Spunk

Blades appear throughout the story as symbols of death and danger. The sawmill, where Spunk works, features a circular saw. Spunk takes on the most dangerous position, feeding the lumber to the circular saw, which symbolizes his reckless approach to life. Early mentions of the saw serve to foreshadow Spunk’s death, including Elijah’s mention of Tes’ Miller, Spunk’s predecessor, who died after being “cut to giblets” (55). When Joe follows Spunk and Lena into the woods, he takes a blade described as a “hollow ground razor” or, later, as a “meatax” (56-58), suggesting that he intends to exterminate Spunk like he would an animal. Through the imagery of blades, Hurston depersonalizes the violence that defines the lives of the men in the community. By falling victim to their steely ferocity, the characters can distance themselves from the true progenitors of the violence, like jealousy or even an unsafe work environment. Following Spunk’s death, his body is propped up on sawhorses, as though he is a plank of wood, again depersonalizing his violent death. Like the trees he felled for a living, Spunk is cut down and humbled.