They also serve as a form of entertainment for the porch sitters. Mock arguments on pseudo-serious subjects, such as those about the mule, found in this chapter often occupy the porch sitters as they struggle to understand their position in the world. The porch sitters observe the scene and remark that the woman's husband loves her and puts up with her faults, an observation lost on Joe. Tony, a town parasite and slovenly housekeeper, get some groceries for her family. Joe goes through the motions of being kind to a customer, perhaps because he can't be kind to Janie. All she can do is summon the courage to put on a good face and endure it. At this moment, Janie knows beyond any doubt and hope that this marriage will never be what she wants. On a day when everything goes wrong in the kitchen, Joe slaps Janie. Thus, Joe is satisfied with her apparent submission. As usual, Joe prevails, and Janie gives up trying to defend herself.
![joe all the things your man won joe all the things your man won](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/596B/production/_112419822_will_rogan_musk.jpg)
He berates Janie severely, and she tries to answer with comments about his own deficiencies. One day, Joe discovers that a bill of shipment has been misplaced and a desired item is not in stock. When Joe returns, still chuckling at the foolishness, they briefly discuss the role of fun and play in the serious business of survival and daily living. Joe joins in the hilarious parody, but Janie does what Joe tells her to do: She stays in the store. The mule finally dies of old age, and the townspeople stage an elaborate mock funeral service before they leave the carcass to buzzards. Joe has done an act of unselfishness for Janie. From then on, it becomes the town pet, living in the front yard of the store and rambling about at will, leading a life of ease and freedom. In a surprising act of kindness, both for the mule and for Janie, he purchases the animal.
![joe all the things your man won joe all the things your man won](https://s.mxmcdn.net/images-storage/albums/2/7/0/5/8/3/31385072_800_800.jpg)
Finally, Janie mutters her disapproval, which Joe overhears. In a natural defensive reaction, the mule fights back, but the more the animal resists, the more the men tease him. One afternoon, the men engage in a game of mule-baiting. He calls the people trashy, unworthy of conversation with the mayor's wife. She has in mind some comical stories she'd like to tell, but Joe forbids her to take part in the chatter. Janie listens to the talk and is amused by it. Matt and his mule become a favorite topic of conversation and teasing, and the porch sitters vie with one another in tantalizing Matt, accusing him of overworking and nearly starving the animal.
![joe all the things your man won joe all the things your man won](https://i2.wp.com/dvinil.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1631354949149.jpg)
There, they delight in accusing dimwitted Matt Bonner of mistreating his yellow mule. The porch sitters soon take up daily residence on the porch of Joe's store.