addie2’s Blog

I noticed that in the last thirty pages of Spoon River Anthology, Edgar Lee Masters uses the names of many famous people in the world as the last names for people from spoon river. Columbus Cheney, he could be using Christopher Columbus’s name and if you’re like me think he’s using Cheney for Dick Cheney. Alfonso Churchill, he could be using Winston Churchill’s name in this. Isaiah Beethoven, Edgar Lee Masters could be using the famous musician Beethoven’s name in this particular poem. And the last name that stood out to me with this pattern was Webster Ford, ofcourse he could be using the name Ford from the inventor of Ford General Motors. This was the first time that I noticed Edgar Lee Masters may have been using famous people in his poems.

” Was second to none in Spoon River, In my Devotion to the cause of Liberty?”

At first when I read this poem, I thought the title was just a coincidence in relation to the famous John Hancock, but as I read the poem all the way through it made more sense to me that John Hancock Otis might actually be the John Hancock who’s signature is so famous on the Declaration of Independence. It make sense when he says things like ” who inhereted riches and was to the manor born” meaning he was born into wealth and never had to work for anything. The people who were involved in the declaration of independence were mostly white elitists, like John Hancock. So, I just found it rather interesting to know that John Hancock might actually be from Spoon River.

” If I could have lived another year I could have finished my flying machine, And become rich and famous.”

I found that Franklin Jone’s story related very much to my essay on American character because it describes the ambition of wealth and money of americans. Franklin Jones is dead and yet he’s still lamenting about finishing his flying machine so he could have become rich and famous. He;s still thinking about how he could have become rich and famous and accomplished his american dream. Americans are always thinking of how they could have made more money, even when they’re dead, like in the case of Frankin jones.

” Of Old Bill Piersol, Who grew rich of trading with the inians, and who afterwords took the bankrupt law And emerged from it richer than ever.”

I chose this poem because the theme particularly stood out to me, and I chose this quote because it really relates to my essay. This man, Bill Piersol, is a perfect representation of the American character because he came to America and immediately wanted to make a profit. He traded with the indians, and he used the law to his advantadge to make money for himself.

I also chose this poem because it talks about another man who is also a great representation of the American Character. His name was Hod Putt. He grew tired of being poor, and had the ambition and drive to do something about it. He killed and robbed a traveler one night, he wanted to make money so desperately.

” Janie is wharever Ah wants tuh be. Dat’s de kind uh wife she is and Ah love her for it.”

This quote is a great example of why Janie is a great wife and person, and why she was willing to marry Tea Cake. I think that this also shows she is a very ambitious person, in a good way. She is not an egomonical maniac, who is driven by greed, like some of the other characters we’ve read about in The Great Gatsby or Moby Dick . She just strives for what she wants, a good life and a good husband who cares about her. She doesn’t have to be in the everglades, running away from a terrible storm that is reuining the whole town and city, she could be back home, living in her big white house. But being with Tea Cake makes her Happy, and if Tea cake wants to live in the everglades then she’ll follow him.

” Sometimes Janie would think of the old days in the big white house and the store and laugh to herself. What if Eatonville could see her now in her blue denim overalls and heavy shoes? The crowd of people around her and a dice game on her floor! She was sorry for her friends back there and scornful of the others.”

As a reader it’s frustrating to see Janie living in this kind of enviroment, while she may enjoy it, she had a great life before she moved to the everglades, she had a big house, people who she knew, and a store. I feel like Janie is wasting her life, but I guess if she enjoys it then it is the appropriote thing for her to do. I think part of her feels like she should be back home, but another part of her is enjoying the everglades and being with Tea Cake. It does seem like Janie wouldn’t mind if she was back in her old home, she keeps saying how the muck is dull and boring in the summertime.

 

” Near eleven o’clock she remembered a  piece of pound cake she had put away. Tea cake went out to the lemon tree at the corner of the kitchen and picked some lemons and squeezed them for her. So they had lemonade too.”

Although Hurston may not have meant to do this, this quote is very comical. Janie is talking about pound cake and in the next sentence about tea cake, and although Tea Cake is a real person, if someone had just read it without knowing the story they might have been a bit confused. This quote stood out to me because it was quite comical.

I thought that it was a little suspicious of Tea Cake to be asking Janie if she wanted to go fishing late at night,  in fact he was acting a little strange in chapter 11. I personally wouldn’t like to awaken to someone scratching the dandruff from my scalp, but maybe Janie would.

” After that night Jody moved his things and slept in a room downstairs. He didn’t really hate Janie, but he wanted her to think so.”

I think it is really selfish of Jody to make Janie feel so bad about herself. As Janie put it, why should Joe be so mad at her for making him look so small in front of his peers when he did it to her all the time? I think this quote shows that times are different now than they were when this story took place. During the time period of Their eyes were watching god, it was perfectly alright if men abused their spouses, and if they yelled at them and ordered them around. But if a woman were to do that, that was unheard of, so this is why Joe is making Janie feel so bad about herself.

 I thought that the dialogue between Janie and Jody was really sad, because Janie is trying to apologize for her actions and during her discussion she says she wants to get things straigtened out before it’s too late. Ofcourse Jody doesn’t know what that means because he doesn’t know he’s going to die, but Janie does, and she wants to make sure they end their relationship on a high note. But all that ends up happening is the two getting into an arguement. 

    

I think that Janie has to handle way too much for her age, only being 16. For instance, she has to travel with her husband who’s about 20 years older than herself, and help him with a buisness negiotiation.  ” Lemme speak to mah wife an Ah’m goin’ see de man. You cannnot have no town without some land to build it on. Y’all ain’t got enough here to cuss a cat on without gittin’ yo’ mouf full of hair.” This is way to much for a sixteen year old girl to handle.

I’m also finding the book takes a long time to read because most of the words are in slang, and it takes a long time to comprehend what the word actually means in English.

” Most of dese zigaboos is so het up over yo’ buisness till they liable to hurry theyself to Judgement to find out about you if they don’t soon know.”

The dialogue that Pheoby and Janie use is very southern, considering that they’re from the south that’s not too unusual. The way the author portrays the characters in the book, makes them seem very unintelligent and uneducated. The dialect that they use is very distinct, and it’s much different than proper english. They tend to blend a lot of the words together and in some cases make up their own words. It seems like they talk very freely and are not afraid of what comes out of their mouth.