fear and society

Society, as a whole, depends on some form of fear to function.  Everyday things have been changed to accommodate fear and its role within society.  In most common examples, people pay and give up some things to combat that fear and give themselves peace of mind; paying money for protection from either people or things so they don’t have to worry about that fear.  In extreme cases fear causes people to become irrational and afraid to change, making society turn on individual groups or people to save and protect themselves.  One instance of this in our history was The Great Fear, when senator Joseph McCarthy used the fear of communism in society to gain power and cause people to become fearful to make a change.  If you spoke out you became persecuted for something you didn't do which caused other people to become afraid to change it in fear they too would be persecuted.  Society thrived on this fear and needed it to run, not only did it suppress the people, it thrived on the publicity it generated.  

The role of fear within society has been invariably present throughout time. It’s societies Achilles heel.  From the time people started colonizing the new world to today's modern times, fear has always been a major factor in societies decisions.  Especially in today's world, one major fear factor is terrorism, which has caused society to become somewhat irrational.  Long and costly wars have been either started or prolonged in the fight to end terrorism.  If you speak out against them then you’re labeled as someone who supports the ‘bad guys’ even if it may cause a change, and while people may try and speak out, others will let it happen because the influence of fear around them.  But even if someone speaks out, what they say may not be for the better good, people may wrongfully convict others to save themselves from that fear in society.  Without society fear would not have anything to consume, but then again, without some type of fear, society would not be able to continue.