What Does Janie Watson's Porch Mean

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As the sun sets in a southern town, a mysterious woman trudges down the main road. The local residents, gathered on Pheoby Watson’s porch, know her, and they note her muddy overalls with satisfaction. Clearly resentful, they talk about how she had previously left the town with a younger man and gleefully speculate that he took her money and left her for a younger woman. They envy her physical beauty, particularly her long, straight hair. She doesn’t stop to talk to them, and they interpret her passing by as aloofness. Her name, it is revealed, is Janie Starks, and the fellow with whom she ran off is named Tea Cake. Pheoby criticizes the other women on the porch for their malicious gossip and sticks up for Janie. She excuses herself and visits Janie’s home, bringing Janie a plate of food. Janie laughs when Pheoby repeats the other women’s speculations to her. Janie explains that she has returned alone because Tea Cake is gone but not for the reasons that the crowd on the porch assumes. She has returned from living with Tea Cake in the Everglades, she explains, because she can no longer be happy there. Pheoby doesn’t understand what she means, so Janie begins to tell her story. Summary: Chapter 2 [T]he thousand…show more content…
From the very beginning of the book, then, language plays a crucial role; the book is framed more as an act of telling than of writing. Even before Janie speaks, we hear the murmur of the gossips on the porch: “A mood come alive. Words walking without masters.” Throughout the book, speech—or more accurately, the control of language—proves crucially important. These first chapters introduce the important and complex role that language and speech will play throughout the

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