Annotated Passage
It was a Spring afternoon in West Florida. Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear
tree in the back-yard. She
had been spending every minute that she
could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days.
That was to say, ever since
the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come
and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening
leaf buds;
from the leaf buds to snowy virginity of
bloom. It stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It was like a flute song
forgotten in another
existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing
she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world
was breathing out smell. It followed her
through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep. It connected
itself with other
vaguely felt matters that had struck her
outside observation and buried themselves in her flesh. Now they emerged
and quested about
her consciousness.
She was
stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of
the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting
breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came
to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum
of a bloom; the
thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the
love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch
creaming in every
blossom and frothing with delight. So this
was marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie
felt a pain remorseless
sweet that left her limp and languid.
After
a while she got up from where she was and went over the little garden field
entire. She was seeking confirmation of the voice
and vision, and everywhere she found and
acknowledge answers. A personal answer for all other creations except herself.
She felt an
answer seeking her, but where? When? How?
She found herself at the kitchen door and stumbled inside. In the air of
the room where
flies tumbling and singing, marrying and giving in marriage.
When she reached the narrow hallway she was reminded that her grandmother
was home with a sick headache. She was lying across the bed
asleep so Janie tipped on out of the front door. Oh to be a pear tree – any
tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of
the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and
wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where
were the singing bees for her? Nothing on the place nor in her grandma’s
house answered her She searched as much of the world as she
could from the top of the front steps and then went on down to the front
gate and leaned over to gaze up and down the road. Looking,
waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made.
Comment:
This sentence can be seen in two ways. The first is literally what it says,
Janie has been spending her free time
sitting under a pear tree. This sentence can also be seen as Janie comparing
herself to the pear tree. She says
she's been there for three days or "ever since the first tiny bloom had opened".
This can be seen as her growing
up or "blossoming" like the pear tree. Back to the
Passage
Comment: This sentence re-enforces
the idea that Jaine is comparing herself to the pear tree. Although,
once again it can be
seen as just her talking about how the pear tree has grown, it becomes very
apparent that she is linking the pear
tree to herself. The tree has grown from "barren brown stems to glistening
leaf buds; from the leaf buds to snowy
virginity of bloom" much like she has grown from a little child to
a young woman. Back to the Passage
Comment: This last part
of the paragraph is Janie explaining how she can feel all the changes going
on within her andit
has finally "emerged and quested about her consciousness". She
was confused as to why she felt different and
what it was that she was feeling and now it is becoming clear to her
what it was that had been giving her the
strange feelings. She is growing up and changing from a child into
a woman. Back to the Passage
Comment:
A new object appears in Janie's view, bees gathering nectar from the blooms.
Janie describes how the bee
gather's the nectar and then describes how the blossom's " thousand
sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace
and the ecstatic shiver ofthe tree from root to tiniest branch creaming
in every blossom and frothing with delight"
which is really Janie fantasizing about sex between a man and a
woman and then comes to the realization of what
she is thinking about when she says "So this was marriage!". Janie
is growing up and starting to get sexual feelings
which she shows through bees and blossoms in this case. Back to the Passage
Comment: After seeing
the bees and the blossoms, Janie walks around looking to see if she can experience
more
of what she just saw. She finds the same thing everywhere and starts
to wonder why she's the only one without
anyone. She wonders when she'll get to experience what seemingly everything/everyone
but her was experiencing.
Jaine is starting to become aware of her newfound need/want for sexuality.
Back to the Passage
Comment: Jaine
goes back to the pear tree once again and wishes she could be like the pear
tree. She is maturing physically
and mentally and wants to be able to express herself and be around
other people like how the pear tree has the bees.
She is "bursting" with the need for someone yet she has no one to
go to. This is the beginning or Janie's journey
through life as an adult.