Janie’s Quest
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, readers follow Janie on her journey, or quest, for self-discovery and freedom. To achieve independence Janie goes through a lot of tough situations, from being trapped in two marriages to dealing with the deaths of two of her husbands to completely uprooting her life, twice, to move somewhere new. Janie has high hopes for her life, especially with love, and wants to be free from the restrictions of her past and even future ideals. She needed to partake in the journey that life took her on to meet these expectations. She endures a great deal of pain and restriction, that might seem unnecessary, but for Janie to free herself she needs the experiences she has and needs to meet the people she does
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to reach the point in her life of self-discovery and freedom. Janie’s childhood was unconventional compared to most African-American children. She’s raised by her Nanny and surrounded by white children her whole life. This sets up her first encounter with restriction and lack of freedom. Nanny was good to Janie and wanted what was best for her, but their relationship wasn’t great and Nanny was a strong authority figure who often intimidated her. From a young age Janie had created an ideal of love from watching the pear tree by her house, this made finding this “pear tree” love essential to her. Nanny had other ideas of financial stability and arranged a marriage for her granddaughter with a local farmer, Logan Killicks, which kills Janie’s dreams of love. Janie once said, “The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree, but Janie didn’t know how to tell Nanny that” (Hurston 14). The fact that Janie won’t even speak up to Nanny when she is ruining the idea of her pear tree love, which we see to be so important to Janie, shows Nanny’s control over her granddaughter. Nanny knows her control and influence and uses it to her advantage like when she says, “You answer me when Ah speak. Don’t you set dere poutin’ wid me after all Ah done when through for you!” (Hurston 14). She is guilting Janie into marrying Logan because she has done so much for her to get to the point where she is eligible to marry someone and be financially stable. Because Nanny has had first hand experience of slavery she has such a different view on life that affects how she takes care of Janie, such as forcing her into marriage for stability. With Nanny Janie could never experience freedom because of Nanny’s need for control in her granddaughter’s life. Even though it's not the best situation for Janie it moves her onto her next stage of life, her first marriage to Logan Killicks. Janie experiences her first chance to experience her pear tree love with the old farmer, Logan Killicks. Logan doesn’t seem to be a bad guy per se, but he obviously wants the stereotypical gender-role marriage, which does not provide Janie with the freedom or mutual pleasure she is looking for. The image of loving Logan slowly starts to deteriorate in Janie’s mind, “he had stopped talking in rhymes to her” (Hurston 26). He begins to pester her about work and pulling her weight around the house, even though she already does all the cooking and cleaning of the house. He even begins to guilt her like Nanny did when he says, “Aw you know Ah’m gwine chop de wood fuh yuh. Even if you is stingy as you can be wid me. Yo’ Grandma and me myself done spoilt yuh now, and I reckon Ah have tuh keep on wid it” (Hurston 26). We see the side of him that starts to get critical of Janie. Janie starts to really feel the confinement of this marriage and the expectations Logan puts on her. Janie stays in the marriage for as long as she can because Nanny told her that love would come and Janie wanted to believe her, but she knew she would never have the love she wanted and needed with Logan. This experience with Logan shows Janie what marriage should not be and gives her an idea of how unfavorable the stereotypes on women can be. when Joe Starks comes around with the prospect of a possible pear tree love and the possibility of more freedom, Janie takes the offer without a second thought. Janie starts her second marriage and is not concerned with financial stability, but rather about love, so moving to this new town that she has no knowledge of with, at this point, a total stranger seems like a worthy risk to take for love. After the move Janie and Joe’s marriage seems to be going well, but there is a major red flag in the assembly for Joe to become Mayor. The people of the town try to encourage Janie to say a few words, but Joe stops them by saying, “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home” (Hurston 43). This shows Joe’s stereotypical view of marriage and women in general, which foreshadows the lack of freedom in this marriage. He denies her a voice from the start of their relationship and continues to expect her to fit his ideal of a woman and a wife. We slowly see Joe implement more and more rules on Janie, keeping her hair up, not allowing her to partake in the banter on the store porch, and even not allowing her to attend a mule’s funeral.
Janie puts up with this treatment for quite a while before she ends up standing up for herself and speaking out against Joe and his flaws. This ends unfavorably for Janie and she even says to herself, “Why must Joe be so mad with her for making him look small when he did it to her all the time? Had been doing it for years. . . . Jody might get over his mad spell any time at all and begin to act like somebody towards her” (Hurston 81). She recognizes the double standard between her and Joe, yet she still has to try to ignore his reaction because he might treat her like his wife again and she can’t treat him that way again. It is entirely crazy to think he is allowed to make her feel inferior all the time and she cannot even do it once without major backlash. This is the important turning point in their marriage where Janie realizes how truly unhappy and restricted she is. When Joe gets sick he blames it on Janie and won’t be associated with her in anyway, this is a major jab at Janie that makes her solidify her hatred for Joe. After his death Janie feels a great relief and freedom in life and realizes that Joe was nowhere near her pear tree love ideal. At this point Janie seems to be free, but that quickly changes when Tea Cake comes into
town. Janie’s final, and arguably, most satisfying marriage is to Tea Cake, a younger man she meets not very long after the death of her last husband. Tea Cake was entirely new to Janie, and she begins to fall for him immediately, which seems to be a step back on her quest to self-discovery and freedom because she is losing the independence she got from Joe’s death. But what Tea Cake brings to the table for her quest is the fulfillment of her pear tree love. With him she is able to feel true love and happiness that is natural, mutual, and just feels right. While Tea Cake provides a “pear tree” love, he is not responsible for Janie finding freedom. He is an essential role in her quest, yet he still keeps her those few steps away from reaching freedom. Tea Cake shows flaws, such as gambling, being impulsive, and following some of the stereotypes in marriage. Hurston explains Tea Cake’s reasoning for whipping Janie by saying, “[H]e had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession” (Hurston 147). Even though in an earlier chapter we see that Janie hits Tea Cake as well, his reasoning is merely to assert his control and possession as the husband. This is a major stereotype in marriage that Tea Cake exhibits that effects Janie’s freedom. Overall Tea Cake’s effect on Janie was very positive and he truly was her pear tree love, which is what made Tea Cake’s death so incredibly hard for Janie, but also what sets her free. With Tea Cake’s death and the prospect of being convicted of murder Janie may not seem free, but ultimately in the court, when Janie is shown with no voice, she is freed. Janie knows that what she did was justified and the absolute right thing to do because she is an independent woman and knew Tea Cake was already gone and her life was not worth losing to save the shell of her love. Janie heads back home with her freedom, both metaphorically and literally, and is able to share her story fully with Pheoby giving herself the voice she needs. She is also able to go back into the house she was trapped in for so long with Joe and feels renewed. “Now in her room, the place tasted fresh again. The wind through the open windows had broomed out all the fetid feeling of absence and nothingness” (Hurston 192). She has come to peace with her past and knows she has nothing to worry about, such as having to suppress who she is and what she believes in for anyone anymore. Janie goes on a long and often tough journey from childhood all the way until her third husband’s death. Some of the decisions and situations Janie gets herself into may seem unnecessary or pointless, but Hurston included them because Janie could never have truly found herself or achieved freedom without them. Without the aid of Nanny, or any of her three husband’s Janie could never have gotten the life experience she needed to create her own identity. From the being trapped in her first two marriages to dealing with common stereotypes, Janie struggles a lot in her quest of self-discovery and freedom.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, who was married twice, first to Joe Sparks, and to Vergil Tea Cake, her two marriages to these men greatly affected her happiness, quality of life and the pursuit of her life goals in various ways, based on the personality of each of the men. Although both men were very different from each other, they were also similar in some ways. Joe Sparks, Janie’s first husband in Their Eyes Were Watching God, was an ambitious, confident man who became quite successful in achieving his dreams. He became mayor of the town and worked hard to build the town and bring development to it. However, as a husband, Joe was controlling and saw Janie as just one more of his possessions under his control.
"Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches" (8). When Janie was a teenager, she used to sit under the pear tree and dream about being a tree in bloom. She longs for something more. When she is 16, she kisses Johnny Taylor to see if this is what she looks for. Nanny sees her kiss him, and says that Janie is now a woman. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie, the main character, is involved in three very different relationships. Zora Neale Hurston, the author, explains how Janie learns some valuable lessons about marriage, integrity, and love and happiness from her relationships with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake.
that they can spend more time together because she missed him when he was at work and he missed her when he was away from home.
Though Janie had three marriages in total, each one drew her in for a different reason. She was married off to Logan Killicks by her Grandmother who wanted her to have protection and security. “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have baby, its protection.” (Hurston 15) says Janie’s grandmother when Janie said she did not want to marry Logan. Though Janie did not agree with her grandmother, she knew that she just wanted what’s best for her. Next, she married Joe Starks, Janie was unsatisfied with her marriage to Logan so Joe came in and swept her off her feet. Janie did not like the fact that Logan was trying to make her work, so Joe’s proposition, “You ain’t never knowed what it was to be treated like a lady and ah want to be de one tuh show yuh.” (Hurston 29) was too good to pass up, so she left Logan and married Joe. Janie’s last marriage was to Tea Cake. Fed up after having been treated poorly by Joe, Janie finally found someone who liked her for who she was. “Naw, ...
But Janie is young and her will has not yet been broken. She has enough strength to say "No" and to leave him by running away with Joe. At this point, Janie has found a part of her voice, which is her not willing to be like a slave in her husband's hands. After Janie marries Joe, I think that she discovers that he is not the person she thought he was.
In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author takes you on the journey of a woman, Janie, and her search for love, independence, and the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit seems to constantly be disregarded, yet Janie continues to hold on to the potential of grasping all that she desires. In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Hurston illustrates the ambiguity of Janie’s voice; the submissiveness of her silence and the independence she reclaims when regaining her voice. The reclaiming of Janie's independence, in the novel, correlates with the development and maturation Janie undergoes during her self discovery.
Janie Speaks Her Ideas in Their Eyes Were Watching God In life to discover our self-identity a person must show others what one thinks or feels and speak his or her mind. Sometimes their opinions may be silenced or even ignored. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character Janie would sometimes speak her ideas and they would often make a difference. The author, Zora Neale Hurston, gives Janie many chances to speak and she shows the reader outcomes.
Janie were pretty well off and had the privilege to live in the yard of white
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses colloquial language to show readers exactly why Nanny raised her granddaughter, Janie Crawford, the way she did. When Janie is sixteen years old, her grandmother wants to marry her off. The teen pleads to her grandmother with claims of not knowing anything about having a husband. Nanny explains the reason she wants to see Janie married off is because she is getting old and fears once she dies, Janie will be lost and will lack protection. Janie’s mother was raped by a school teacher at the young age of seventeen, which is how Janie was brought into the world. Nanny has many regrets about the way her daughter’s life turned out after Janie was born. She resorted to
The first time Janie had noticed this was when he was appointed mayor by the town’s people and she was asked to give a few words on his behalf, but she did not answer, because before she could even accept or decline he had promptly cut her off, “ ‘Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ’bout no speech-makin’/Janie made her face laugh after a short pause, but it wasn’t too easy/…the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything on way or another that took the bloom off things” (43). This would happen many times during the course of their marriage. He told her that a woman of her class and caliber was not to hang around the low class citizens of Eatonville. In such cases when he would usher her off the front porch of the store when the men sat around talking and laughing, or when Matt Boner’s mule had died and he told her she could not attend its dragging-out, and when he demanded that she tie up her hair in head rags while working in the store, “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT to show in the store” (55). He had cast Janie off from the rest of the community and put her on a pedestal, which made Janie feel as though she was trapped in an emotional prison. Over course of their marriage, he had silenced her so much that she found it better to not talk back when got this way. His voice continuously oppresses Janie and her voice. She retreats within herself, where still dreams of her bloom time, which had ended with Joe, “This moment lead Janie to ‘grows out of her identity, but out of her division into inside and outside. Knowing not mix them is knowing that articulate language requires the co-presence of two distinct poles, not their collapse into oneness’ ” (Clarke 608). The marriage carries on like this until; Joe lies sick and dying in his death bed.
I believe Janie depended on her past husbands for financial security, and protection from the outside world that she could not make a mends with. Janie's dependence on Tea Cake was a dependence on love, Tea Cake treats her the way she has always wanted to be treated, like the blossom to the bee. When Joe died, he left Janie with money and the store, but she had no one to love nor anyone to keep her company. She needed Tea Cake to fill this void in her life, I believe Janie realizes this when she says, "Tea Cake ain't no Jody Starks...but de minute Ah marries `im gointuh be makin' comparison. Dis ain't no business proposition...
In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Lora Neale Hurston, the main character engages in three marriages that lead her towards a development of self. Through each endeavor, Janie learns the truths of life, love, and the path to finding her identity. Though suppressed because of her race and gender, Janie has a strong will to live her life the way she wills. But throughout her life, she encounters many people who attempt to change the way that she is and her beliefs. Each marriage that she undertakes, she finds a new realization and is on a never-ending quest to find her identity and true love. Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake each help Janie progress to womanhood and find her identity.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel that presents a happy ending through the moral development of Janie, the protagonist. The novel divulges Janie’s reflection on her life’s adventures, by narrating the novel in flashback form. Her story is disclosed to Janie’s best friend Phoebe who comes to learn the motive for Janie’s return to Eatonville. By writing the novel in this style they witness Janie’s childhood, marriages, and present life, to observe Janie’s growth into a dynamic character and achievement of her quest to discover identity and spirit.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie goes through several marriages in her journey to seek love. As Janie's husbands change so does her wardrobe. Janie's different marriages are symbolized by her very different wardrobes.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston portrays the journey of Janie Crawford as an African American woman who grows and matures through the hardships and struggles of three different marriages. Although Janie is an African American, the main themes of the novel discusses the oppression of women by men, disregarding race. Janie gets married to three different men, aging from a young and naive girl to a mature and hardened women near the age of 40. Throughout the novel, Janie suffers through these relationships and learns to cope with life by blaming others and escaping her past by running away from it. These relationships are a result of Janie chasing her dreams of finding and experiencing true love, which she ultimately does in the end. Even through the suffering and happiness, Janie’s journey is a mixture of ups and downs, and at the end, she is ultimately content. Zora Neale Hurston utilizes Janie’s metaphorical thoughts and responses of blame and escape, as well as her actions towards success and fulfillment with her relationship with Tea Cake, to suggest that her journey