Journal 2: Analytical Journal

Passage:

"Seeing the woman as she was made them remember the envy they had stored up from other times. So they chewed up the back parts of their minds and swallowed with relish. They made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs. It was mass cruelty. A mood come alive. Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in a song." (2).

1. "Words walking without masters" is personification foreshadowing the oppression Janie would experience throughout the novel.
2. Continues to be vague (made them remember, they chewed, etc.)
3. Lack of any individual characterization.
4. Light parallel structure with previous page; Hurston addresses "the sun and the bossman being gone" and "words talking without masters."
5. Hurston conceals point of view; it is difficult at this point to identify perspective.
6. The unidentified group can now be known as oppressors; they are the masters mentioned in the last line.
7. "...killing tools out of laughs" may be foreshadowing a terrible event spawning from an initially positive one.
8. Hurston uses imagery to demonstrate how the oppressors dealt with their envy. (swallowed with relish).
9. Hurston does not mention the setting of the novel up to this point.
10. Theme: Oppression spawns from jealousy; those who need to justify their emotions ultimately suppress those around them.
11. Repeating structure: "It was mass cruelty. A mood come alive."