Question

The narrator states that the porch sitters "sat in judgment." How does the porch serve as a metaphor for judgment?

Answer 1

Thus, the character of Janie Mae Crawford Killicks Starks Woods, the novel's 40-year-old heroine, is introduced as she endures the judgments of the porch sitters. Readers will come to know Janie as a strong, independent, free-spirited woman who strives to define herself, rather than allow others to determine who she is.