An Analysis Of Janie Crawford In Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Hurston

Bildungsroman is a novel dealing with one person's formative years or spiritual education, which is what “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, a novel by Zora Hurston is based on. Within the novel, the protagonist, Janie Crawford has had many relationships, romantic and friendly relationships. Each of these relationships have helped her grow as a person and has helped her experience good and bad relationships. Three of the most impactful relationships Janie has experienced is her romantic relationship with Tea Cake, Joe “Jody” Starks, and her close relationship with her grandmother, Nanny Crawford.
Joe Starks was Janie’s second husband, who was defined by his misogynistic values and the way he treated Janie throughout their marriage. Janie was attracted to Joe due to his high charisma and his fashion sense, just to realize with those two things came a conceited, high self-esteemed man who believed strongly in misogyny. At the beginning of their marriage, Janie didn’t realize that Joe only wanted her as an object, but as the marriage progressed, she began to be emotionally distant towards him.

He was a man who caught Janie’s eye when they met with his carefree, positive, fun-loving nature. "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’", this quote shows Tea Cake’s respectful attitude towards Janie, telling her how when he has money, she has money as well. Unlike both of her other husbands, Tea Cake was the only one to treat her right, and believed women were not below men (hence him allowing her to work with him at Everglades fields). Tea Cake also was different from all her other marriages because he was willing to talk and listen to what she had to say, these being the most fundamental flaws Joe and Logan (her first husband)