The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God follows a young woman named Janie living in the 1920’s. Written by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s character is mostly developed through her three marriages, to three very different guys, at three different times in her life. As Janie struggles to find a meaning of true love, as well as true love itself, we see her blossom in many different ways. The three men who are basis of this transformation are Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and TeaCake. Each man has a specific effect on Janie, who is an African American women raised by her old school grandmother.
Janie’s first marriage to Logan Killicks begins to shape her as it is a rather complicated time. The marriage to Logan Killicks, who is substantially
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Janie seemed to appreciate small gestures from Joe and admire his every move, was this because he saved her from Logan or because she really loved him? Maybe the two put together was enough for Janie to at least feel loved, as she knew how terrible it was to be with Logan. She has a hard time excepting Joe’s flamboyant and jealousy. Janie has to wear a head rag to cover her hair for all the town people admired it. Joe was demanding, Janie didn’t have to work any longer but she had to be obedient to Joe. She tried to speak her opinion many times, but was shot down. Joe felt that giving Janie money and status was everything, “I built a whole town for us. But that ain 't good enough for you” Janie knowing not better, just yet, had agreed with him. The transformation of Janie in this relationship comes as Joe strikes her for preparing his dinner incorrectly and as he lays on his death bed she finally voices her thoughts freely “even now, you got to die with me being obedient, instead of just letting me love you”, Janie is finally realizing that loving someone cannot change who they are, she never had to accept that just because he was a provider for them. Joe’s definition of love grew so different from Janie’s , Janie comes to a conclusion that she wants acceptance and love, not money and the title …show more content…
In the process she meets Teacake, a man in his twenties. Teacake seems to bring out the youthfulness in Janie that she was never able to express with Logan Killicks. He shows her respect, something she never received from her last two marriages. Janie and Teacake were equal and even, a team, "Put dat two hundred back wid de rest, Janie. Mah dice. Ah no need no assistance tuh help me feed mah woman. From now on, you gointuh eat whutever mah money can buy uh and wear de same. When Ah ain’t got nothin’ you don’t git nothin’" (77) Janie never had this “luxury” before. Janie had a lot more money than Teacake, but knowing from Joe that love isn’t about money, she learns to live by Joe’s mean and protects his pride. With Teacake being young and Janie older and richer, the townsmen are spectacle the Teacake is around only for the money. Janie ignores the concerns because she knows she has to accept him the way he is in order to love him. No one had accepted Janie for that before. In this relationship Janie is ready to speak up, Teacake goes to a party without inviting her, Janie has no reserves on telling him she wants to be a part of everything he does. Janie is tired of being pushed to the side. Even when Teacakes young mind causes trouble, when he steals $200 from Janie, his honest and love is more important to
Janie’s first marriage was to Logan Killicks, an accomplished middle aged farmer. Her grandmother wanted Janie to be financially set and be protected, so she pretty much forced Janie into marrying Logan. With her grandmothers rough past of being a slave and all she did not wa...
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." Tea Cake professes his love to Janie by saying that she is the only woman he thought of marrying. Tea Cake knows that he will be loyal to Janie, but can not control other women's urges to flirt with him. When Tea Cake tells Janie that he is the man in her life he says:"You don’t have tuh say, if it wuzn’t fuh me, baby, cause Ah’m heah, and then Ah want yuh tuh know it’s uh man heah.
Janie then leaves Joe and doesn’t speak to him again until he is on his death bed. After Joe’s passing Janie meets a young man called Tea Cake. The town’s people feared that Tea Cake was only with Janie to attempt to steal her money. Janie ignored these warnings and runs away with Tea Cake anyway; Tea Cake soon gambles all of Janie’s money away. Not wanting Janie to provide for the two of them, Tea Cake moves the two of them to the everglades to harvest crops. Tea Cake allows Janie to be his equal and even lets her work in the fields with him. A hurricane rolls into Florida and instead of leaving with everyone else Tea Cake and Janie stay. During the storm while trying to protect Janie, Joe is bitten by a rabid dog and contracts rabies which eventually leads Janie to shoot him in self-defense. After buying an extravagant funeral for Tea Cake Janie returns to Eatonville to tell her story. Throughout Janie’s life her care takers/husbands have played four very different roles in molding Janie into the strong woman she becomes: Nanny wan an overbearing parental figure, Logan was her first husband that treated Janie like his slave, Joe was her second husband who held Janie as a trophy, and Tea Cake her third and final husband was Janie’s
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, ...
In conclusion, Janie is an outgoing and caring person who wants to meet and have fun with other people. Most of the people in her life made her avoid being able to fit in with the crowd. Janie could not overcome the control others had over her. People always continued the gossip throughout the community because she was different. After Janie met Tea Cake, she was determined to do as she wanted without anyone’s say so. Janie will always be known as the
Janie Crawford was forced into a relationship with Logan Killicks unwillingly by her Grandmother, Nanny. When marrying Logan, she had to learn to love him for who he was and what he did. She never had the chance to know him before marriage. In the text, she says, "Ah'll cut de p'taters fuh yuh. When you comin' back?". (Hurston, 26) This was something that she did not enjoy doing. She had to follow his directions and do as she was told. Janie was trapped in this marriage with no self-esteem. She was dependent on Logan when it came to doing things such as chores around the house. As time passed, Logan had told her, "If Ah kin haul de wood heah and chop it fuh yuh, look lak you oughta be able tuh tote it inside.... You done been spoilt rotten." (Hurston, 25). Day after day, she would follow his directions, being so dependent on his orders; until one day, Joe Starks came into her life.
The beginning of Janie’s marriage to Joe shows promise and adventure, something that young Janie is quickly attracted to. She longs to get out of her loveless marriage to Logan Killicks and Joe’s big dreams captivate Janie. Once again she hopes to find the true love she’s always dreamed of. Joe and Janie’s life is first blissful. He gives her whatever she wants and after he becomes the mayor of a small African American town called Eatonville, they are the most respected couple in town. Joe uses his newfound power to control Janie. When she is asked to make a speech at a town event, she can’t even get out a word before Joe denies her the privilege. He starts making her work in the store he opens and punishes her for any mistakes she makes. He enjoys the power and respect her gets when o...
As much as Tea Cake had the qualities Janie was looking for she found a greater understanding of herself as a women besides her love. Janie was inexperienced at the start of her adventure, learned that love will not always come from promises, and had major reflection when she finished her first marriage with Joe that she went into with assurance. Janie was able to get a glimpse of independency after Joe died which is conveyed through the quote “Besides she liked being lonesome for a change. This freedom feeling was fine” (Hurston 90). Before meeting, Tea Cake Janie was able to understand that she was comfortable with not searching for love. However, Tea Cake was a reminder to her that her ideals of love were still out in the world. He was able to make Janie happy from doing things fun and childish and these activities like fishing during the knight, or playing chess were the things that society would not accept for a women like Janie. The first major instance when Tea Cake helped Janie go against society was when he played chess with her. While a small act to some readers, Janie found the act enormous in her eyes as it showed her that Tea Cake was a man able
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...
When Tea Cake enters Janie's life, Janie really starts to come out of her shell. She lets down her hair that was kept up the entire time with Starks. This symbolizes Janie letting all her inhibitions out. In finding Tea Cake, Janie has "completed her voyage" of self-discovery. Tea Cake allows her to feel exhilarated and young again. She makes more friends and becomes more social. During this time in her life Janie is an excellent role model for other black women. She does not give a second look at what other people think about her, which is very admirable. This is shown when Hezekiah Potts tells Janie that Tea Cake is too low of a man for Janie yet, she stills persists on seeing him. Many people also think that Tea Cake is courting Janie for her money only. Janie pays no regard to these onlookers though.
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.
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.
& nbsp;   ; Second, Janie sees Logan Killicks' perception of marriage. In the beginning it appears to Janie that Logan is a very nice gentleman, who is. constantly treating her well. However, as time goes on, Janie sees Logan's the "true colors" of the.
Their opinion didn’t matter and some men couldn’t care less about their feelings. Janie like any other woman had to experience this inequality. Some of the women knew it was wrong other women chose to ignore it, but not Janie. Janie knew it was wrong and anytime Jody stopped her from talking or sent her in to do work she knew why. He never intended to treat her as an equal partner. In a way he even told her that from the beginning of her relationship. Jody wanted her to sit on a porch like a trophy wife. Even though that wasn't what happened, Jody still wanted to keep her locked away and kept alone to himself. Even though Janie tried to tell him that wasn’t what she wanted he did not care. Janie knew this idea of man and women was wrong, that's why when Jody was on his deathbed she let all of her feelings out. Before Jody died Janie stated, “You done lived wid me for twenty years and you don’t know half of me atall”(86). She got everything off her chest to free herself of everything that he had done. She wanted him to know that it was unfair and not right the way he treated her. Janie expresses her feelings to Jody only brought her one step closer to almost finding her horizon. Just as Jody diminished her critics who have read the novel may not believe that all Janie’s journey made her who she is. Some critics do not give Jane the credit she is due,”Very few critics, however, recognize in Janie the
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a Zora Neale Hurston's’ most famous literary work, and was published in 1937. The novel is narrated by Janie Crawford, who is the main character and is telling her life story to her best friend, Pheoby. Janie Crawford relates her life story entirely from memory. Through Janie’s retelling of her life’s story, we are able to see how she, her dreams, her life, and those around her changed as time goes on. Janie’s entire life seemed to be focused on thing, finding true love and freedom, so that she could be happy. Her dream is never really achieved, because of the people in her life she seems doomed to have to go without her original dream and find happiness within herself. Janie's entire life could be reduced