During Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie had three husbands. Two of which died, and the other she left for the second. It is not a hard question to answer when asked which husband was best for Janie. The first husband, Logan, was an older man that worked as a farmer. The wedding was set up by Janie’s grandmother in order for her to ensure Janie had a stable life as she grew up. Even though Logan was not a bad man, Janie did not love him, and ended up leaving him for her second husband, Jody. Now, Jody was a great man who had ambitions and treated everyone the way they should have been treated in the beginning, but that didn’t last very long. A few years into the marriage, Jody started beating Janie because of his own insecurities that were too much for him to control. The main two of these insecurities would be jealousy and his own aging body. These two things do not go very well when mixed with having a beautiful and young wife. Even though Jody had started beating Janie, she stuck with him for twenty years until …show more content…
Janie and Tea Cake were in love, and it was obvious through the ways they acted around each other. Even though both of them were approximately twenty years apart, they both cared for each other and loved being around each other as much as possible. This is shown when Tea Cake and Janie are trying to escape the flood caused by the hurricane and he saved her life, while unknowingly losing his, by killing a rabid dog that was on top of a cow floating down the water. Without him risking his own safety, Janie would have never survived this event. With these things being said, the best husband for Janie would have to be Tea Cake. He has made a few mistakes, yes, but does the best he can to keep Janie happy and in love. It is depressing that Janie had to shoot him at the end of the novel, but at least she realizes that she was finally able to live the life she wanted for herself rather than the life her grandmother wanted for
The main character Janie of the book Their eyes were watching God, is facing the conflict of a loveless and abusive marriage. Through the chapters, five and the first part of chapter seven Janie is submissive to her husband’s words and does what he says. However, at the end of chapter seven Janie talks back to Joe while working in the store and humiliates him in front of the townspeople. In result of Janie’s actions Joe makes it clear to Janie and the customers in the store Joe is still the dominant figure in the relationship, to show his dominance Joe smacked Janie in the face. Although Joe hit Janie it was not the first time, and Janie knew the first time Joe had hit her that the love she has longed for is not in this marriage.
The Black Woman and The Divine: How Their Eyes Were Watching God Deconstructs Systems of Power The structure to power is an illusion constructed by people to subjugate people. Their Eyes Were Watching God serves to explore this, by following Janie, a mixed black woman in the 1930s, through her three marriages and the events that occur throughout them. In the beginning of the novel, she is naive, isolated, and unable to escape the abuse of her first husband, Logan Killicks. Her elopement with Jody Starks is no better, with him positioning her as a trophy wife and denying her connection and agency in Eatonville, the all-black town he is mayor of.
It clearly bothers her, but she cannot seem to find the strength to speak up for herself. Early in their marriage, Joe talks about his promises for Janie in the marriage. He says, “Ah told you in the very first beginnin’ dat Ah aimed tuh be uh big voice. You oughta be glad, ‘cause that makes uh big woman outa you.”
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s happiness and self-fulfillment greatly depended on the man whom she was in a relationship with. From, the beginning of the novel, Janie never followed the path that had the utmost value to herself; She always settled for what other people thought was best for her. This made Janie never quite content with her situation and caused her happiness and self-fulfillment to be hindered by her circumstances. The horizon, a motif representing dreams, wishes, the possibility of change, and improvement of ones’ self, is the point in which Janie’s journey of self-discovery is illustrated by.
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston it shows that there was a struggle for the main character Janie and how she was trying to find love but had different views on love through the 3 marriages she has already been through. Janie has been through a lot of things since she was first introduced in the novel as a teenager trying to find love and then suddenly her grandmother sets her up with a farmer ,Logan killicks that’s basically twice her age,When she married him he was treating her well for the first time until they started arguing and threaten to kill her for not obeying him. Then she leaves logan for an ambitious man joe starks and he takes jane to Eatonville where she lives a wonderful life as the wife of the mayor then finds out that he has a rigid definition of women while he refuses to hear others opinion and when joe gets older he puts everyone’s attention on jane because he says she acts to young for her age. With all the criticism going on from joe, jane finally cracks and lashes out on him insulting his manhood and crushing his pride and refuses to see janie on his deathbed so janie still goes to see joe and speaks her mind to him
(Hurston 24). Logan does not show any love for Janie. Janie’s unhappiness taught her that love can not be forced upon anyone. Joe prevails as the first man to show, Janie attention and affection. Both, Janie and Joe run off to Eatonville to start a life together.
Janie’s first husband, Logan Killicks, controlled and verbally abused her. He tells her, “You ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever Ah need yuh… Don’t change too many words wid me dis mawnin…” (pg 31).
9. If you could offer Janie advice at this point, what would it be? Explain your rationale. I would advise her that she does not need to find love or “success” in her life to find happiness. Throughout the novel, Janie aspires for different goals that she feels that she can achieve through her relationships.
1. Unlike Janie’s previous husbands, Tea Cake treats Janie with compassion and respect. In addition, he loves Janie for her personality instead of her looks and her role as a woman (housewife). 2. The speech characteristic that Tea Cake encourages Janie with is truth.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s flaws about love continuously brought her to the same ending with all of her husbands, no matter how long the marriage lasted. In The Odyssey, Calypso was trapped on an island to fall in love with men who washed ashore. The fatality of her faults was her over affection and her need for love while being so alone on her island, Ogygia. Their weaknesses are exact opposites, specifically in their relationships with men. The flaws are role in relationship, attachment to men, and lastly, their submissiveness to men.
In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist Janie, is influenced by others to change her ideals. Hurston vividly portrays Janie’s outward struggle while emphasising her inward struggle by expressing Janie’s thoughts and emotions. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening the protagonist is concisely characterized as having “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions,” as Janie does. Janie conforms outwardly to her life but questions inwardly to her marriages with Logan Killicks, her first husband, and Joe Starks, her second husband; Janie also questions her grandmother's influence on what love and marriage is.
Janie hated Logan with a passion from deep inside her heart. The marriage between Janie and Logan was the worst out of Janie’s three marriages. On the bright side of this relationship was that Janie had the security
Toni Morrison’s A Mercy portrays a young slave, Florens, struggles with her past as well as her life as a slave. Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God shows a woman, Janie, who struggles through various relationships in her life, but in the end, they help her find her freedom and individualism. Both stories have different story lines, but upon a closer look, it is easy to see that Florens and Janie have common factors in their lives; which includes, both characters are isolated by others, both characters want to love someone, both character’s guardians make decisions for them that they do not understand which causes conflict, and finally, both characters commit difficult actions which ends up changing their lives.
In her epiphany from Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie realizes her intrinsic capacity as an individual, and frees herself from Jody’s covetous ways in the act of letting down her hair. In the quote, “She tore off the kerchief from her plentiful hair... the glory was there,” Janie’s hair symbolizes her power and strength because it holds glory. By Janie releasing her hair, she finally notices the greatness that she has, which allows her to now view herself as eminent individual whom has independence. Because Jody made her tie her hair up as a device to hinder her individuality and identity in their marriage, he is intimidated by her reluctance to comply with his controlling demands.
Janie does this for her Nanna, not herself. The idea of a perfect marriage, often represented by a pear tree, grows in Janie’s heart and mind. Her marriage to Logan kills this dream. “My first dream was dead, so I became a woman.” This is the first major sacrifice Janie makes.