Jennie Dixianna
Gordon Goodwin
April 28, 2014
The Mysterious Jennie Dixianna Unlike any of the other characters in the novel, Jennie Dixianna’s personality shrouds behind her black diamond eyes. Throughout the story she begins as this innocent woman who wants to make an honest dollar by performing acrobatic feats in the Great Porter Circus & Menagerie. Slowly she begins to show her snake like qualities as her past starts to unravel right in front of her own eyes in certain instances. She subconsciously shows true personality when she performs her famous act, “The Spin of Death”. Jennie Dixianna uses her act to tell us a story about her past and how she connects her feelings with her performances. Jennie Dixiannas’ act starts when she ascends the rope to get to the top of the hippodrome, similarly this process shows that from a young age she has had a hard time relating with others in society due to the psychological scaring done from past events. “First, she climbed a rope, which slithered snake like between and around her legs as she rose higher”(28). Ever since her mother bled out while giving birth and passed away it has been a struggle for Jennie to accept it so she just tries to put it in the back of her mind and distract herself from the haunting scene of her mother dying. The rope symbolizes as a snake which slithers between and around her legs. Furthermore, this portion of the act indicates the beginning of the endless raping done by her father after her mother passed away. As a result, she had to adjust to the way things were which was a lot for a 6 year old child. Similarly, “Jennie became a walking phantom, the living receptacle of unlived lives” (33). This example illustrates’ how hard it was for her to deal with the hardships of living in the real world with nobody to help her with her problems. In addition, Jennie Dixianna’s classic act of, “The Spin Of Death” relates to her emotions connecting with her past since she has no other escape from
April 28, 2014
The Mysterious Jennie Dixianna Unlike any of the other characters in the novel, Jennie Dixianna’s personality shrouds behind her black diamond eyes. Throughout the story she begins as this innocent woman who wants to make an honest dollar by performing acrobatic feats in the Great Porter Circus & Menagerie. Slowly she begins to show her snake like qualities as her past starts to unravel right in front of her own eyes in certain instances. She subconsciously shows true personality when she performs her famous act, “The Spin of Death”. Jennie Dixianna uses her act to tell us a story about her past and how she connects her feelings with her performances. Jennie Dixiannas’ act starts when she ascends the rope to get to the top of the hippodrome, similarly this process shows that from a young age she has had a hard time relating with others in society due to the psychological scaring done from past events. “First, she climbed a rope, which slithered snake like between and around her legs as she rose higher”(28). Ever since her mother bled out while giving birth and passed away it has been a struggle for Jennie to accept it so she just tries to put it in the back of her mind and distract herself from the haunting scene of her mother dying. The rope symbolizes as a snake which slithers between and around her legs. Furthermore, this portion of the act indicates the beginning of the endless raping done by her father after her mother passed away. As a result, she had to adjust to the way things were which was a lot for a 6 year old child. Similarly, “Jennie became a walking phantom, the living receptacle of unlived lives” (33). This example illustrates’ how hard it was for her to deal with the hardships of living in the real world with nobody to help her with her problems. In addition, Jennie Dixianna’s classic act of, “The Spin Of Death” relates to her emotions connecting with her past since she has no other escape from