Held Back By The Roots - Brittney & Mazden (:

In this passage, you can tell that the narrator is using personification while describing Janie. The author describes Janie as a tree in this specific passage, “She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude here.” (Hurston, 11) He gives her the characteristics of a tree that wants to bloom with life but cannot because it is being held back by the roots in the ground. The speaker’s tone in this passage shows that Janie has so much potential and so much life that is being held back. The images show that Janie is very happy and cheerful and the tone that the author uses shows this as well. By all of this we can tell that Janie has so much happiness and potential built up but she is being held back by a lot of things in her life and she cannot be who she really wants to be.