I think we all know; from the get go, Janie should've just ignored Jody.
I'm not saying that she shouldn't have left Logan, but hey, Jody was just as bad.
Janie herself has basically this whole time been on a quest of self-fulfillment. At first, when she's with her grandmother, she isn't really sure of what she wanted to do with her life. While sitting under the tree she sees the communion of that bee and flower. That seems to make her feel something, like she wants to have that, but she can't really explain what that is.
Logan killicks is definitely not what she wanted. After that small initial phase of 'poetic' talking, he just tries to get her to do what he wants, and doesn't want to meet half-way.
-By the way, did I feel bad for the way they left each other?
idk
Logan did threaten to kill her, and that age difference was a bit too large in my book, but I also feel like she could've tried a little harder, no? Both her and Logan had too much pent up hate for each other that they might have been able to resolve had they just talked?
who knows really.
Anyways, Janie just wasn't feeling it with Logan, Logan just doesn't seem to feel anything at all.
Pop! here's Jody and wow hes a good fast talker
As we discussed in class, hes represents ambition- he was going to go out there and get stuff done. He seemingly offers a path away from the boring Logan. To me, I think Janie saw him as a guy who, by following his ambitions, would also be able to help her with her own?
After watching 'Frozen' I know never to believe people like that.
Jody's definitely one of those guys who wants to control everything. He believes that by controlling everything he'll achieve some sort of fulfillment, and that he will be happy. Like, he just goes up to town and by doing things he becomes the mayor, which should've made him happy, but then he starts becoming more controlling of Janie herself. He holds this illusion that he can be happy if he controls everything until the disease starts eating away at him.
Janie just kinda wanted to experience that bee/flower thing. The ambitions Jody seemed to be able to offer that, but when he became more and more controlling to try to achieve his own fulfillment, he stifled Jamie's ambitions in the process.
I wouldn't be able to imagine that going on for 20 frickin' years. And like, the whole time, she keeps her mouth shut, so she's just keeping all of her anger pent up, until that last encounter with the dying jody, where she goes nuts.
Guys, this is why we just need to sit down, and have nice conversations with each other.
Imagine how different this story would be if these couples had been non-toxic.
I think that the biggest reason that Janie was originally drawn to Jody was because of his talk about how he would treat her how a woman should be treated (or something along those lines). At this point, Janie is still really young, and she hasn't fully processed what it is that she wants from a romantic relationship. The allure of money and reputation draw Janie to Jody because she thinks that maybe being pampered is what love is all about, but she eventually learns that this is not the case. On the other hand, why do you think Jody was drawn to Janie? Personally, I think it was purely based on Janie's looks. Also, I don't think he would've been as interested in Janie if he had known about her being so strong-willed, because he obviously likes being able to control people.
ReplyDeleteWhile I totally agree that both Janie's relationships with Jody was pretty toxic, I think it's almost impossible to see that coming and hence the immediate attraction to him. Like you mentioned, I think that Jody very much represents ambition and the idea of getting out of this rut in the road and doing something greater, essentially just broadening possibilities and chasing after dreams, and at the time, that is what Janie needed the most. Logan Killicks kind of ties her down into this farm wife stereotype whose largest job is cooking meals (and later plowing the fields) and this image kind of prevents her from even dreaming of doing anything bigger. I feel like it is not even the fact that he threatens to kill Janie (she doesn't even react to his comment of killing her that greatly) and the age gap, but rather the fact that she clearly did not want him and while Logan supported her financially, he did not support her mentally.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is an interesting way of looking at the Janie-Jody situation. But I think that, as we talked about in class discussion, she really was looking for a way out of her situation with Logan. As he was too old for her, and seemed to only see her as a way to further his own financial interests by having her help out with the farm. Not to mention he threatened to kill her. I think that it is hard to blame Janie for wanting a way out.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that Janie’s relationship with Jody was pretty terrible, it wasn’t nearly as bad as her relationship with Logan. Unlike with Logan, she didn’t completely hate Jody and she didn’t have to fear for her safety. Almost everything she could ever need was hers, and the only work she had to do was running the store. I’m not saying that her relationship with Jody was great, he was still terrible to her and she shouldn’t have had to endure that for 20 years, but at least she was alive and basically well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point, but I think the main problem with the concept of these couples sitting down and communicating like people do in healthy relationships is that neither Logan nor Jody saw Janie as a person. They both saw her as an item, either a physical tool or a societal tool, something to bring themselves up. Neither really stopped to consider Janie also had dreams and thoughts and feelings, and without acknowledging another person as, well, a person, you can't communicate with them. You don't talk to a plow or a gold spit jar.
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