Willy and Charley

Willy and Charley have a very grumpy old men kind of relationship. The two bicker at each other like they were brothers. Every little wrong thing that Charley does, Willy pokes fun at or vice versa. They don't exactly have that friendly kind of relationship. They poke fun at each other not jokingly like friends do but as if they were enemies but they still remain friends. They seem to be very close too. I don't know why but they just seem like they have been friends for a very long time they way that they are constantly going back and forth. Willy is definitely the meaner of the two and constantly criticizes what Charley does and everything that Charley seems to say to Willy is marked as offensive. Willy although is quick to dish out smart remarks and hurtful things, he isn't willing to tolerate it from anyone else and thinks less of them if they do call him anything. There relationship is a real manly man one kind of like Clint Eastwood and his barber in "Gran Torino". They are just grumpy old men who are dissatisfied with their lives but still like to compete. 

Happy & Biff

So far in our reading of Death of a Salesman we are introduced to four character two of which are Happy and Biff. The two are brothers who are only two years apart and are both in their early thirties. They are the sons of Willy and LInda. So far in Act I they are at home in their bedroom discussing life and their dad. The two brothers both seem to be very close because the first thing we hear about them is their mom, Linda, telling her husband that the two went out on a date together and how cute they looked together. Biff and Happy start talk about their lives and reminisce about their discussions when they were younger. Biff, the oldest of the two, isn't very thrilled with his life. Through out the first few pages Willy and LInda talk about how he is still trying to find his way and is sort of confused on the direction of his life. He loves to farm but thinks it is starting to get old. He isn't really sure what he wants to do with his life because he has tried being like his dad by being a salesman and he found it boring. Happy is some what of a player. He owns his own apartment and has a car. He is a business man like his father and is with a different woman every other night. He isn't happy with his life because all the meaningless hookups are starting to get old and he is starting to feel like somewhat of a pig becasue he hooks up with women who are already married. The two are very close to each other and like to joke and talk. I think they are reliable because of how close they are to each other and they both love their parents very much. At one point Happy asks Biff to not leave again becasue he needs someone to help him with his dad. 

The End of Their Eyes Were Watching God

After the horrific storm and the incident with Tea Cake being bitten in the face, Tea Cake becomes very sick. Not only does Tea Cake get sick but he is forced to help bury some of the dead from the hurricane. But through out the last chapters Tea Cake starts to turn and accuse Janie of sneaking out at night and seeing Mrs. Turner's relatives. Janie notices that after their fight he starts sleeping with a gun under his pillow so Janie thinks that she should have her rifle at the ready incase anything gets too out of hand. One the night the two get in a fight and it escalates to where Tea Cake pulls a gun on Janie. He pulls the trigger twice and before he can pull it a third time Janie shoots him in defense. She knew he was changing and as soon as she shot her beloved husband she died too. Janie was put on trial for the murder of Tea CAke but she didn't reveal much because to her nor say close to anything because she knew life without Tea Cake wouldn't be life at all. 

"Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Chapter 18 actually contains the title of the book within the chapter. In the chapter a big hurricane is coming and  not many people believe it will be that big of a storm and think it will just blow over. Tea Cake is among those who believe it will just blow over so he sees no reason for why he and Janie should leave their home. The night before the storm Tea Cake has a bunch of co-workers who work at the muck over and rolling dice in his backyard. As soon as the people over see that the weather is starting to get extremely bad they leave and return home. Janie and Tea Cake start talking and get on the subject that everything that has been happening due to God. While waiting for the the storm to come Janie says it's like "Their eyes were watching God", because they are waiting on the worst of God's wrath to come through. All the two could do was wait for what was coming to them since they hadn't decided to vacate their home. 

Tea Cake and Janie Working

Once Tea Cake and Janie settle in at the Everglades, Janie starts off by hunting and cooking for Tea Cake. As soon as they get all moved in, tea Cake stats searching for a job but soon after leaving the house comes home. Janie suspects that tea Cake has doubts about their relationship and thinks that she is cheating on him. He merely explains to Janie that he doesn't like leaving her side for such long periods of time and begs her to come find a job with him. Janie hastily accepts the offer and goes off on the job search with her man. A reason for why she was maybe so eager to get a job was that she was probably lonely in the house all day just looking forward to his arrival. This relationship is already so much better then her past 2 because she now actually has someone who wants to spend time with her. At the beginning Tea Cake asked her to play checkers with him and then asked her to get a job with him. The difference between the work she did with her past husbands, Logan and Jody, is that Tea Cake asked them to do it out of love instead of necessity. 

Chapter 9 of Their Eyes Were Watching God

“The angels grew jealous of man and chopped up and covered him in mud.”

This parable relates to Janie because she is in a way jealous of men because they can voice their opinions and be heard where Janie, along with other women are suppressed by men and seen as weaker beings. At the very beginning of chapter 9, the novel talks about how in the beginning of time God created one man who shown so bright and sung so loud that the angels eventually got tired of hearing about him. The angels then decided o break him down and once they realized they still couldn't handle him they cut him up and placed mud over him. Not only does it relate to Janie in the little amount of jealousy she has but it also goes back to her idea of love. When she first starts thinking about love and what her life would be like when she was married, it was a wonderful thought, but as soon as she came to reality she had to cover her dream of love up and never reveal it again. once she was married to Logan she knew she couldn't be happy for the rest of her life but once Jody came around it was almost as if her idea of love was re-birthed but once she started to see Jody for who he really was her dream was soon chopped up again and covered with a fake smile. In a way it doesn't only relate to her idea of love but to Janie herself because when ever she is put down by Logan or Jody it's as if she is having mud cover her up. Her voice and opinion no longer matter to either of them and if she is covered up they don't have to deal with it. 

The Mule

In chapter 6 we are introduced to Matt Bonner's mule. HIs mule is very skinny and is always getting lost. One day the mule gets lost again and some townspeople find it and start messing around with the poor animal. When Janie sees the townspeople poking fun at the mule she becomes very upset. Janie relates to the mule in that way that she has to work all day in the store and then come home and be lonely. The mule has to work in the fields all day and be mistreated and unsupervised by his master for the rest of the evening. When Jody finds out that Janie is so passionate about the mule he decides to buy it for Janie in order to make her happy. Janie starts to really love the animal because of how much they are the same, they both don't have a "big voice" let alone a voice at all. SHe stands up for the mule because of how much similar they are and she doesn't feel that anyone should be put down or controlled by others. 

Ch. 5 Jody's true self

Soon after Jody and Janie's marriage they go to Eatonville, Florida. Upon entering the new town Jody decides to make himself heard and "have a big voice". He starts to buy up land from the town and with his 200 acres he decides to sell it to incoming townspeople and set up little shops. He is then elected mayor and Janie is asked to give a speech on the behalf of her husband entering in office. Jody responds with saying that women and wives are not to give speeches. The true side of Jody comes out because he is degrades women and thinks they are just some perfect image. Janie says nothing in response to Jody forbidding the speech. The inferiority that Jody is giving to Janie shows us that Jody's dreams are more important then his marriage with Janie because she is being set behind projects that Jody wishes to complete. The marriage is already not picture perfect for Janie because Jody isn't the man she thought he was. He is a power hungry man who has no time for a wife. 

Imagery

Throughout chapter 3 and 4 there is a great use of imagery. In chapter 4 Janie and her new husband, Joe Starks, sneak away and get married. At the end of the chapter Joe and Janie are watching the sunset. The last paragraph of the chapter uses imagery and on the surface seems like its just talking about nightfall and sunset but it is really a metaphor for Janie. It is being used to describe Janie's new life because now that Nanny is dead she no longer has to please her by being married to Logan. Janie isn't sure what her new life will be like but she seems pretty sure that it will be better then the one she had with her former husband Logan. Sitting there with her new husband in the darkness could also foreshadow that her new life might be worse but she knows as soon as the sun rises a new life begins but you can't be to sure if it will be a happy one or not.