Okay, so this is as much a reaction to my peers' posts as my own. After reading everyone blogs in class today, it gave me a new perspective on the novel. Through most of my reading I perceived Janie as a somewhat spoiled brat. However, my opinion changed as the story moved on and my opinion completely changed after reading everyone's posts today.
Janie is very much a budding flower. Through her first years of life and her initial relationships she was learning and being hardened to life. The whole time though, she was growing inside into a beautiful flower ready to bloom once the spring of Tea Cake arrives. For Janie's entire life she has been waiting for her chance to live and at every chance she has been stopped by someone or something. After Jody's death though, Janie decides that she is done with society's expectations. This is exemplified by Janie entertaining her potential suitors but never taking them seriously.
I mostly glazed over the symbolism in this story, but looking back it is very powerful. In addition to the flower motif, I see almost a repeating pattern. In a previous blog I talked about how Janie appears to repeat her life. I now realize her life is actually several story arches that together form the Janie that we all know. In several sections, the passage of time speeds up considerably and unbeknownst to the reader until informed by the narrator. I know that time is factor controlled by the narrator, but I also wonder if there is a form of seasonal imagery? Did anyone pick up on anything like that?
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