1 Jovenel Jeanty Professor Entin American 20.1 October 30, 2009

1 Jovenel Jeanty Professor Entin American 20.1 October 30, 2009 The Monster

The monsters in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Christ and Concrete are particular individuals and a structure. Both authors include an obstacle(s) that hinders the protagonist's progressive mindset. Janie must deal with the constant blockades impose by her three husbands. Geremio and the other workers must deal with a work site that is dangerous. The protagonists each have different tactics when fighting the monsters. Hurston's novel depicts the monsters in the form of three male individuals with different views on a women's role in society. The monsters in Their Eyes Were Watching God are Logan Killicks, Joe Starks and Tea Cake. Hurston includes these monsters because the story revolves around Janie's reluctance to succumb to any one of the ideologies each husband tries to impose on her. Each husband is different and Janie reacts differently to each one of her husband’s attempts to stifle her growth. Janie's refusal to be dominated by men and the distaste of traditional female submission to males is a common theme throughout the novel. Hurston displays each husband as setting a foundation for the next husband until Janie is able to find one that satisfies her quest for real love. Janie’s first husband Logan appears by way of her grandmother. Janie was not happy at the thought of being married to Logan and her feelings never changed. Hurston gives readers a quick glimpse of Janie’s view of Logan. Janie states “He look like some ole skullhead in de grave yard” (Hurston, 13). Hurston is indicating to readers that this arrangement by Janie’s grandmother is not going to be a honeymoon. Yes Logan provides Janie with the basic necessities in life like food,

2 clothing and shelter. Some would say that because Logan provides Janie with these basic necessities he is not a monster. What else did he provide? Janie was not attractive to Logan and he was unromantic. Also in return for the services he provides; Logan treats Janie like his servant. Logan viewed Janie as an indentured servant who in exchange for the basic necessities in life had to work and toil on his property. It is this mindset that makes Logan a monster. Janie's defiance of Logan exposes his mentality. In one instance, when Killicks orders Janie to help him shovel manure before the day gets hot Janie responds, “You don't need mah help out dere, Logan. Youse in yo place and Ah'm in mine” and Logan states “You ain't got no particular place. It's wherever Ah need yuh” (Hurston, 30). Logan is stating that he owns her and whatever he tells Janie to do she must. Janie never embraces the lifestyle Logan had plan for her. Instead she leaves him for a new monster. Before Janie leaves we're left with one last view of the first monster. When Logan states “Ah'm too honest and hard workin' for anybody in yo' family, dat's de reason you don't want me” (Hurston, 30). Hurston describes Logan’s last statement as “half a sob and half a cry” (Hurston, 30). The monstrous image of Logan had been reduced to a poor sap left lonely and bitter. The next monster is Jody Starks. He is portrayed as a good looking, well dress individual. On the outside he is everything Logan is not. Hurston wants readers to think differently of Jodie and the outcome of this new relationship. Jody now appears to be the knight and shining armor with all the qualities that Janie has been looking for. Hurston once again indicates to readers that this new relationship may not end well. After Janie marries Jody, Hurston states “They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged” (Hurston, 31). To me the sun represents Janie who is plunging into another bad relationship (the same crack) from where the monsters (night) emerged. Things go well in the beginning but as Jody's power increases the relationship between him and Janie disintegrates. Jody never accepts Janie for what she is; a woman with a voice. Instead, Jody tries to mole her into the image of the type of woman that he

3 wants. Jody sees Janie as nothing but a trophy wife, whose job it is to attend to his needs. It is this mindset along with Jody's constant restraint of Janie's voice that makes him a monster. With Logan she had no place and with Jody her place is beneath his. Janie is introduced to Jody's idea of her role in the relationship when he prevents her from making a speech after he is named mayor. During an argument with Janie, Jody states “Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows” (Hurston, 67). This statement sums up Jody’s idea of a women’s place in society. She was silent for a while but when Jody continued to criticized her looks in the store Janie stated “When you pull down yo’britches, you look lak de change uh life” (Hurston, 75). Janie even lashed out at Jody while he was on his deathbed. Gradually the monstrous image of Jody had been reduced to a weak, frail, dying character berated by his soon to be widow. In her previous marriages, Janie had been kept in her place, either as an indentured servant to Killicks or as Starks’s trophy. With Janie’s first marriage we're never given any illusions as to what would become of this relationship. We were given some reason to believe that there would be problems with Jody. His quest for power seemed to be place above everything else. With Tea Cake we're given a reason to believe that this relationship may be different. Tea Cake is portrayed as this tall, physical fit, good looking individual. He is charming, smooth and makes Janie laugh. Tea Cake does not value materials and power as much as Jody. He is comfortable not being the most important figure in town. Tea Cake is presented in this way to distinguish him from Jody. The marriage between Janie and Jody lasted twenty years. So in order for readers to get over Jody, Hurston presents us with someone who is not exactly comparable. There is reason for concern. Tea Cake often disappears and leaves Janie alone but he always returns and everything is back to normal. No long lasting arguments materializes out of these disappearances. The marriage is equal; both Janie and Tea Cake work in the field, both fix supper, both go shooting, both play checkers etc. With Tea Cake it seems that Janie' place is right next to his. Tea Cake

4 seems to be the man of her dreams. Tea Cake's monstrous image appears when he is threatened by another man courting Janie. In order to reassure himself and to assert his control Tea Cake beats Janie. The narrator states “Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. No brutal beating at all. He just slapped her around a bit to show he was boss” (Hurston, 140). The beating doesn’t seem as bad because Hurston leaves out Janie's retribution, if there is any at all. In order to control his possession Tea Cake must keep Janie in check. This also explains the constant absences. In order to keep control he manipulates Janie’s mind by leaving her to wonder. Another monstrous image of Tea Cake appears. When Tea Cake's health begins to deteriorate he becomes harder to deal with. He begins to suspect Janie of cheating. Once again Janie must part ways with a monster. When Tea Cake threatens Janie with a gun she ends up shooting him. It is not one particular man that is the monster; it’s the ideology they each carry. These men do not see Janie as their equal. She is a possession. Tea Cake is the closest but when his control is threaten he resorts to violence. Janie is constantly made powerless by her three husbands. We see that Janie wants to free herself from male domination. At the end of each relationship Janie comes out on top. Her defiance of Logan, berating of Jody on his deathbed and shooting of Tea Cake shows us that none of these individuals are indispensable. She continues along without them. Tea Cake was the last monster she encountered and afterwards Janie seemed to be at peace with herself. In Christ in Concrete the monster is the building the workers are working on. Geremio states “Pushing the job is all right but this job frightens me” (Donato, 1939). The building frightens him because he has a sense that something is wrong. The building is portrayed as the ultimate hurdle the workers must go through. The author states “Geremio turned away disconcerted, stared dumbly at the structure and mechanically listed in his mind’s eye the various violations of construction safety” (Donato, 1943). This gives readers a visual of the building and the conditions that the workers faced.

5 The author makes the monster follow the workers home. Geremio can’t even discuss his thoughts about the working environment with his wife. While he lays in bed his wife, Annunziata asked Geremio “Is the work dangerous? Why don’t you answer ...?”(Donato, 1941). Even when Geremio is in bed with his wife the monster follows him. The workers feel alienated, exhausted, angry and miserable but feel helpless. When the monster crumbles it kills several of the workers. The author wants to portray the workers as powerless to a fate that was already determined. I feel both Their Eyes were Watching God and Christ in Concrete revolve around power and control. In Hurston’s novel the men all want some kind of power. They end up getting some form of power whether it’s through control of Janie or the possessions they own. When each male starts to lose their power the monstrous images appear. Since their mind is concentrated on maintaining power it constantly reappears. In the Chris in Concrete the men are rendered powerless from the beginning. They sweat, toil and second guess their status everyday. The workers have no control over the worksite. Whereas in Their Eyes were Watching God the monsters are conquered the monster in Christ in Concrete consumes it victims