Kindred, pg 9-49

In Octavia Butler’s Kindred, the protagonist, Dana is first introduced in the prologue. The prologue opens with Dana having gone through a severe accident, resulting in losing her left arm. It is unclear how the injury occurred to the readers or the character, as they can hardly formulate how it happened. 

Chapter one begins with Dana recounting her first shift to the past and encounter with Rufus. Dana and her husband, Kevin, had just moved to their new house in Los Angles. As she was unpacking books, she felt nauseous and dizzy, and the room began to spin. Everything vanished, and she was immediately transported to early 1800’s Maryland. Once there, she had little time to take in her surroundings before she jumped into action to save a boy from drowning. The boy’s parents come to the scene as well, and Dana shifts back right as Rufus’s dad is holding a gun to Dana. Her sudden disappearance and reappearance have both Kevin and herself completely astonished. Extremely concerned, Kevin begins asking her many questions to try and understand what happened. Despite their overall confusion and panic, they figure out that Dana’s few minutes in Maryland were only a few seconds in her present time continuum. How and why she ended up in 1815 Maryland is still a complete mystery to both Dana and Kevin.  

In chapter two, The Fire, Dana struggles with forgetting the events that took place when she shifted back in time. Then suddenly, Dana has transported once again to the past, except it is apparent that a few years have passed for them despite her only shiting the first time a few hours before. On page 20, Dana notes that Rufus has aged since she saved him in the river. Dana states, “He was not Rufus. I could see that now. He had the same red hair and slight build,, but her was taller, clearly three or four years older” (Butler 20). Time has a bizarre effect in this novel, as the time she spends in Rufus’s era is significantly longer than how long she is gone from her actual reality. Her second shift places her in Rufus’s room as he lights his drapes on fire and is about to burn them down. She then realizes that her changes occur when Rufus is in immense danger or is frightened. 

Her second time in Rufus’s era provides her with much more information about the shifts. She learns that Rufus Weylin is her ancestor and she is somewhat a guardian for him, saving him from many dangerous situations. She also met Alice Greenwood, another ancestor of Dana’s, as Alice provides Dana with shelter from Rufus’s father. Dana is finally transported home after fighting off a white patroller trying to attack her. Dana goes back to her present time much more terrified than before due to all the events she witnessed and encountered. However, this new shift back in time prompted the characters to realize that not only is it Rufus’s peril that controls the shifts, but Dana’s as well. 

        In the beginning of chapter 18, we see Native Americans starting to walk through the Everglades. The town starts to get suspicious of what is happening and a few make harsh comments on the Native Americans. The town hears about a hurricane that is fast approaching, and multiple people start to panic and leave. However, Janie and Tea Cake feel no pressure and assume that the storm will be light. They are reluctant to leave at first because they want to keep making money off of the beans. Later that night, the hurricane hits and Janie and Tea cake along with a few others are in the midst of the biggest storm. They struggle to find a safe location and a way of escaping. Especially when Janie gets blown into the storm and grabs a cow’s tail for safety. Unfortunately, the dog on top of the cow tries to attack Janie, and in panic, Tea Cake rushes out to save Janie. Tea Cake gets attacked and bitten by the dog and ends up stabbing the dog to death. 

In chapter 19, Janie and Tea Cake make it to their desired destination, Palm Beach. However, there is a clear shift in hierarchy in Palm Beach. Due to the many deaths, white men start to take charge and force Tea Cake and others to bury the white bodies in coffins and dispose the black bodies in a ditch. Thankfully, Janie and Tea Cake go back home to Everglades. After a few days back, Tea Cake starts to feel ill and later finds out that the dog that bit him had rabies. The rabies starts to negatively impact Tea Cake’s mind and leaves him with delusional thoughts that cause him to get angry. Tea Cake fears that Janie is running off with Ms. Turner’s son and upon Janie's arrival Tea cake threatens her Janie finds out Tea Cake has a pistol with three bullets in it. Instead of taking the gun, she moves the bullets three spaces in case Tea Cake plans on using it so she will have time to react.  Tea Cake tries and shoots her, but because of Janie moving the bullet nothing happens. In response, Janie grabs a rifle to scare Tea Cake off, but he shoots at her again. Janie ends up shooting Tea Cake. Janie goes on trial, but luckily, she proves how much she truly loved Tea Cake and is proven innocent. 

Chapter 20 starts with the men on the muck beating and scaring off Ms. Turner’s brother due to their realization of how badly they treated Janie. Janie hates living in Everglades without Tea Cake so she returns back to Eatonville. Chapter 20 is where Janie finishes her long story to her friend Phoeby. Janie says,”Ah done been tuh de horizon and back...”. Janie feels content with where she is in life, because of all Tea Cake did for her and the love they shared. 

I was utterly shocked when reading about the death of Tea Cake. I did not expect that at all. Even though Tea Cake was messed up, he was acting too sus, so he kind of had it coming. Rip TC though. 

 In chapter 13 we start off the chapter with Janie and Tea Cake getting married as soon as Janie arrives off the train into Jacksonville. Before Janie had left to marry Tea Cake, her friend Pheoby had advised her that she keep a spare $200 hidden in case Tea Cake decides to run off with all her belongings like Who Flung had done to Annie Tyler. A week into their marriage there comes a morning when Janie wakes up with no Tea Cake or money left. Janie started to worry as it soon became night and then the next morning. When Tea Cake comes back he tells her how he found the money, had a day full of fun, and saw how it was to be rich. It was then after some listening that Janie told Tea Cake she would want to go with him to everything, and Tea Cake realized, “From now on you’se mah wife and mah woman and everything else in de world Ah needs” (Hurston 124).

In chapter 14 we see Janie and Tea Cake move down to the Everglades where lots of people come down to the muck to find work harvesting beans all during the day, and gambling all at night making good pay for it all. Although at first we see Janie cooped up in the quarters all day long we eventually see her come out into the field laughing and making friends with everyone around. Soon enough by the end of the chapter and summer we see anyone and everyone knowing Tea cake and Janie.

Chapters 15 and 16 is where we start to see jealousy from both Janie and Tea Cake rightfully so in their own place. In chapter 15 we see this girl, Nunkie, who keeps trying to get Tea Cake alone and chase after her or take care of her. Eventually Janie gets upset and her and Tea Cake dispute until their night ends in love and exhaustion. In chapter 16, we meet a woman called Mrs. Turner who has taken a liking to Janie due to her being more light skinned than the others. During many discussions she and Janie have, we see that she does not like African Americans and wants Janie and Tea Cake to split, so that Janie may marry her brother. Mrs. Turner remains to be a problem even throughout chapter 17 when she is reported. As Mrs. Turner won’t back down, Tea Cake hits Janie in order to show that he is the boss and in charge and that she cannot have Janie. The chapter ends with a fight destroying Mrs. Turner's restaurant while everyone including her husband idly sits back and watches.

As much as I can understand for the times why Tea Cake hit Janie and why Mrs. Turner thinks as awfully as she does towards others, it is still something that I can fathom or accept especially with a mind of modern times.

Their Eyes Were Watching God: Chapter 8-12

 In Chapter 8, Janie continues to recognize Jody's age more and starts to get worried about him and his health. Feeling pity for him, she tries to talk to him one last time. But when he accuses her of never fully appreciating everything he had done for her, she responds with that he never let her express her emotions either. We see this disintegration of Jody's power and Janie taking this opportunity to finally berate him for everything he put her through that she wasn't able to see when he had the power, stripping him of his power even more. When Jody finally dies, Janie's first act of liberation is burning "every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair down in one thick braid swinging well below her waist" (89), symbolizing one of the ways Jody suppressed her freedom.  

In Chapter 9, Janie finally begins finding herself again, learning how to be alone for the first time since Janie was 16, finally seeking independence and strength for herself. You see Janie also interact with the town folks more and become more social than she was ever able to when Jody was alive. 

We meet Tea-Cake in Chapter 10 when he comes into the store to buy cigarettes when she is about to close up. Automatically, you can see that Tea Cake approaches and perceives Janie differently from how Jody and Logan saw her. There is also symbolism of the horizon again after meeting him from Hurston, saying, "So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. So its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day" (99). 

We see Janie and Tea Cake's relationship flourish in Chapters 11 and 12, while also watching Janie figure out more about who she is and what she wants. And, as the town's opinions of their relationship come out as the they become more public, we see that Janie isn't as fazed by the petty gossip anymore due to her newfound self-confidence. She is also eginning to discover her own values outside of Nanny's, whose priorities were distorted by slavery. She talks about her and Tea Cake wanted to leave Eatonville to start fresh and get married. 

At this point of the novel, Janie continues her journey to find herself, and getting closer to learning about what happened before Janie came back to Eatonville in the beginning of the novel. I am interested to see how Tea Cake and Janie's relationship develops and see why Hurston decided to give us a glimpse of the aftermath of their relationship before learning about it. 

 Chapter 6 starts off with Janie talking about how she dislikes working in the store. It then goes on to talk about the people who sit on the porch of the store and their gossiping about Matt Bonner’s Mule. Janie wants to join in on their conversation but Joe prohibits it. It is at this point in the novel where we learn why Joe wants Jodie to keep her hair up. He does this due to jealousy stemming from other men looking at her hair. In one instance, Joe saw Walter playing with the end of Janie’s hair. It was after this instance that Joe demanded her hair be tied up. The book says, “She was in the store for him to look at, not those others” (55). This shows how Joe views Janie: as his property. 

This chapter also holds a lot of references to mules. It starts with people talking about how badly Matt Bonner treats his mule, then Janie getting sad at this treatment, and finally, Joe buying the mule for 5 dollars. Joe is seen as a hero for buying the mule to set it free. When the mule dies, Joe prohibits Janie from attending its funeral showing yet another example of Joe limiting Janie’s power and treating her like property. 

In addition to Joe limiting Janie's power in this chapter, the couple starts to have more fights. The first fight happens in the store when Janie accuses Joe of prohibiting her from having fun and they start to argue about the topic. In this case, Janie fights to hold her tongue but does so anyway. Again, Janie can not find the pig’s feet for a customer and Joe yells at her. She still decides to hold her tongue. 

This chapter also shows Joe physically abusing Janie. Joe slaps Janie because she messed up a dinner.

Janie finally speaks up when the men on the porch are making fun of Mrs. Robinson and she says, “It’s so easy to make yo’ self out God Almighty when you ain't got nothin’ tough against but women and chickens” (75). She is immediately silenced by Joe, but this instance is the first where she speaks her mind. 

Chapter 7 focuses on Joe and Janie as they get older. Joe becomes more verbally abusive towards Janie in attempts to make her feel bad about her aging looks. This all stems from his own insecurity from growing old, as he is older than Janie. One day at the store Joe insults Janie's looks and so she insults him right back. Out of pure rage, he hits her. This is where the chapter ends.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God ch.4-5

 For this blog post, I wanted to discuss the role that Joe Starks plays and becomes in these chapters. Joe is introduced in the first few pages of chapter 4. His intentions are very clear in what his future is going to look like; "Kept hearin' 'bout them buildin' a new state down heah in Floridy and sort of wanted to come... But when he heard all about 'em makin' a town outta colored folks, he knowed dat was de place he wanted to be. He has always wanted to be a big voice, but de white folks had de sayso where he come from and everywhere else, exceptin' dis place dat colored folks was buildin' theirselves" (Hurston 28). Joe describes the town of all colored folks and knows that's the place for him; he wants to lead and wants to have a "big voice". This intrigues Janie, and she wants to learn more. 

After they meet in secret a few times Janie realizes that she no longer wants to be with her husband, Logan, and that she wants to run away with Joe Starks. We see her even talk to Logan about running away from him to be with someone else and he is so set that she wouldn't dare run away from him that he puts no effort into to trying to convince her to stay. One day, after Logan gives her a long speech about what kind of wife she should be to him, Janie decides to run away and get married to Joe Starks. 

They move down to the town of only colored people. There they met Amos Hicks and Lee Croker. Within a few questions, Joe realizes that the town has only 50 acres of land and no Mayor, so he decides to make a change. Within a few hours of stepping foot in the town, Joe buys 200 acres of land for the town. The next night he holds a meeting to answer any questions people in the town might be having and see how he could help them. Tony, another town member, moves to make Joe Starks the new mayor of the town. Everyone was so excited they didn't even need to vote on it. Joe is gaining the respect and authority of an extremely important person to this town. 

After being elected mayor, Joe decides they need a store in the town for any possible needs anyone in the town could have. He also decides that the town needs a streetlamp and creates a whole event around lighting the street lamp. While Joe is doing all of these things for the town, the people in the town are starting to get a little annoyed with him and are starting to see his true colors. However, Janie reflects on how Joe is such a respected person in the town no one would dare stand up to him to tell him he was wrong or being too bossy. So the people of the town sit and wonder about Joe Starks the man they allected mayor and if he really is the right person to be running the town.

Their Eyes Were Watching God ch. 1-3

 For this blog post, I wanted to discuss the complex family dynamic that Janie has with her grandmother and absent mother and father. It seems foreign for a family member to want to see a girl married off so young, but Janie’s grandmother is determined to have her out of the house the moment that she shows interest in boys. Though the grandmother is acting in a way that she deems as right and is “protecting” Janie from the horrors that she and Janie’s mother experienced, it is evident that Janie is miserable in her marriage. There is definitely an advantage to Janie being raised by an older woman who exudes wisdom and knowledge, but Janie’s grandmother is definitely fearful and I feel as though it affects Janie’s childhood. Because the grandmother is so afraid that something similar will happen to Janie like it did her own daughter, she is proactive in separating Janie from things that could harm her. 

The aspect of absent parents is also intriguing because happily married parents offer an example for love in a child’s life, yet Janie does not have the opportunity to witness this in her own parents and is still obsessed with love. In my mind it seems painful to wish so hard for something that you have never really seen first hand. I think that the grandmother struggles with this more as she was there for the trauma her daughter experienced and attempted to help her through the recovery process and does not want to see Janie suffer. 

quotes:

“So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid” (Hurtston 11)

“Dats what makes me skeered. You don’t mean no harm. You don’t even know where harm is at. Ah’m ole now. Ah can’t be always guidin’ yo’ feet from harm and danger. Ah wants to see you married right away” (Hurston 13)