IB Junior English Journal Response #2

15 Line Passage From Chapter 5 (Their Eyes Were Watching God)

“There was no doubt that the town respected him and even admired him in a way.  But any man who walks in the way of power and property is bound to meet hate.  So when speakers stood up when the occasion demanded and said ‘Our beloved Mayor,’ it was one of those statements that everybody says but nobody actually believes like ‘God is everywhere.’ It was just a handle to wind up the tongue with.  As time went on and the benefits he had conferred upon the town receded in time they sat on his store porch while he was busy inside and discussed him.  Like one day after he caught Henry Pitts with a wagon load of his ribbon cane and took the cane away from Pitts and made him leave town.  Some of them thought Starks ought not to have done that.  He had so much cane and everything else.  But they didn’t say that while Joe Starks was on the porch.  When the mail came from Maitland and he went inside to sort it out everybody had their say...” (48)

Metaphor:  “It was just a handle to wind up the tongue with.”

Analysis:  The author simply explains that when “speakers stood up when the occasion demanded and said ‘Our beloved mayor’” they say this just for the sake of formalities.  Inside, they criticize the Mayor’s decisions that seem less productive as time goes on.

Symbol:  The Store Porch

Analysis:  In this passage, the store porch becomes a place of social interaction and free expression of opinion, except when the mayor passes by.

Point of View: 1^st Person

Analysis:  The narrator uses first person point of view in order to better explain to us any misunderstandings rather than including it in the dialogue between characters in this story.

Mood:  The mood is dull and criticizing because of a trace of bossiness about Starks.  His severe actions to minor faults contribute to the dull mood.

Tone:  The author makes the passage seem as if everything is busy and hate is abundant among the Mayor’s followers.  Hurston shows this through how Joe Starks treated Henry Pitt in the ribbon cane incident.

Purpose:  This passage gives us a clue that Mayor Stark’s personality is changing to suit his own lifestyle and doesn’t address the needs of the community.