Jennie Dixiana

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to make a living in the world because by being pretty and seductive, Jennie will get what she wants in life. The day that Jennie Marchette signs the contract with the circus was also the day that Jennie Dixiana is born. To her, “Jennie Marchette was a dirty flopsy doll buried deep in the sand”(40). Jennie describes herself as a doll because all her life she has been obedient towards her father’s act, pretending to be people that she is not, just like what a doll would do. Therefore, the moment she signs the contract, she decides to bury her past deep in the sand and start a new beginning in the circus. After many years of working at the circus, her relationship with Porter Wallace begins.

During Jennie’s stay at the circus, she developes into a woman with many different personalities in order to get revenge and also to survive. Jennie encounters Porter for the first time during their poker card play. When she joined the poker table with other powerful and wealthy men, Jennie played her cards “with a sweet, demure bluff that masked her skill” (25). During the game, she puts on her sweet and shy personality to mask her inner strong and vengeful self. When the men see this “dainty, frail and reticent” girl, they let their guards down because they assume that Jennie is just there fooling herself in front of all these men(25). To these men, Jennie is just a fragile girl, but she knows exactly what she wants from these men. Being taking advantage of when she was younger by her father makes her seek for revenge and power in the men that she encounters. As the poker game goes on, Day describes

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“Jennie’s blond hair glistened like flask, and as the hours passed, the men’s eye drooped while hers flashed dark diamonds” to show that the one that is in control during that game is Jennie(25). She lowers herself in order manipulate these men to make

them feel as if they are as powerful as a king, and end up taking that feeling away, making them look like fools. Regular diamonds are shiny and white but the diamonds that flashes in Jennie’s eyes are dark because when she takes off that mask that she puts on, she is a vengeful and cold-hearted woman. Jennie’s is a representation of a snake, who is just waiting patiently for it’s prey (the men) to let their guards down and fall right into her trap. As a result of an unprivileged and harsh childhood, Jennie longs to live the luxurious life, and she knows that Porter is the key to that. Through careful examination, Jennie learns that Porter is not the typical men that she’s been with. Jennie “knew what sort of woman Wallce Porter desired...a ghost” which is not a problem at all for Jennie because her whole childhood is consist of living but not really living(30). She was constantly forced to be someone else rather than herself and soon she learns to numb out all her feelings, escaping from reality and leaving nothing but a dead corpse behind. She realizes that Porter is no different than her father because she is a substitute as Irene to Porter just like the way she was a substitute as her mom to Slater. She learns to channel in different identity and use it towards her advantage in different situation. After the first time that Jennie and Porter made love, she knows for a fact that she wants “her own private Pullman car with her name painted boldly on the side, lined floor ceilings with mirrors”(37). Not only does she want to live a comfortable

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and wealthy life but she also seek fame in which she believes that Porter could give her. After this night, she realizes that she is one step closer to getting what she wants in life. She wants the floor ceilings to be lined with mirrors because each mirror represent a

different Jennie Dixiana, and she gets to choose from all the reflection who she wants to be at a given time. It is without a doubt that her relationship with both Slater and Sister has influenced her to act this way. Therefore, by having to constantly be someone else, she starts to lose herself and develops different identities, while still remembering her goals and motives in life.

In conclusion, Jennie becomes a malicious and skillful woman due to her horrific childhood drama. She is an aggressive woman who seeks revenge and control over the men she encounters due to the loss of control and purity that her father took away from her. This shows that most children who experience childhood trauma would not likely recover from it. It is suggested that parents take their time and be patient with kids for that they do learn quickly and gravitate towards what they see. Not only will the trauma scar them for life, but it will also have a big influence on who they are as a person when they are older. By having a stable family foundation and a support system, children are most likely to grow into healthy and active adults physically and mentally. It it the parent’s responsibility to ensure that.