Janie Monologue

Index
Feature..page 1
Obituary..page 2
Dear Abby..page3

Feature By Glynn Arguelles
Her old community welcomes her back with scorn and derision. They’re all sitting on their porches, watching her return and exchanging nasty gossip born from jealousy of her beauty and social mobility. They make snide comments about Janie having left town in satin and returning in overalls, having left with a young man and returning alone, etc. Pheoby, Janie’s best friend, defends Janie, saying that she's never done anything to hurt anybody. Pheoby leaves to take Janie some supper, their banter establishes that they've been good friends for a long time and that they trust each other. Janie is sure that she’s being gossiped about,
Although She’s been raised all her life in West Florida by her grandmother, whom she calls "Nanny," along with four white children in the Washburn household. She spends so much time with the white children that she doesn’t realize she’s black…until she sees a photograph of the family. After all the white children in the picture are pointed out and named, there’s only a dark, skinny girl left. In the moment of revelation, Janie cries, "Aw, aw! Ah’m colored!" The kids tease Janie relentlessly, using the story of Janie’s parentage to shame her. Everyone knows the part about the police sending bloodhounds hunting after her father because he slept with her mother. But, they keep the part about her father attempting to marry her mother hush-hush. Although Nanny’s worried that Janie will cruelly end up being used and treated like garbage by some man without her grandmother’s guidance while granny is getting up to age by the hour.. A man is that named Logan Killicks is interested in marrying Janie, but Janie is disgusted because of the huge age difference and because he "look like some ole skullhead in de graveyard.". Nanny accuses Janie of not wanting to be an honest wife and slaps Janie for her insolence. Sadly Nanny tries to explain to Janie where she’s coming from. Though it’s the early 1900s right now, Nanny grew up as a slave. Nanny describes a scene during the Civil War when her former master rode off to fight and she was left to face
When Janie reaches Logan’s house, she finds that it’s a pretty lonely, boring place off in the middle of nowhere. She waits three months for love to come, and when it doesn’t, Janie goes to see Nanny. During her visit with Nanny, Janie is pretty quiet and seems down in the dumps. Nanny goes from thinking that Janie is quiet because she’s pregnant ("knocked up already") to assuming that Logan is abusing her ("beat mah baby already"). But, when Nanny learns the more melodramatic reason for Janie’s bad mood (she’s doesn’t love Logan), Nanny belittles it. She thinks that being an honest woman and being respectfully called Mis’ Killicks should be enough for Janie. Janie dislikes Logan’s practical, unromantic nature. All he does is chop wood for her. Logan also isn’t attractive in appearance or hygiene—apparently, he has an asymmetrical head and doesn’t wash his feet. When Janie starts to cry, saying she wants to have a marriage like a blossoming pear tree, Nanny sends her away without comfort, telling her to wait a bit longer for love to come. Nanny worries about Janie but is sure that she’s done the best for her granddaughter that she can. She prays to God to take care of the girl. While in the same month, Nanny is sadly dead. About a year later, Janie has learned her lesson of that marriage doesn’t bring love. With this realization, she grows increasingly distant, taking comfort in the beauty of nature