Janie Crawford In Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

At some point in our lives we all go on a journey of self-knowledge and exploration. Maybe it is miniscule; going off to realize that you are independent and can live on your own, or maybe it is drastic and involves a spiritual journey where you discover yourself more deeply. For the protagonist, Janie Crawford, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston, it is recognizing that she deserves to have true love and will go through any undesirable circumstance to achieve it.

The quest for love first formulates under the pear tree. Janie observes as a dust-bearing bee pollinates a bloom; this is a very symbolic point, showing how Janie is at the brink of desperation for passion and affection. Following this moment, Janie

This is when her first experience arises; Janie explains how she saw a “glorious being”(Hurston 11) coming down the road and recognizes him to be Johnny Taylor. Johnny, seen as the town’s trouble-maker, steals Janie’s first kiss under the iconic pear tree. This could be seen as a bump on Janie’s journey because deep down she knows he is not someone who will treat her the way she deserves, but her amazement by love is still too new to resist the

He strolls into Janie’s shop after Joe’s death to begin his courtship, however, Janie doesn’t believe he is being sincere and brushes off his advances. This all changes after Tea Cake does something no one ever considered for Janie, he teaches her to play checkers. With this he planted the first seed of love in Janie’s heart without her recognizing it. Tea Cake and Janie eventually fall for each other and decide to move to the Muck where Janie begins to work alongside Tea Cake. This provides an excellent example on the true love Janie holds for Tea Cake because she refused to work in the fields with Logan Killicks, her first husband, for even a day. While in the Muck Janie also was a part of the community and held gatherings at their home nightly. This is increasingly important because in Janie’s marriage with Joe Starks she was not allowed to have social arrangements. In addition, it is apparent that Janie has finally completed her quest of self-knowledge with her overall attitude toward Tea Cake. She knows that he isn’t perfect but she accepts all of his faults with loving