Jody starts getting old and is extremely self-conscious about it. Janie knows that he is getting old and it makes her sick to look at him. However, Janie observes that she herself is not getting old and still looks quites young. With his new self-consciousness, Jody starts to become more controlling than ever constantly yelling at Janie. One day, in the store, Jody yells at Janie for the littlest thing and Janie lashes out at him in front of a customer subsequently telling him how old and fat he looks. Jody responds by striking her in the face after an urging from the customer. Jody and Janie now sleep in separate rooms in the house and Jody will no longer eat Janie's cooking, due to a rumor in the town that she is trying to poison him. At the same time Jody's health is deteriorating and a doctor tells him that he is close to death . When he is on his death bed, Janie just yells at him about all the horrible turmoils he has put her through, but Jody doesn't want to hear it. Janie isn't sad or remorseful when Jody dies.