Were Janie's actions at Jody's deathbed justified? Opinions may vary, but I am of the opinion that her responses and actions towards him were what ultimately killed him. That would mark the first time Janie killed her husband in the novel. No matter how cruel Jody had been to her, despite his ingoring of her, placing her off away from society, his beatings, his criticisms, despite it all, I still think that Janie should have found her voice for the first time in the novel in order to reconcile with her husband, not drive him over the brink of death.
All while the scene was building up, I was ready for a teary, emotional scene where the two make amends before Jody finally kicks the bucket. What I was treated to instead was a firey Janie not budging an inch for her husband and asserting her opinions again and again until they killed him. While I certainly don't blame her for this and don't think she was wrong for doing so, I was still hoping for them to make up. Is that idealistic of me? Maybe I should start thinking more realisticly. After all, Janie did atempt to help him with his illness. She tried calling doctors. She had tried years before when she was being the very best wife that she could be. It only makes sense she would finally snap. A person can only handle so much abuse. Was Janie wrong or not? This is one scene in the book that I am still turning around in my mind trying to make sense of how I feel about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment