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Joe Kanty
Lena Kanty, Joe’s wife and Spunk’s lover, is “a small pretty woman.” She is introduced when walking through the village “clinging lovingly” to Spunk. Joe and Spunk compete for Lena throughout the story, but her voice is markedly absent throughout. Lena’s only line of dialogue is reported through Elijah Mosley, who recounts an altercation between Lena, Joe, and Spunk the week before. According to Elijah, when Joe pleaded Lena to return home to him, she “looked at him real disgusted,” until Spunk grabbed her by the arm and declared, “Lena, youse mine.” Lena is remarkably passive until she “speaks up” to explain that she wants to at least remain in her house because it was passed down to her by her father. Lena’s autonomy and agency is immediately undermined, however, when Spunk warns her that, although she can keep her house, “when youse inside don’t forgit youse mine.” Elijah reports that Lena looked at Spunk with “eyes so full of love that they wuz runnin’ over,” but it’s possible that Lena’s tears symbolize the fear she feels under Spunk’s controlling demands. Lena’s body is not only a site of desire and control for Joe and Spunk, but also a battleground for them to assert their competing masculinities.
Lena Kanty Quotes in Spunk
The Spunk quotes below are all either spoken by Lena Kanty or refer to Lena Kanty. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Spunk Quotes
A giant of a brown skinned man sauntered up the one street of the Village and out into the palmetto thickets with a small pretty woman clinging lovingly to his arm.
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In this opening line, the story’s antagonist Spunk Banks is immediately positioned as a formidable and daring man. His physical dominance is illustrated through the word “giant,” and his stature is further emphasized in comparison to the “small pretty woman” on his arm. The small village only has “one street,” and, following Spunk’s parade, its inhabitants instantly begin gossiping about what they have seen. The fact that Spunk casually “sauntered” up the only street in the neighborhood becomes more scandalous when the reader learns that he is with Lena Kanty, a married woman. When Spunk struts past the general store—which Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis conse
“Call her and see if she'll come. A woman knows her boss an' she answers when he calls.”
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After Joe enters the woods in search of Spunk, Elijah begins telling Walter and the men an anecdote about Spunk, Lena, and Joe from the week before. Elijah reports how Spunk had challenged Joe to take Lena back, asserting both his superiority over Joe and his control over Lena. Lena is stripped entirely of her agency over the situation when she is, once again, dehumanized and reduced to the status of Spunk’s property. She is likened to a house pet when Spunk explains, “A woman knows her boss an’ she answers when he calls.” The pronouns in this sentence reveal Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. N
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Lena Kanty Character Timeline in Spunk
The timeline below shows where the character Lena Kanty appears in Spunk. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Spunk
...giant of a brown skinned man,” struts through the only street in the village with Lena, Joe Kanty’s wife, on his arm. Spunk’s bold parade elicits admiration from Elijah, who praises...
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Moments later, Lena’s husband, Joe, arrives and orders a drink. Elijah immediately begins taunting Joe by asking after...
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...declares to the “men lounging in the general store” that he is going to “fetch” Lena back. As he speaks, Joe pulls a “hollow ground razor” from his pocket, declaring that...
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The men laugh “boisterously” as they watch Joe “shamble woodward” in search of Spunk and Lena. Walter warns Elijah that he and the other men have sent Joe to his death,...
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Elijah then tells a story about how Joe had meekly confronted Lena and Spunk the week before. Elijah denounces Walter’s accusation that Spunk only “carries on wid...
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Elijah reports how Lena was “disgusted” by her husband when he begged for her to come back to him,...
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While Lena cries, Spunk claims that Joe cowardly tried to attack him from behind, so Spunk was...
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...short trial, Spunk walks free. Some time later, Walter and Elijah discuss how Spunk and Lena have moved in together and are about to get married. The conversation then shifts to...
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According to Elijah, on Spunk’s first night in the house with Lena, he was startled when a massive black bobcat prowled around the exterior of the house,...
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...badinage this time.” Elijah and Walter somberly discuss Spunk’s death as they walk slowly towards Lena’s house for the funeral wake. Elijah explains how Spunk fell onto the circle saw at...
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At the funeral wake, Lena grieves passionately. When Jeff Kanty arrives, he takes pleasure in imagining himself as the saw...
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