Janie is actually relieved and freed by Joe's death, yet society demands that she grieve over the loss of her husband, so she "starched and ironed her face" (84) to put the somberness she wasn't feeling into her expressions to make her appear to be deep in mourning. When one starches and irons a shirt, for example, the shirt becomes stiff and crisp. This is what Janie does to herself to prevent anyone from penetrating her outer expressions and revealing her true inner feelings.