Characters and Characterization: How Much Of A Hero Joe Is To Me

Joe Starks was the most interesting character that caught my attention. He was Janie's chance for a new life, change, and romance. Relating to my previous post about the symbol of the tree and horizon, Joe was the fulfillment Jaine had hoped to find that lacked in Logan. However, Joe did not turn out to be the Prince Charming she had hoped for. I believe this is going to end in tragedy. His domineering and chauvinistic attitude toward women made him even less attractive. If I were Janie, I'd tell him to calm down. But then again IF I were a woman-in-the-1930s-Janie.....I probably would have just kept that to myself.

When he is first described by Hurston, it is in dialouge. However the reader is uncertain of who is speaking. I assumed it was Joe, who talked about himself in the third person...
"He had always wanted to be a big voice, but de white folks had all the sayso where he come from and everywhere else exceptin' dis place dat colored folks was buildin' theirselves. ...Da man dat built things oughta boss it......It had always been his wish and desire to be a big voice..." After reading this passage about himself in the third person (although strange to me at first but later discovered why Hurston did this) anyways, it is now obvious right off the bat that Joe "wanted to be a big voice". It makes sense that Joe would talk about himself in third person because he's arrogant. He thinks that since he has all this money, he deserves to have this "big voice" and be a leader. Anyone who is self-absorbed would talk about themself in third person, trying to make them sound more superior and important. Another instance where this is shown is when Hurston says, " With him [Joe] on it, it sat like some high, ruling chair", again proving that he wanted to be on a pedastal above everyone else. As you can probably tell already, JOE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER.

Now onto his sexist views. This makes me admire Joe's integrity even more.....First of all he makes Janie and object to sell himself. He makes her stand at the store, while other women envy her. Second of all, he undermines her intelligence by not allowing her to make a speech at the townspeoples' request. As a chauvanistic pig would say, "Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in da home". Very typical. Maybe I'm being harsh on him, but so far Joe only gave me annoyance when reading about his actions. But I only say this out of my admiration for him (in which there is none, so I guess I'm justified).