Reading 1001 discussion

7. What is the importance in the novel of the "signifyin'" and "playin' de dozens" on the front porch of Joe's store and elsewhere? What purpose do these stories, traded insults, exaggerations, and boasts have in the lives of these people? How does Janie counter them with her conjuring?

I think these stories are like fishermen with the one that got away they need something to boast about, to laugh about and to compare with each other.

These gatherings are social for the characters. Their stories help them to define the others in the group.

I loved the thread of stories about the mule. That cracked me up. I also think the stories reveal a lot about the culture and people.

I thought that the story telling and the joke playing were the strongest part of the novel. They sounded so authentic, and yet so universal. Men, in particular, love playing jokes on each other, leading the victim on until the denouement. "How do you keep an idiot in suspense? I'll tell you later" is a favourite of my husband. These stories showed the social interaction of the men in their own time. They reminded me strongly of similar "piss taking" in Maori culture.