Motif-Janie's Bandanna

Zachary Bailey
Post 1
March 19, 2009
Motif

Janie's Bandanna

IN the story, Janie's bandanna is a representation of everything stifling about her relationship with Jody. As she works in the store Jody demands that she keeps her hair tied up in a bandanna so that no one else can see or touch it. Janie however, hates keeping her hair tied up, and everything else about having to wear it the bandanna. "This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store." (page 55)

The bandanna comes to represent everything about the relationship that stifles Janie. Just like Joe won't let her wear her hair down, he won't let her do anything else that makes her happy either that could possiably make her seem in anyway equal to any of the other towns people, be it talking with the people on the porch "Janie Loved the conversation and sometimes she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had forbidden her to indulge" (page 53), not allowing her to go to the mule's funeral "but you ain't goin' off in all dat mess uh commonness. Ah'm surprised at yuh fuh askin'."(page 60), or any other trivial matter.

When Janie is in the store, she daydreams about being able to go sit on the porch and banter with all the other towns people, however Jody demands that she stays inside and works. Every time she does say something Jody immediately reprimands her and sends her back inside. Just as the bandanna keeps Janie's hair hidden, Jody forces Janie to keep her true self hidden, right up until the day that he dies, then, as soon as the funeral is over, "Before she slept that night she burnt up every one of her hear rags and went about the house the next morning with her hair in one thick braid swingnig below her waist." (page 89). Her freedom from the head rags, although it occures directly after his death, is synonymous with freedom from his stifling influence.