Returning Home

In the beginning, Janie is returning home and the townspeople criticize her. They see her in muddy overalls and gossip about how she left town with a young man and how he probably left her for a younger woman. They talk badly of her, but it seems that they are jealous of her, like for her beauty straight hair.
When Janie was growing up, she played with white children, and actually thought she was white until she saw a photograph of herself. After realizing her differences, when Janie goes to the black school, she is made fun of by the black students because she lives on white land. They also make fun of her because of the poor state her parents are in.
In both of these experiences, Janie is being criticized. When Janie is younger and is being made fun she tells her grandmother that she wants to become more white. This was when she had not accepted her differences yet. But in the beginning of the novel when Janie is coming home, she is in earshot of the gossiping ladies but their gossip does not seem to phase her and she keeps on walking like she doesn't care.