Marriage to Happiness
Marriages are a devotion between two partners willing to spend eternity together because of their undying love for one another. Marriage is a commitment that couples have to sacrifice in order for their marriage to work. There must be compatibility between the two couples, there can’t be an unbalance between the two parties or their marriage will end up in a divorce. Janie Crawford from “Their Eyes are Watching God”, experiences three tragic marriages, looking for that certain “pear tree”. The first marriage being a forced marriage to Logan Killicks, Logan was a wealthy old farmer that worked hard, however he and Janie were incompatible, Janie showed no interest. Janie had been just a replacement for Logan’s first wife
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Logan Killicks is only briefly mentioned in the story, barely affecting the story at all but he did sparked Janie to go look for her “horizon”. Logan is mention of Janie that he was very old compared to Janie, Janie is the age of sixteen. Janie describes him as old, ugly, fat, and other insults that describes his physical features. Janie said “His belly is too big too, now, and his toe-nails look lak mule foots. And ‘tain’t nothin’ in de way of him washin’ his feet every evenin’ before he comes tuh bed”(Hurston ). Nanny, Janie’s grandmother, wanted Janie to have a stable life reassuring her that Janie would have a comfortable life. So Nanny arranged the marriage between Janie and Logan Killicks. Nanny experienced the cruelty of slavery having been raped by her master and forced to flee from her master’s wife's wrath. Nanny saw hope in her child's eyes as she escaped from the farm she was in. Nanny’s only child, Janie’s mother, had been raped by her school teacher. This led Nanny to lose all hope as Janie’s mother ran away and left Janie at a very young age, but Nanny saw a spark of hope through Janie’s eyes. After what Nanny went through she never wanted Janie to go through what Nanny and Janie’s mother went through. Nanny saw Logan as an insurance policy hoping that Janie would live a comfortable life, not having to live a life of misery. Logan as a character was hardworking …show more content…
Janie’s hair was a symbol for her as a person and internally felt hurt inside. Joe built a store in Eatonville forces Janie to work there, when making a mistake Joe would get furious and would always refereed her as a mentally handicapped. Janie once made the dinner incorrectly, so Joe lets out his rage and physically abused her and that moment made Janie realize that she doesn’t love Joe anymore and was saving herself for another man. The next 20 years the store became a prison to Janie and Joe became a warden to Janie’s cell. Joe is a very ambitious person but as he completes his goals he becomes too demanding. Joe provides Janie with a life of stability and wealth but no comfort. As the 20 years pass Joe health starts to deteriorate because of his age, and so in his defence he would insult Janie to make himself feel like the big man. Janie finally loses control of her anger and insults his aging body. This left the men of Eatonville and Joe flabbergasted and then Joe immediately goes to slap Janie and leaves in a hurry. Joe was slowly dying, but he denied Janie’s help. Joe at the last stage of his life becomes very stubborn as a men refusing help from Janie. Eventually Joe becomes too weak to move and stayed in bed. Janie calls the doctor to check on him, but the doctor said there was nothing he could do. Janie talks to Joe about how their lives would've been if he would let Janie be free. In stubbornness Joe couldn’t take responsibilities of his actions and
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’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...
From Janie’s first relationship with Logan Killicks, she learns about marriage. Janie is forced to marry Logan by Nanny, Janie’s grandmother. Janie was really young and she did not have any plans on getting married, but Nanny wants Janie to marry someone soon: “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection. Ah ain’t gittin’ ole, honey, Ah’m done ole. One mornin’ soon, now, de angel wid de sword is gointuh stop by here. De day and de hour is hid from me, but it won’t be long. Ah as de Lawd when you was uh infant in mah arms to let me stay here till you got grown.
The next man Janie has to lean on is Joe Starks. He was a kind of salvation for Janie. He was a well-dressed black man who had worked for “white folks” all his life and had earned enough to travel to a place where black people ran the town. Janie met Joe while she was still married to Logan. She wanted to leave Logan, but I do not think she would have if Joe had not come along. Joe convinced her that He would be better for her to depend on by telling her, “Janie, if you think Ah aims to tole you off and make a dog outa you, youse wrong. Ah wants to make a wife outa you.”(p.28) Janie took this invitation as a way to leave Logan without losing the dependency she needed.
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
His voice continuously oppresses Janie and her voice. She retreats within herself, where she still dreams of her bloom time, which had ended with Joe, “This moment lead Janie to ‘grow out of her identity, but out of her division into inside and outside. Knowing not to 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 dies in his death bed.
These beliefs include how women should act in society and in marriage. Nanny and her daughter, Janie's mother, were both raped and left with bastard children, this experience is the catalyst for Nanny’s desire to see Janie be married to a well-to-do gentleman. She desires to see Janie married to a well-to-do gentleman because she wants to see that Janie is well cared for throughout her life. As a result of Nanny’s desire to see Janie married to wealth, she forces Janie to marry Logan Killocks, an older black farmer who owns 60 acres and a mule. Janie does not love Logan but because Nanny pushes her into the marriage she believes love will follow marriage, but Nanny quickly says “You come head wid yo’ mouf full uh foolishness on uh busy day.
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.
The flashback commences by recounting the years leading to Janie’s childhood through alluding to Nanny and Janie’s mother Leafy’s, life difficulties. Nanny is raised in slavery and was raped by her slave master, which led to Leafy’s birth. She had to flee in the night and hide in swamps during the war to protect her daughter. They go to live with a white family; the Washburn’s who are very accommodating. Once Leafy is older, she is raped by her white schoolteacher, leading to Janie’s birth. Leafy is absent through Janie’s life, so Nanny becomes her caregiver. Due to the abandonment of her parents, Janie is uncertain about her character and is lacking parental influence. Nanny raises Janie vicariously, so she will not encounter the same obstacles. Under a pear tree one day, Janie observes a bee pollinating a flower. She determines that this is how love is supposed to look. Love is passionate and never selfish or demanding. One day she kisses a boy named Johnny Taylor, whom Nanny does not approve. Nanny’s beliefs and authority on Janie’s life cause Janie’s abrupt marriage, before she can discover her true identity and spirit.
Janie's first marriage was to Logan Killicks when she was just a young girl at the age of seventeen. Janie?s wardrobe mainly consisted of aprons and work clothes. Logan was very demanding and controlling over Janie, he made her work in the field and cook all day. Most of her time was spent cooking and she almost always wore her apron. ?That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road an walked on??(page 32). Janie threw off her apron while she was leaving Logan, symbolizing how she was no longer under his control and she was now back on her journey for love.
& 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.
As the novel begins, Janie walks into her former hometown quietly and bravely. She is not the same woman who left; she is not afraid of judgment or envy. Full of “self-revelation”, she begins telling her tale to her best friend, Phoeby, by looking back at her former self with the kind of wistfulness everyone expresses when they remember a time of childlike naïveté. She tries to express her wonderment and innocence by describing a blossoming peach tree that she loved, and in doing so also reveals her blossoming sexuality. To deter Janie from any trouble she might find herself in, she was made to marry an older man named Logan Killicks at the age of 16. In her naïveté, she expected to feel love eventually for this man. Instead, however, his love for her fades and she beco...
Nanny was determined that Janie would break the cycle of oppression of black women, who were "mules for the world". (Both of Janie's first two husbands owned mules and the way they treated their mules paralleled to the way they treated Janie. Logan Killicks worked his mule demandingly and Joe Starks bought Matt Bonner's mule and put it out to pasture as a status symbol.) After joyfully discovering an archetype for sensuality, love, and marriage under a pear tree at sixteen, Janie quickly comes to understand the reality of marriage in her first two marriages. Both Logan Killicks and Joe Starks attempt to coerce her into submission by treating her like a possession (Killicks worked her like a mule and Starks used her like a medal around his neck). Also Janie learned that passion and love are tied to violence, as Killicks threaten to kill her and Starks beat her to assert his dominance. She continually struggled to keep her inner self-intact and strong in spite ...
On Janie's journey towards self discovery and expression, progress is suddenly halted when she encounters controlling men. In respect for Nanny, Janie attempts to live her life through her nanny's expectations and desires. Nanny has taken the hard road in life, and tries her best to help Janie avoid life's unnecessary turmoils: “Yo' Nanny wouldn't harm a hair uh yo' head. She don't want nobody else to do it neither if she kin help it” (Hurston 14). Nanny has all the best intentions by setting Janie up with Logan Killicks, an older man who owns sixty acres of land. The man of Nanny's dreams does not match up with Janie's expectations, for Janie wants to be in a blossoming relationship that she is comfortable being a part of. Logan turns out to be a man of labor and “refuses to hear the real meaning behind [Janie'...
Nanny pushed Janie into marrying him and made it seem like love did not mean anything as long as she lives life with somebody that can protect her. When nanny said things such as, “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection”, protection portrays as the key characteristic in a relationship (Hurston 15). When Logan and Janie’s relationship began, Janie had Nanny’s thoughts running through her head thinking she had the right views. So, she would end up loving Logan as the marriage continues. This obviously had no truth behind it because Janie never felt anything. The relationship between the two easily presented itself as idealistic, as they never had many discussions or even did much together. When reading, the author mentions many times how lonely Janie seemed. Later in Janie’s journey, when realistic love becomes introduced to her, the lonesome feeling