The yellow mule and Janie share many similarities. Both the mule and Janie were lighter in color than the others of the other species to show their difference. Yellow mules are not rare, but they are also not as common as biracials. Both the mule and Janie were deprived of a necessary source of life. In the book the mule is said to be “skinny” and people make fun of the owner for not feeding him. Likewise, Janie was deprived of love in her relationship with Janie making her almost as lifeless as a starving mule. With hungry hearts and bellies, they both work until the end of the day, without having much fun. Hurston writes in the book, "see the devil plow Matt Bonner all day in a hellish sun and lay rawhide across his back." According to this quote, the reader could infer that the mule was worked in a similar way and that this caused pain and suffering to the mule. Janie was also not allowed to leave the store. Jody never let her go out of town, give speeches, engage in conversations on the porch, or let her hair down. Even when the mule died and the whole town went to the funeral. Jody told Janie to stay at the store. They shared similar oppression from a man who had been given power over them by the world. Of all the similarities between Janie and the yellow mule, the way the mule died was the most significant. The end of the mules was just like the beginning of Janie. The mule died under a tree, lying on his back to look at the tree or the sky. Janie also lies on her back under a tree at the beginning of the book. Hurston describes Janie's feelings under the tree as "a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again." Janie realizes it at first when she is under the tree, just as the mule realizes his death under the tree. The mule turned onto his back because he knew that death was coming, otherwise he would have been on his side as one of the characters described it. Likewise,