Passage: Last paragraph of page 84, chapter 8.
Many of the sentences that make up the body of the passage are short fragments, such as "Four walls squeezing her breath out" (84), which give the passage an incredibly anxious and worried tone. And yet the sentence immediately following that is much longer, and more anxious, because of the way it is ordered: "Fear lest he depart while she sat trembling upstairs nerved her and she was inside the room before she caught her breath" (84). Hurston chooses to start the sentence with the word 'fear' to instill fear immediately, and the rest of the sentence follows so chronologically it feels like you are unfolding the idea just as Janie would have. Janie realizes Joe may die soon, so she rushes to his side, all the while feeling fear. By placing 'before she caught her breath' at the end of the sentence, the sentence is much more rushed and the reader has a feeling of exactly how rushed Janie was. This is also emphasized by the fact that Hurston chooses not to use any punctuation in the sentence.
In the next sentence, Hurston says "and then too, Jody, no Joe, gave her a ferocious look" (84) which shows the obvious difference between Joe and Jody in Janie's mind. By placing 'Jody' first, the reader sees what Janie wants to see. By suddenly changing it to 'Joe' the reader is forced to change perceptions of the character, just like Janie changed her perception of him when seeing his expression.
After that, the sentences get shorter and more fragmented again: "A look with all the unthinkable coldness of outer space" (84), to show how Janie goes back to feeling horribly anxious once again, and is unsure of what to say now that she is in the room with Joe.
Throughout the passage there is an alliteration of 's', most prominently in "something stood like and oxen's foot..." (84). The alliteration of 's' usually serves to give a secretive feeling, or in this case, a feeling of silence. There is silence in the room, and Janie is struggling to find a way to break it. In fact, there has been an extended silence between Joe and Janie for weeks at this point, and the alliteration of 's' illustrates that.
Many of the sentences that make up the body of the passage are short fragments, such as "Four walls squeezing her breath out" (84), which give the passage an incredibly anxious and worried tone. And yet the sentence immediately following that is much longer, and more anxious, because of the way it is ordered: "Fear lest he depart while she sat trembling upstairs nerved her and she was inside the room before she caught her breath" (84). Hurston chooses to start the sentence with the word 'fear' to instill fear immediately, and the rest of the sentence follows so chronologically it feels like you are unfolding the idea just as Janie would have. Janie realizes Joe may die soon, so she rushes to his side, all the while feeling fear. By placing 'before she caught her breath' at the end of the sentence, the sentence is much more rushed and the reader has a feeling of exactly how rushed Janie was. This is also emphasized by the fact that Hurston chooses not to use any punctuation in the sentence.
In the next sentence, Hurston says "and then too, Jody, no Joe, gave her a ferocious look" (84) which shows the obvious difference between Joe and Jody in Janie's mind. By placing 'Jody' first, the reader sees what Janie wants to see. By suddenly changing it to 'Joe' the reader is forced to change perceptions of the character, just like Janie changed her perception of him when seeing his expression.
After that, the sentences get shorter and more fragmented again: "A look with all the unthinkable coldness of outer space" (84), to show how Janie goes back to feeling horribly anxious once again, and is unsure of what to say now that she is in the room with Joe.
Throughout the passage there is an alliteration of 's', most prominently in "something stood like and oxen's foot..." (84). The alliteration of 's' usually serves to give a secretive feeling, or in this case, a feeling of silence. There is silence in the room, and Janie is struggling to find a way to break it. In fact, there has been an extended silence between Joe and Janie for weeks at this point, and the alliteration of 's' illustrates that.
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