The Spittoon

The Spittoon

the spittoons for him and Janie are significant materialistic objects that he uses to distinguish his lifestyle habits from everyone else’s: “he spit in [a] gold-looking vase that anybody else would have been glad to put on their front-room table… he went further than that. He bought a little lady-size spitting pot for Janie to spit in” (47). Joe’s spittoons mock the style of white executives; the heavy value on consumer goods does not make Joe a “good” person in a place of power.