deal about the reality of being an African-American woman. She says “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see” (29). Janie, out of respect for her grandmother, went off to start her role as a wife.For the most part, Janie’s experiences as a wife are typical of what many women go through, at least in terms of the roles that she is cast in. In contrast to the role of the mother, which is one of giving and nurturing, the role of wife is characterized by giving up one’s self in the marriage. Janie, although she tries, cannot make herself love Logan Killicks. “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (44). This point is important because it, more than even the marriage ceremony, marks Janie’s transition from Nanny’s child to a woman, not only in the biological and social sense, but also in the sense that Nanny is talking about when she says that the black woman is the “mule of de world . . .” (29). It is not long before the newness of marriage wears off for Logan and he introduces Janie to the physical bondage that is expected of a wife. Logan tells Janie “I aims to run two plows, and dis man Ah’m talkin ‘bout is got a mule all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle ‘im” (46). There is little doubt why Logan would need a mule so gentle even a woman could handle it. As Logan realizes more and more that Janie is not happy with him, he tries to force her into the traditional wife role by having her do more and more of the demeaning work around the farm. The last straw is when he asks her to get a shovel and move a pile of manure. “A feeling of newness and change came lover her. Janie hurried out the door and turned south” the narrator says. She leaves Logan behind for a young man, Joe Starks, who she thinks is her answer to the pear tree. In some ways her marriag...
