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Chapter 9 Summary
Jody is buried with all the fine accessories the town expects, including Janie dressed in expensive black folds and a veil she describes as "a wall of stone and steel." With Joe's death comes glorious freedom and time for reflection. Janie thinks about going back to her old home to find her mother and tend her grandmother's grave, but she has no desire to do either. She realizes she hates her grandmother, who sold her off in the name of love: "Some people could look at a mud-puddle and see an ocean with ships. However, Nanny belonged to that other kind that loved to deal in scraps. Here Nanny had taken the biggest thing God ever made, the horizon—for no matter how far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond you—and pinched it in to such a little bit of a thing that she could tie it about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to choke her."
The only change Janie makes is the kerchiefs—she burns them and now wears her hair in a loose, swinging braid. Helped by Hezekiah, a seventeen-year-old imitation of Joe, she still tends the store; she is half-afraid Joe might walk in and find something wrong. Men from all over press Janie to let them take care of her and her affairs, speaking of respect rather than desire, but Janie, unwilling to lose her freedom, never lets any of them past the front porch.
Chapter 9 Analysis
Although Janie plays the part of the grieving widow, she does not feel the grief. Superficially, she does what she can to meet the town's expectations, but at a deeper level, she rebels, burning the kerchiefs that hid her hair, fishing with her friend Phoeby, and using Jody's recent death as an excuse to turn away all the suitors she knows can only disappoint her. The idea of trading one husband for another who wants to take care of her and manage her money is not a compelling one; Janie is too experienced now, and she rejects the notion for the last time that she must be cared for by a man, having found that such a comfort is not worth the mindless boredom.
Instead, Janie uses her new freedom to rediscover herself slowly. She also fights the lingering damage Jody caused to her self-esteem. His voice is still powerful inside her mind, and Janie continues to keep the store as if he is still there to reprimand her.
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