Characters
This is the first and last name of Janie's first husband.
Who is Logan Killicks?
The extensive use of this helps us distinguish between the narrator's voice and the characters' voice.
What is dialect?
This represents Janie's strength, individuality, and feminine beauty?
What is her hair?
At the beginning of the novel, Janie indicates that Tea Cake is "gone." Hurston is using this literary device to hint at the plot to come.
What is foreshadowing?
Hurston weaves this into the narrative, including stories of characters like Big John the Conqueror. It is reminiscent of her days in Eatonville, listening to stories told on the porch.
What is folklore/folk tales?
This is Janie's BFF, the one to whom she tells her story.
Who is Pheoby?
The line "sometimes it [the house] creaked and cried all night under the weight of lonesomeness" is an example of this literary device.
What is personification?
This represents destruction and makes the characters wonder what their place in the world is. It makes them question their power. It is chaotic and capricious.
What is the hurricane?
Janie lives with this white family when she is young.
Who are the Washburns?
The words death, done, darkness, deep, and dissolution used closely together create this literary device.
What is alliteration?
This character begins to act like the boss of the store, adopting some of Jody's traits, after Jody dies.
What is Hezekiah?
The use of this helps the author explore the thoughts of more than one character.
What is a third person/omniscient narrator?
This is representative of community.
What is the porch?
Tea Cake replaced the money he took from Janie by doing this.
What is gambling?
This represents Janie's fertility as a character - a place where she can grow into herself.
What is the muck/Everglades?
This character ironically survives the hurricane while huddled in the shanty with Janie and Tea Cake.
Who is Motor Boat?
"To Janie's strange eyes, everything in the Everglades was big and new. Big Lake Okechobee, big beans, big cane, big weeds, big everything" is an example of this literary device used by Hurston for emphasis.
What is repetition or anaphora?
These emerge at the end of the novel as a representation of Janie's newfound identity. They were introduced in the beginning of the novel.
What are overalls?
This character testifies in court for Janie and tries to save Tea Cake's life.
Who is Dr. Simmons?
Hurston's use of dialect and real places lends this type of literary realism to the novel.
What is verisimilitude?
He was run off the much and blamed for the people's hostile attitude toward Janie at the trial.
Who is Mrs. Turner's brother?
"Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember and remember everything they don't want to forget" is an example of this literary device.
What is chiasmus?
Images of these appear frequently as symbols of bondage and victimization.
What are mules?
By emphasizing that Janie is new to the muck, Hurston is able to provide this - important background information that the reader might not otherwise know.
What is exposition?
This is the name of the man Annie Tyler ran off with and returned, realizing she was "too old of a vessel for new wine."
Who is Who-Flung?