Journal 6

Personification

-"The train beat on itself and danced on the shiny steel rails mile after mile." (Hurston, 116)
-Hurston uses this personification of the train dancing on the rails to portray the happiness of the scene. Janie, who was on the train, was happy that she and Tea Cake were finally going to get married and by using this personification, it brings out her enthusiasm and joy.

Simile

-"But, don't care how firm your determination is, you can't keep turning round in one place like a horse grinding sugar cane." (Hurston, 118)
-This simile, used to describe Janie's fading determination to find her money she had had in her pocket, also helps give the reader an insight to Janie's character. She realizes that if you are stuck in one place, you will not find what you are looking for no matter how long you look for it. Janie represents this because when she was tied down into her marriage with Logan and things were not the way she had wanted them to be. But later, when she meets Jody, she becomes happy for the time being because she changed up the way she thought and acted. She did this again when she moved on to Tea Cake and is now happier then she was before. Janie, throughout the story, seems to be happier when she is constantly changing up her life.

Metaphor

-"A little seed of fear was growing into a tree. Maybe some day Tea Cake would weaken." (Hurston, 136)
-This metaphor is used at the beginning of chapter 15 to show how Janie is becoming worried of Tea Cake. Tea Cake has been hanging around with another woman, Nunkie, and Janie is becoming increasingly fearful of Tea Cake possibly cheating on her with Nunkie. A seed was growing into a tree, meaning that she was beginning to become more concerned of their love for each other as time went on and maybe Tea Cake was beginning to give in to someone else's love.