What Is Janie's Sense Of Power

Some amount of time after Joe dies, Janie marries Tea Cake and has, for the first time, a happy marriage. However, this marriage is still short-lived. Janie is forced to shoot her husband while he is under the influence of rabies in order to save herself. This later leads to a court case, which is the ultimate proving point of Janie's strongest powers: her will and choice. Janie's choice to not “plead to anybody” (Hurston 236) and to only say what she needed to proved her own power. Janie chose, against her own better judgment to speak positively about herself and Tea Cake, to only speak what she had to and then stop. Janie, at this point, even had the will to stop her own emotions from taking her decisions over. Janie has grown and developed her own sense of power just from her will to make proper decisions.

However, she's managed to move past all of these people with her own will to keep moving forward. Whether looking at the first failed relationship with Logan, standing up to Joe after many years of abuse and obedience, or standing up to a courtroom and choosing to say only what was important and not her own emotions, Janie has learned to keep her own power against all by her will. At the end of Janie's journey, passing every romantic relationship she's ever been in, Janie realizes that she doesn't need to rely on someone else nor does she need someone to overpower her. She has her own power that is important to her, and that is her