Character Analysis: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Ever since Janie was young, she had always longed for love. Their Eyes Were Watching God, is clearly a love story. Whether it is the lack of love that was given to her by her nanny, or from any other source of love given to her during her three relationships. Each of her marriages brought her a new found sense of what love really is and strengthen her thoughts that you do not have to love someone to marry them. At the beginning, Janie was forced to marry at sixteen and believed that love and marriage came hand in hand. However, as the story goes on, she finds out how wrong she is.

Janie’s first husband’s name is Logan Killick. Logan is old and homely. Janie is pinicle of beauty, so as a reader, it is confusing why she would be with someone

of his stature. Logan shows Janie little to no affection. The only time he showed her any love was when he would talk to her in rhymes. However, other than that, Logan looks down on Janie and finds him self to be better than her and her morals. In chapter four Logan says, “Ah thought you would ‘preciate good treatement. Thought Ah’d take and make somethin’ outa yuh. You think youse white folks by de way you act” (4.42). Logan is saying that she does not deserve respect and that she should just be content with what he provides for her, regardless of the respect aspect of their realtionship. Through her relationship with Logan, she learns that love and marriage do not go hand-in-hand.
Janie’s next marriage was to a man named Joe Strakes.

Janie is first interested in Joe because of his looks, which is a total three-sixty from her past marriage with Logan Killick. During their marriage, Janie quickly learns that Joe is self-centered and likes to think of him self as in charge, and loves feeling impowered. Joe see’s Janie as a possession that he can show off for her beauty. When it comes to intelect and love, those feelings and traits are not relevant. In chapter 6, Joe says, “'I god, Janie,’ Starks said impatiently, ‘why don’t you go on and see whut Mrs. Bogle want? Whut you waitin’ on?’” (6.168). Joe made Janie go check on Mrs. Bogle, in the middle of the play because, in his mind, he is more entitled to entertainment than she is. Since he is the man, he should be able to sit through and watch the end of the play, right? Janie’s relationship with Joe made her long to be independent and free. Janie wanted to be with someone who made her feel loved, and let her speak her

mind.
The next person Janie is with, is Tea Cake.

Tea Cake is younger than Janie. With that being said, he also is less mature than the other two men she had been with up to this point. He made her have fun, and made her feel light. Tea-Cake is Janie’s one true love. After being so weighed down by the previous men in her life, Janie learns to love his free spirit, even if it sometimes was pure immaturity. Tea Cake loves Janie. He listens to her, and supports her emotionally and financially which is something Joe, and Logan did not do. In chapter 13 Tea Cake tells Janie she is the only woman he could ever love, “Don’t never consider dat no mo’. If Ah ever gits tuh messin’ round another woman it won’t be on account of her age. It’ll be because she got me in de same way you got me – so Ah can’t help mahself" (13.26). Unfortunately Tea Cake gets extremely sick in the end of the novel, and Janie is forced to kill

him.
In the end of, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie ends up alone. After three marriages, full of complications, disrespect, and finally love, Janie is alone. Throughout this novel, all Janie wanted was to be fully and intentionally loved by someone else. She wanted to feel important and cared for. Unfortunately Janie did not ever take the time to be alone and reflect on herself. Janie wanted to feel free, but free with a man. The author placed these relationships in the novel to be platform to Janie to stand on at the end, and to love herself. Hurston was taking a stand for women, by saying that women do not need to be with a man to feel loved. Every women should try to love herself, and find her own self worth. By making Janie be alone in the end of the novel, it gave her a chance to reflect on what she wanted to do next; be free.