Their Eyes Were Watching God was illustrated in 1937 and was one of Zora Neale Hurston's best pieces of literature. The focus point in this novel was on the life of Janie and the struggles and satisfactions of love. Anthony Liccione once said "Money spent, will never out value time spent" as Janie struggles to understand the meaning of love because many of her lovers had a price tag and a social standing on it. The true meaning of love soon becomes perfectly clear through the lessons learned from her multiple marriages.
Janie's views on things changed from the beginning of the novel to the end her attitude and personality are shaped and transformed from her previous relationships. As she learns lessons about life and love she learns that
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love cannot just grow from nowhere just because she's married, she learns that marriages have nothing to do with the social standing of a person or the money in their pocket but the natural attraction between one person and another. Throughout the book you see her go from day dreaming and kicking her feet up to being forced to work, to working because she is trying to be submissive to her husband, to working because she does not want to leave the side of her lover. Every marriage taught Janie a different message and opened her eyes to the realization of life and love. Janie was raised by her grandmother commonly referred to as nanny in this book.
Janie was black and white with nice long fine hair which was usually the main attraction about her. For most of her childhood Janie lived in the backyard of a white family her nanny worked for named the Washburn's. The fact that Janie was a mulatto child already placed her above the average black back in this time frame. She was not made to work and was allowed to play with the Washburn kids who treated her no differently. It was not until she got to school that she realized that there was a "problem" with her staying in the backyard of white folks and playing with their kids she was teased for this so nanny saved up money and moved them to a house of their …show more content…
own. Logan Killicks was introduced as a picked love interest for Janie by her nanny.
Logan is a flat character described as a wealthy older black man who owns sixty acres of land along with smelly feet, and a big belly not even somewhat appealing to Janie she reluctantly marries him because that is her nanny's wishes and she feels that the love will grow on them as the time passes. At the beginning of the marriage Logan shows Janie a little attention he butters her up with sweet nothings but that soon comes to an end when Logan gets to thinking Janie is ungrateful, spoiled, and never really had to put in much hard work. Along with the fact that Janie has no interest in Logan and is treated more as property than as a wife he believes that no matter how he treats or talks to Janie that by telling her that after he is gone that she will inherit all that was once his will keep her and he is sadly mistaken. The whole marriage opened up Janie's eyes to the fact that she should not be placed in a relationship were love is not there and except it to
grow. After Logan Killicks she runs away with our round character Joe Starks who is described to have a suave and stylish look about him that catches Janie's eye he is also very charming. He by his flirtatious ways and by promising her that she will be treat how a lady is supposed to be treated. He clothed her in the finest and gave her attention at first but once his name begin to spread across the town and he rose on the social ladder his jealousy and pride take over their marriage he unknowingly begins the mistreatment of Janie. He forces her to wrap her hair and stop the conversation with the common people in the town and trying to be a submissive wife she allows him to put boundaries on her. Things in their relationship drastically changed for the worst once he laid his hand on her in front of the townsfolk. This pushed Janie away she could no longer see's the man she once knew. She had a schedule and she followed it daily never changing it until he passed. Her lesson from this was no matter who you think you married things can always change and jealousy money and power can take over someone she once loved. Once Joe died Janie felt a sense of freedom again she ran the store as usual and even though she was not looking for it she was still open to the thought of love. Then came along Tea cake the protagonist character who is younger than Janie but charms her with his good looks and playful spirit. Although he didn't have money and a very high social ranking as Janie's past husbands she could appreciate his good heart and kind spirit more than the money or social rankings. He showed Janie a good time and that he truly loved her because in the end he laid his life down for her. This ultimately showed Janie that no matter the social standing or the age that love is love and once you have experienced true love you will be satisfied no matter the condition of things. By the end of the book Janie no longer cared about how she was viewed and who said what about her. Janie experienced true love which is something half of them could not even imagine doing. Yes she did have to go through three marriages to find it but at the end of each marriage taught her a lesson and flipped the page to the next chapter of her life. She realized that social standings and money had nothing to do with what's in your heart.
In “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Hurston tells the story of Janie, a black woman who because of her grandmother experiences and beliefs was forced to marry into a loveless marriage with Logan Killicks. Logan Killicks was a hard-working farmer who had 60 acres of land and could financially provide for Janie.
After a year of pampering, Logan becomes demanding and rude, he went as far to try to force Janie to do farm work. It was when this happened that Janie decided to take a stand and run away with Joe. At this time, Janie appears to have found a part of her voice and strong will. In a way, she gains a sense of independence and realizes she has the power to walk away from an unhealthy situation and does not have to be a slave to her own husband. After moving to Eatonville and marrying Joe, Janie discovers that people are not always who they seem to be.
Janie, lead character of the novel, is a somewhat lonely, mixed-race woman. She has a strong desire to find love and get married, partially driven by her family’s history of unmarried woman having children. Despite her family’s dark history, Janie is somewhat naive about the world.
..., she found her identity. It did not come easy for Janie. It took her years to find out who she really was.
The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about Janie Crawford and her quest for self-independence and real love. She finds herself in three marriages, one she escapes from, and the other two end tragically. And throughout her journey, she learns a lot about love, and herself. Janie’s three marriages were all different, each one brought her in for a different reason, and each one had something different to teach her, she was forced into marrying Logan Killicks and hated it. So, she left him for Joe Starks who promised to treat her the way a lady should be treated, but he also made her the way he thought a lady should be. After Joe died she found Tea Cake, a romantic man who loved Janie the way she was, and worked hard to provide for her.
In the beginning of the novel, Janie attempts to find her voice and identity; the task, of harnessing
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford confronts social and emotional hardships that shape who she is from the beginning to the end of the novel. Living in Florida during the 1900s, it was very common for an African American woman to face discrimination on a daily basis. Janie faces gender inequality, racial discrimination, and social class prejudice that she is able to overcome and use to help her develop as a person.
Janie’s character undergoes a major change after Joe’s death. She has freedom. While the town goes to watch a ball game Janie meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake teaches Janie how to play checkers, hunt, and fish. That made Janie happy. “Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 96). Tea Cake gave her the comfort of feeling wanted. Janie realizes Tea Cake’s difference from her prior relationships because he wants her to become happy and cares about what she likes to do. Janie tells Pheoby about moving away with Tea Cake and Pheoby tells her that people disapprove of the way she behaves right after the death of her husband. Janie says she controls her life and it has become time for her to live it her way. “Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine” (Hurston 114). Janie becomes stronger as she dates Tea Cake because she no longer does for everyone else. Janie and Tea Cake decided to move to the Everglades, the muck. One afternoon, a hurricane came. The hurricane symbolizes disaster and another change in Janie’s life. “Capricious but impersonal, it is a concrete example of the destructive power found in nature. Janie, Tea Cake, and their friends can only look on in terror as the hurricane destroys the
... Janie is a strong independent woman, who lives in a society that does not encourage that kind of behavior in women. During the novel she is told what to do, how to do it and at one point who to marry. She struggles with her growing unhappiness until she finally meets her true love. Bibliography Shmoop Editorial Team.
Janie’s first attempt at love does not turn out quite like she hopes. Her grandmother forces her into marrying Logan Killicks. As the year passes, Janie grows unhappy and miserable. By pure fate, Janie meets Joe Starks and immediately lusts after him. With the knowledge of being wrong and expecting to be ridiculed, she leaves Logan and runs off with Joe to start a new marriage. This is the first time that Janie does what she wants in her search of happiness: “Even if Joe was not waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good…From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything” (32). Janie’s new outlook on life, although somewhat shadowed by blind love, will keep her satisfied momentarily, but soon she will return to the loneliness she is running from.
Janie goes from a naïve, vulnerable girl, to a mature adult who finds individuality, spirit, and love. This is the perfect example of a happy ending because one girl is able to find herself and complete her quest after a long and difficult journey.
Over time Janie begins to develop her own ideas and ideals. In Their Eyes Watching God. Each principle character has their own perceptions. towards the end of marriage. & nbsp;
She was first brought down by her first husband that her nanny liked for her. He hid her true ambition by being a non-sanitized human being, who did not really care for her as a woman, and tried to get her to work on his land. The next man is the man she thought would give her youth, happiness, and joy to her life. The man Joe seemed to care for her inhibitions at first but as soon as she ran away with him to Eatonville, he became more self centered and only worried about being the mayor of the town. He is the one person who sustained her from the being the actual woman she wanted to be. He made her work in his store that he opened and made her tie up her hair. The moment where she lets her hair go is the moment her and Joe have an argument, and the moment he dies, the first thing she does is to look in the mirror to make sure she knows she is there. She realizes that she is still that woman. A woman’s hair represents her beauty and youthness. Making a woman tie up or hide her hair is impeccable. When Janie looked in the mirror and saw her beauty through the wrinkles. she knew that it was time for her to shake off the past from her shoulders, and find a life suited just for
Janie’s first discovery about herself comes when she is a child. She is around the age of six when she realizes that she is colored. Janie’s confusion about her race is based on the reasoning that all her peers and the kids she grows up with are white. Janie and her Nanny live in the backyard of the white people that her Nanny works for. When Janie does not recognize herself on the picture that is taken by a photographer, the others find it funny and laughs, leaving Janie feeling humiliated. This racial discovery is not “social prejudice or personal meanness but affection” (Cooke 140). Janie is often teased at school because she lives with the white people and dresses better than the other colored kids. Even though the kids that tease her were all colored, this begins Janie’s experience to racial discrimination.
herself. Janie, all her life, had been pushed around and told what to do and how to live her life. She searched and searched high and low to find a peace that makes her whole and makes her feel like a complete person. To make her feel like she is in fact an individual and that she’s not like everyone else around her. During the time of ‘Their Eyes’, the correct way to treat women was to show them who was in charge and who was inferior. Men were looked to as the superior being, the one who women were supposed to look up to and serve. Especially in the fact that Janie was an African American women during these oppressed times. Throughout this book, it looks as though Janie makes many mistakes in trying to find who she really is, and achieving the respect that she deserves.