TEWWG, Ch. 3-5

Growing up is naturally difficult. It’s awkward to be sixteen. You change physically, but even more importantly, your cognitive schema changes. Poor Janie is battling this as all teenagers do, but with a husband, Logan, and an admirer, Joe. Any mistakes she makes in later readings can easily be justified by the moments she is forced into womanhood. I wouldn’t blame her for being confused and mistaken if her intellectual growth was stunted and then sped up at 16.

“Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.” (25)

I remember the first big dream I had that soon became a non-reality. It was in that moment of sudden realization that part of me was thrust into a new sense of maturity. I was 16, like Janie. Looking back to where I was just a year ago, I can honestly say I was happier and more carefree then. I didn’t have a future to consider as seriously as I do now.

I grew up when I understood my biggest dream had slipped away into a dark abyss. It’s tough to wake up minus a dream, because you feel a bit deprived of life. I felt naked minus my ambition, like the single thing that defined me was gone. I found a new dream, but it’s a “safe” dream. It’s not risky or out there. If anything it’s reality. It’s fascinating, yet uncomfortable when life wakes you up. You know that there isn’t as much possibility as you originally conceived before.

I can relate to Janie searching for more. I understand how discontent she is with life. Joe was a promise for the old life she wanted once upon a time. I suppose our dreams can catch up to us, even after we give up. Or they can stay away forever if we keep certain ambitions at bay. It really depends on the dream. As for marriage, it has to do with love most of the time. Sometimes people marry for other reasons, but I’m in no position to judge what I don’t know about. All I know is I would take a page from Janie’s book any day. It’s great to be safe, like how Janie was with Logan, but if safety confines you it’s just as dangerous. I would lose my soul in a tight, loveless relationship. I’d rather live, then live without love.