chapter 5 quotes

"Tony Taylor when Joe is made mayor]: "And now we’ll ... listen tuh uh few words uh encouragement from Mrs. Mayor Starks."

The burst of applause was cut short by Joe taking the floor himself.

"Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but nah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home."

i think that this quote means that Joe, like many men, think that women do not have the intellectual capacity of men and should not be allowed to speak. He cuts short any chance for Janie to make herself heard because he considers a woman’s place not in the public eye, but in the privacy of the home. Joe jealousy guards Janie and wants her all to himself because he fears losing her.


"She [Janie] had never thought of making a speech, and ... didn’t know if she cared to make one at all. It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that took the bloom off of things. But anyway, she went down the road behind him that night feeling cold. He strode along invested with his new dignity, thought and planned out loud, unconscious of her thoughts."

i think that this quote means Thought: The first sign of trouble in Janie’s second marriage comes when Joe completely cuts Janie off when she is invited to speak publicly. Though Janie does not really want to speak, she resents Joe for not even giving her the chance to reply. This quick silencing of Janie takes "the bloom off of things" or takes the romance – represented by Janie’s pear blossoms – out of the moment. This leaves her feeling "cold" when she should be flushed with warmth for love of Joe.