How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
The village men on Joe Clarke's porch even chewed cane listlessly. They did not hurl the cane-knots as usual. (30)
Okay, so it's Saturday and maybe these guys don't work, but Delia does. We get the sneaking suspicion that these men are unemployed. Again, Hurston is making a broader comment on small-town life and society at large. Are the men unemployed by choice or are there just no jobs out there for an African-American male?
Quote #5
There's plenty men dat takes a wife lak dey do a joint uh sugar-cane. It's round, juicy an' sweet when dey gits it. But dey squeeze an' grind, squeeze an' grind an' wring tell dey wring every drop uh pleasure dat's in 'em out. (40)
Joe Clarke preaches to the men on his porch about the vermin sometimes found amongst men. At the same time, he's also preaching to us (by way of Hurston), telling all men to behave and all women to watch out. Okay, maybe these guys aren't entirely full of it—this is some pretty wise advice.
Quote #6
A grunt of approval went around the porch. But the heat was melting their civic virtue, and Elijah Moseley began to bait Joe Clarke. (42)
We all know the feeling: when it's so hot outside you just can't bring yourself to do anything. But what if that happened to you every day? We're sure it'd be hard to get much of anything done. The fact that the heat drives the men into laziness tells us something—and we're not sure it's a good thing. What might Hurston be trying to say here about 'civic virtue'?