Eyes Journal 2

I chose the passage from page 41, the first full paragraph. It begins with "Janie was astonished..." and ends at the end of that paragraph.

"Her silken ruffles rustled and muttered about her." This sentence contains alliteration with the ruffles rustled, and it's really good imagery because it appeals to your sense of sight, sound and touch. Hurtson uses this imagery to put the reader into the story and make her writing more articulate, it sounds better and imagery creates a softer mood when she mentions silk and ruffles.

"So she put on one of her bought dresses and went up the new-cut road all dressed in wine-colored red." I think there's a little motif in this sentence of 'newness'. She talks about a new "bought" dress so you can infer it was nice and expensive, probably something Joe bought her. And then again she says "new-cut road" so it's kind of a symbol of this fresh start that she has in this brand new town with her new husband. It relates to new beginnings. Also, I think red is an interesting color choice and it's interesting that Hurtson specifies red because red is the color of the sunrise and the sunset which are motifs throughout the novel. So the color red could relate to that image of dawn and dusk, beginning and ending. Also the fact that it's "wine-colored" red makes it sound fancy and expensive. Since wine is a more formal, classy drink that you would think of wealthier people with so it can also represent her new status and wealth as the mayor's wife.

Another quote that I found interesting was "She must look on herself as the bell-cow, the other women were the gang." I had to look up the term "bell-cow" and I found out that literally a bell cow is the leader of a herd of cows who wears a bell around it's neck so that they can locate the herd. (dictionary.com) So, basically when it's saying she's supposed to be the bell-cow, she's supposed to be the special one, the leader, the rest of the women just follow what she does. By using bell cow Hurston is again referring to animals and nature. Also, bell-cow sounds more rural which contrasts to the fact that they're trying to urbanize this area and make a town.

Mood: I think the mood is prosperous and excitement and hopeful, talking about getting ready for this big event and what everyone is wearing. It's a little anxious almost because you're waiting to see what will happen.

Tone: I think the tone is more formal since it's part of the narration and it's more serious than playful.

Purpose: This passage is important to the story because it shows one of the first glimpses of Joe and Janie's relationship and starts to suggest that Joe sees Janie almost as a trophy wife, and that he uses her to put up on a pedestal and to enhance his own image. It also makes Janie seem very submissive since she's just wearing what he bought and standing there looking the part.