In chapter Six there is a very interesting metaphor made relating the old mule and the liberation of the slaves by Abraham Lincoln.  Jody buys a mule off of Matt Bonner because the owner had overworked it and when it ran away and ended up outside of the store, he took the opportunity.  This act of compassion towards the animal was compared to when Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves.  Later on after the mule dies, there is a mock funeral for the animal (which Janie is not allowed to attend) and after the funeral, the mule is eaten by vultures.  I think that Hurston was trying to say that after the slaves were liberated, that they were ignored and deserted and as a result, many had started their lives as free men and women in worse situations then when they were enslaved.  I think that Hurston includes this in order to show how African Americans were completely forgotten about (or deliberately ignored) during Reconstruction.

Another thing that caught my attention in these chapters was the very obvious decline of Janie and Jody’s relationship.  Janie begins to hold in all of her emotions as Jody’s domineering personality silences her.  She is submissive for a long time and after a while Jody begins to feel the affects of his age.  Finally, after Janie is publicly scolded by Jody for a simple mistake, she lets out all of the emotions that she had been holding in for the past 7 years.  She lashes out at Jody and insults his age and appearance and says things that no woman would ever say during that time period.  This is significant because it shows that Janie refuses to be submissive to others or passive in her own life.  Every single action she has taken can more or less be justified by basic human rights or common sense, although Janie acts as she sees fit, there are thousands of other black woman who are abused and discriminated against but remain silent.