Previous Next

"Tain’t cause Joe’s timid at all, it’s cause Spunk wants Lena. If Joe was a passle of wile cats, Spunk would tackle the job just the same. He’d go after anything he wanted the same way."

This is Elijah Mosley’s reply to Walter Thomas’s assertion that Spunk has only taken Lena from Joe because Joe is timid and easily intimidated, a conversation in the first section of the story, after Joe leaves to confront Spunk. Elijah’s response clarifies Spunk’s motives and character. He is with Lena not to spite Joe but because he wants her. Spunk has an inherent belief that he can take what he wants. Elijah claims that he would have taken up with Lena even if he had had to face a real fight to do so, as illustrated with Hurston’s image of the giant man fighting a crowd of wild cats rather than simply intimidating a meek man like Joe. This passage shows the extent of Spunk’s reputation for matter-of-fact boldness and a sense of entitlement. He determined to get what he wants and almost indifferent to obstacles and dangers, whether they be jealous husbands or spinning saw blades. 

Everyone in the village was there, even old Jeff Kanty, Joe’s father, who a few hours before would have been afraid to come within ten feet of him, stood leering triumphantly down upon the fallen giant as if his fingers had been the teeth of steel that laid him low.

This passage occurs in the final scene of the story, during Spunk’s wake. This description marks the final low point for Spunk’s reputation as the once-revered man lies defeated in death. Although Spunk has maintained his physical strength and the fear he inspires in others, in the last scene even his physical form as he lies mangled by the sawmill blade holds no power. Hurston’s introduction of Jeff Kanty in this image serves two purposes. First, his role as Joe’s father suggests both that he is elderly and that, given Joe’s temperament, he is not a brave man. That such a man can dare to leer at Spunk shows how harmless Spunk has become. In addition, Joe’s father standing in triumph as if he himself had killed Spunk lends credence to Spunk’s own assertion that his death was not the result of a careless accident but that Joe’s ghost pushed him into the path of the saw blade. This moment shows the bitter end of Spunk’s reputation, as well as his life, while Jeff Kanty stands in as a double for the triumphant Joe. 

Previous section The Nearness of the Spirit World Next section Joe Kanty

Take a Study Break