‘The narrator of Chien de printemps could not have chosen a more mysterious and elusive subject for his biographical project than Francis Jansen.’ Discuss. This novel opens up with the simple straightford lines « J’ai connu Francis Jansen quand j’avais dix-neuf ands, au printemps de 1964, et je veux dire aujourd’hui le peu de choses que je sais de lui. » the author’s intent is to put down in black and white all his memorys of jansen. He wants to catagorise, and organize his memories and by making them tangiable he feels that in doing this they will be reaffirmed. His time spent with jansen was so brief, yet significant and he wants to validate his memories to try and gain some closure from this elusive mentor figure that he had known …show more content…
Unfortunately both of these people died in circumstances unbeknownst to us and it is clear that jansen has never been the same since. In losing these people he lost what he cares about most in the world. Jansen slips into a form of depression and isolation which he describes as ‘trous noires.’ He loses interest in the world and doesn’t even like contact from other people- no phne calls, no answering the door. Jansen is a very private person and has few friends so it is no surprise then, that the author finds so it so difficult to get jansen to open up to him. Jansen is the polar opposite to ‘la lumiere natural qui baignait chacune de ses photos’ as he himself is shorouded in mystery. We can, however gain many clues into this ambiguous character through thorough examination of the text. Jansen’s atelier provides many clues about this character. His décor is minimalistic with only a few sofa’s and pictures in the room, whether this minimalism is by choice or by lack of money we are never told. He has no whiskey left to offer the author a drink which would suggest that he does not have much money, although later in the novel we learn that he frequently checks into a hotel for nights at a time which would cost a lot! This shows that once we think we are on track for discovering a bit about jansen and being able to pin him down in our minds, something else will be uncovered which will discredit our theory entirely. In
Janie recollects her image on love when she leaves with Joe which signifies that she values love over the stable life that she had already possessed.
This quote shows Janie’s true feelings about Joe’s death. On the outside, she is pretending to mourn the loss of her husband because that is what is expected of her and she needs to keep up appearances for the people in her town. While on the inside, she is happy and feels free. Joe kept her locked away from living her life for so long, that now that he is dead she can finally live. She notices the opportunity that came from Joe dying, and it makes her happy and excited. She “sends her face to the funeral,” and wears mourning clothes for a long period of time, but she secretly feels happy to be independent and to be able to make her own decisions without Joe ridiculing her all the time and hiding her away.
Janie’s first husband, Logan Killicks, is a wealthy old man. In the beginning of their marriage, he treated her alright, but then he called her spoiled and expected her to work like a slave in the fields. Janie’s second husband, Joe Starks, started out poor and treated Janie with
This loneliness was supposed to be filled by another man, her second husband Joe Starks. She continued her development as a woman especially in the beginning of the new relationship when Joe “spoke for change and chance” (28). The problems Janie had to face in this marriage were that her husband did not treat her equal but rather treated her as an ornament. She found out that the love he provided to her in the beginning was rather part of the ulterior moves Joe had about becoming an important landlord and major. Joe gave only material goods to Janie who felt again as if something misses in her life.
Janie is married to two men, before she finds Tea Cake, that both suppress her individuality in their own ways. Janie's first husband, Logan Killicks, suppresses her by keeping her in a marriage that she can't fully, or at all, love the man she's married to. "Cause you told me Ah wuz gointer love him, and, and Ah don’t. Maybe if somebody was to tell me how, Ah could do it." Janie says she needs to be told how to feel about Logan in order for her to be able to love feel anything towards him at all. Janie is a mixture of the people around her because they're telling her to live and how to think. Janie can't bring herself to figure out how to do these things on her own so she ends up looking for the answers in the man she married, her grandmother, and her society. Joe Starks, Janie's second husband, keeps her from showing who she really wants to be by
Throughout Janie’s relationship with her next husband, Joe, she continued to keep her strong voice but showed weakness emotionally. Speaking of "change and chance", Janie was immediately attracted to Joe Starks. This is exactly what Janie wanted at the time: a change from her life with Logan and a second chance at life and love. But the change and chance that Joe was speaking of was very different than what Janie wanted or expected. He was not looking for love or a companion, but instead wanted to use Janie to promote his image as a leader for his new plans to start a black community. Janie soon realized this after it was too late. Her life with Joe was horrible. Joe rarely said a word to her or even looked at her
Janie’s outward appearance and her inward thoughts contrast following Joe’s death. She finally frees herself from his control only after he dies as she, “…tore off the kerchief…and let down her plentiful hair” (87). In freeing her hair, Janie begins to free herself from others’ control and social norms. However, she chooses to keep it tied up until after Jody’s funeral in order to keep appearances that she is grieving his passing in front of the townspeople. However, on the inside, Janie doesn’t really feel any sorrow and “sent her face to Joe’s funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world” (88). It is only after Joe’s elaborate funeral that Janie shows her first act of freedom by burning “every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist” (89). She chose to let her hair be free from his domination, thus freeing herself from him overall and allowing herself to move onto the next journey in her life.
Along in with the author’s use of metaphors is the frequent use of imagery. In this reading, it is simple to envision the scenes as the different scenarios are explained and the audience can easily picture Staples in the places he is describing and also the people he comes across. Perhaps the most powerful and memorable imagery is provided in the author’s description of people’s different reactions and faces when they come into contact with him. Actions speak volumes and an immediate change of facial expression is possibly one of the
Instead of treating Janie like the beautiful woman that she is, he uses her as an object. Joe was a man who “treasured [Janie] as a posession” (Berridge). Joe’s demanding nature suppresses Janie’s urge to grow and develop, thus causing her journey to self-realization to take steps backward rather than forward. In Janie’s opinion, “he needs to “have [his] way all [his] life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let [him]self heah 'bout it” (Hurston 122). It is almost as if Janie loses sense of her own self-consciousness due to the fact that she becomes like a puppy being told what to do by her master. The death of Jody is actually a positive thing. Joe’s controlling nature stifles Janie’s inner voice. While married to Jody, Janie became closer to others, however, she did not become closer to herself. Being on her own again gave her another chance to embark on her journey and realize who Janie Crawford really is.
Janie’s inner self is entirely composed of her desires, needs, and true feelings. When Joe dies, Janie is internally genuinely happy; However, she can only express this inwardly because she can’t portray her husbands death as a happy aspect to society. On the outside, Janie participates in the funeral and the requisite mourning period; while inwardly, rejoicing.
Janie’s marriage with Logan did not match up with what she wished for. He tried to treat her well, but she was unable to accept the faults in their marriage. After meeting the romantic Joe, she was charmed by his big talk of the bright future, and, soon later, they eloped and moved to a new town. At first, Janie was very happy with their relationship, but, as time continued on and priorities changed, she came to find many cracks and bruises in the fruits of their labor. Arguing all the time, much more than she did with Logan, it can be seen by both parties that the other was not who they thought they were. However, they did not leave or abandon each other as expected, and they have similar methods of avoiding conflict: keeping their thoughts
Janie’s relationship with her second husband, Joe Starks, is perhaps the most damaging. In the beginning of their marriage, Janie is proud and admiring of the successful, strong man she marries and runs off with. At first, it seems as though Janie has executed a successful breakaway from her unfulfilling life with Logan Killicks, and transitioned to an exciting, happy life with Joe Starks. Unfortunately, Janie and Joe’s marriage retracts from the infatuated love it once was, into a
At Joe’s funeral, Janie felt placid and unruffled about the whole occasion, not showing any emotion. After more than twenty years of feeling trapped and stifled, she felt a sense of freedom, from having an outside her and an inside her never letting them touch and never showing her inside. Hurston showed Janie's feelings by saying “Janie starched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil.” This quote shows how composed she was not showing her real emotions and putting up a “wall of stone and steel.” Hurston also says “She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world.” This quote from the passage shows how Janie really felt, peaceful. By saying how Janie sent herself rollicking,
His diction let’s you sense the carelessness and monotony of the characters lives. This style of writing shows the reader that the worth and value of the individual is not
Right off the bat the narrator can already sense that there is something deeper going on in Jansen’s life. When Jansen, “…stood up and nonchalantly opened the top most suitcase”, the narrator notices that, “It was full to the brim and a few pictures fell out”, but, “[Jansen] didn’t even bother picking them up” (9). This irks the curiosity in him and is why he most likely feels the need to organize the photos for Jansen. While working the days away, Jansen asks the narrator to not answer the doorbell, “…because ‘people’—he used the vague term—might come in and wait for him in the studio” (11). This disconnection from the outside world causes the narrator to feel, “…as if I’d entered the studio illegally and I was afraid the people ringing, spotting a suspicious presence inside, would go report it to the nearest precint” (11). This is the beginnings of what becomes a very unique relationship in which the narrator searches for