Janie Crawford's Contradictions

The world is full of contradictions in which joys and sorrows are woven fine and human character, by nature, is unpredictable. At times people desire to follow a dominant inner dream to fly, sour, and drift off with dragons in a faraway fairy land, only to wake up to face harsh reality. However, dreams never fade away, but reality is also there at the same time. Contradictions exist everywhere in life, and literature attempts to grasp and portray these contradictions in human character to create complex characteristics. Being a black women in a stubborn male-dominated American society right after the civil war, Janie Crawford was a complex character full of confidence and self-reliance, but also with a weakness and desire of finding true love

which forced her to become submissive. Zora Neale Hurston, the writer of the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, portrayed the character of Janie to show the complex nature of a woman trying to cope with her outer world; in turn, nurturing an inner desire for love, freedom, and self-realization.

Janie showed many instances of being self-reliant. Like water, she was able to flow in whatever situation she was put in. This made her very adaptive and competent to do any job she was asked to. As a result, she showed signs of being an independent and proud human being. For example, in the novel, she undertook all kinds of jobs from farming to cooking to even running a store. So, Janie proved herself to be very special and perhaps quite at par with men. Throughout the novel, she searched for her illuminated freedom as well as her glorious “horizon” which symbolized Janie’s paradise or place of her dreams. She honestly did not care about how society viewed her, or even whether or not she was a “woman” in their eyes; she valued freedom and her independence like savory chocolate. One time in the novel, Pheoby, Janie’s close friend, says, “Dat’s de way it looks. Still and all, she’s [Janie’s] her own woman...she should know by now what she wants tuh do” (Hurston 111). This was when Janie was seen with Tea Cake right after the death of her past husband Joe. It essentially proves that not only does the audience see Janie as someone who is self-reliant, but it is also evident in the people around her. Pheoby says that she trusts Janie’s decisions because, in the end, only Janie knows what she wants and should be allowed to be herself for that. Society’s norms, which stated that Janie should have stayed alone as a widowed woman, should not hold Janie down because she is an independent woman. Another example was right after Joe died when the text reads, “She [Janie] tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (Hurston 87). Even after being restrained by this man Joe for several years, Janie still had youthful life in her. Joe would force her to tie her hair up, concealing her glory to others, when in reality, it was never Joe who was in control over her, but rather Janie had control over herself. As with Logan, Janie simply left these husbands when she realized that she had enough of their selfish natures and that they were not helping her reach any closer to her true love, which was symbolized by a pear tree. This leads to the example of how Janie would voice her thoughts when things reached an extreme, like she did with Joe when she said “Ah knows uh few things, and womenfolks thinks sometimes too”(Hurston 71)! This shows how Janie refuses for people to think of her as any lower being, and how she is her own person. Not worrying about the consequences, Janie is a brave individual who just wants to be recognized as someone free and equal. A fourth example was something interesting some men said after Janie’s trial for killing Tea Cake: “Uh white man and uh black woman is de freest thing on earth” (Hurston 189). In this society, those two are polar opposites; white males have the most power, while black woman have the least. Black women are free in the sense that they are not bonded by social expectations other than the fact that they must serve males. Janie breaks this; perhaps she became the most free black woman.

While being someone self-reliant at the same time, Janie was submissive and was forced to bow down to the men she married, especially Logan and Joe.

This is logical, since Janie still needed someone so sustain her life, no matter how self-reliant she may have been. This idea of Janie needing a man in her life has been instilled in herself ever since her childhood. For example, when Janie’s grandmother Nanny requested for her to be married to an old man named Logan, she said, “T’aint Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have,baby, it’s protection” (Hurston 15). Society expects that women must always be protected by a man. For example, the princess never saves the knight in fairy tales. So, even though it is against her nature, Janie endured these two men for safety and shelter for an extended period of time. For example, she sacrificed her self-esteem and endured sheer humiliation all through these years, like when Joe made fun of her in front of his friends or when Logan ridiculed Janie’s family. However, another reason why Janie needed to depend on all of these men throughout her life was because they were all stages to her quest for a satisfying life, or to reach the “horizon”. By depending on each of these men, Janie gained valuable lessons and skills acting as footsteps to her paradise. By depending on Logan, Janie learned how to toil at fields, but ultimately was treated as a slave to him. Disappointed, Janie finds out “that marriage did not make love” (Hurston 25), changing

her ideas on what love is. Depending on Joe gave Janie financial support as well as a position of power, but not happiness. The last man Tea Cake did not give Janie any security or protection, but finally gave her the love she yearned for. Janie says that, “Tea Cake ain’t no Jody [Joe] Starks… but de minute Ah marries ‘im everybody is gointuh be makin’ comparisons...dis is a love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, Ah means tuh live mine” (Hurston 114). This example shows how although Janie is depending on Tea Cake for love, she is also living her own independent life, illustrating the complexity between Janie’s dependence as well as independence. Nonetheless, from depending on these males in her life, Janie inevitably finds and lives her satisfying life: “Here was peace” (Hurston 193)! Janie’s dependence in turn led to her absolute independence and freedom at the end of the novel.

All in all, Janie displayed varying contrasting traits such as being self-reliant yet submissive in her journey.

Janie’s life was a quest for heavenly love. She did not give up her search for love even though she faced hardcore reality and constant challenges. This dream about true love became her main weakness! Her hardships and experiences made her more and more matured and patient. Yet, her loving nature made her weak and submissive. There was a free bird in her mind that made her rebellious and revolt time and again, yet her romantic mind forced her to become obedient to her oppressive husbands. She learned that life is not always a bed of roses and even so, she did not fear to step out of her comfort zone to fulfill her quest. In that sense Janie’s life was complete. Janie’s life was varied and accomplished because it was full of contrasting colors. As pear trees find harmony, nature fills human life with dreams by adding a multitude of contrasting colors in a canvas to paint a beautiful picture of love and peace day by day. Life is the canvas, and nature is the

artist.