Their Eyes Were Watching God

At the beginning of their marriage they have a few ups and downs but they then promise to share everything with each other. In chapter fourteen, because of Tea Cake, Janie decides to start working in the fields on her own free will. This was something neither Logan nor Jody were able to get her to do, but now because of how in love with Tea Cake she is, she works in the fields so she can spend more time with him. She actually enjoys this work and tells him that “Ah laks it. It’s mo’ nicer than settin’ round dese quarters all day” (pg. 133). Her character has changed significantly at this point since the beginning of the novel since, while hanging out with the towns people, she “could tell big stories herself” which she would never have imagined doing while with

     Janie's first marriage is to Logan Killicks. Logan enters the marriage with a large portion of land. However, Janie enters the marriage with practically nothing. This ends up becoming a relationship based on inequality because Logan starts to use

Janie’s three marriages were all different for the most part, though they each had their ups and downs. Her marriage with Logan Killicks was the worst of the three. The only upside to this marriage was that she did have the protection and security her grandmother wanted, but Logan was not willing to make compromises like, “And ‘tain’t nothing’ in de way of him washin’ his feet every evenin’ before he comes tuh bed. ‘Tain’t nothing’ tuh hinder him ‘cause Ah places de water for him.” (Hurston 24) which shows that he wasn’t even willing to wash his feet so Janie wouldn’t have to smell his feet. Logan also expected Janie to help him with everything he was supposed to do and still make dinner for him. Despite all that Janie still wanted to love him but she just couldn’t do it. Janie’s marriage to Joe was better than Logan’s but was still really bad. Joe provided Janie with anything and everything she needed, but not what she wanted. Their relationship was about Joe, and what Joe wanted. Joe also thought he was superior to Janie. “Ah knows uh few things, and womenfolks thinks sometimes too!” “Aw naw they don’t.

It is said that “boys will be boys”, with their constant “locker room talk” and forceful sexual approaches. Between this and the unspoken of societal rule that defending men from harmful stereotypes is enabling them, there is a large portion of men that get represented in an unfair light. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a feminist novel, showing the struggles of the female protagonist Janie. In the novel, Janie details her three marriages and the issues she faces with each one such as her first husband treating her like a mule, her second husband’s domineering masculinity that the townsfolk encourage, or even her third husband who plays into the same forceful attitude that Janie tries to get away from. However, the novel

Janie, again, finds herself in a loveless marriage. Unlike her first, however, the lack of affection is reciprocal. “Again with Jody [as with Logan], Janie has money and respectability, but Jody's objectification - of her and his demand for her submission stifles any desire

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a story of Janie Mae Crawford, an African- American woman who went through a lot of tough experiences in her life. Janie’s mother was absent from her life and her grandmother raised her. Although Janie’s grandmother’s intention was good in order to protect Janie, she forced Janie to marry at a young age. Janie has gone through life looking for a perfect love but nothing went her way. Janie was a loser in love but she was definitely a winner in life.

Janie remains relatively demure in her relationship with Killicks until Jody Starks appears. A wealthy, well-dressed man on his way to a small black town he heard about, a little of Janie’s previous naïveté emerges again because of him. She mistakes his spending and kindness for the love she had been seeking, but eventually realizes that he loves her as a reflection of his wealth. Of Janie’s three husbands, he is the one with the most negative effect on her. He defines all the boundaries of her life and expects her to submit to everything he commands. When she defies him and insults him in public, he reacts by shunning her and attempting to hurt her, and because of this she was not free of his “rules” even after his death. “She lived between her hat and her heels, with her emotional disturbances like shade patterns in the woods-- come and gone with the sun. She got nothing from Jody except what money could buy, and she was giving away what she didn’t value”(72).

Throughout a fair part of Zora Neal Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s low class create problems when it comes to men. She lives with men she does not love because they give her the financial stability she cannot have yet on her own. Janie marries Logan Killicks at a young age even though she does not want to

When Janie's Nanny was aging and felt her life ending, she saw Janie maturing quickly and she thought that it would be only proper for her to have a man for protection after she leaves. After Janie was told this, she immediately didn’t want to accept it, but she did anyway. At age 17, she was married with the man named Logan Killicks who was 50 years old. Logan was a lonely man before he met Janie, the only thing he had to offer for her in marrying Janie was his protection, and a 60 acre potato

Her first marriage with Logan Killicks, whom she married shortly after her awakening under the tree, brought a major revelation. Janie found out that “marriage did not make love” (25). The moment she encountered while under the pear tree brought her the expectation of love, but after being married for a short time, she found that love never appeared in this relationship. At first, the marriage seemed like a happy one, but as time went on, and the novelty of being married went away, Janie felt a deepening void. Logan expected her to do hard labor as his previous wife did, but she was reluctant to do so.

Zora Neale Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God explains the journey of Janie Crawford’s life. Janie experiences abuse, sacrifice, and true love throughout different situations in the book. As she goes through each circumstance of life, Janie gains confidence and courage that she does not have in the beginning of the story. Janie’s chief accomplishments in the book are finding freedom and independence despite the situations in which she has to overcome loss and disaster, has to prove her worth to a man, and has to learn to value and accept herself.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel about an African American woman named Janie, and how her relationships with family and friends affect her life. Two of the most obvious themes throughout the story is Janie’s search for love, and through the process, her finding her independence as a woman.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the audience is able to evaluate that there were specific gender roles back in the day. The author in “Chapter 3” explains how girls transform into women, once they have been through the hardship of their first heartbreak. “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman,” the narrator states. It is shown that women are raised to marry a wealthy man, cook, clean, and take care of them. During “Chapter 2”, Janie is caught kissing a boy from a poor family, and is scolded by her Nanny for choosing the “wrong” man. Nanny decides to marry Janie to a wealthy farmer, named Logan Kilicks. This is when Janie is first taught how to be the “proper” wife, aiding to her husband whenever he calls her.

During the 1930s, many women did not have a choice of who they can marry. Today, there are certain cultures where women do not have a decision in who they want to marry (Osbourn 247). Women are usually married off by the social status of the male. Because of this, Janie finds herself marrying a man name Logan Killicks because of security and status as stated in the article, “For nanny, Janie’s property is more important than her feelings, as assuring her status and security” (Newman 820). She does not have decision in who or if she wants to marry. Nanny marries Janie off to Killicks for money and wealth. Because Logan owns an abundance of land, Nanny feels that Janie will inherit the land after Logan becomes of old age and dies. Although the two were well off financially, the romance between Logan and Janie remains non-existent since the beginning of the arranged marriage. When Jody and Janie meet, it is evident that there is

In each of the marriages, the reader rediscovers the same issues and Janie’s same reactions. In order to protect her marriages, Janie repeatedly chooses to follow her husband’s instructions to control her speech and determine her appearance, job or duty. The control of Janie’s speech is an important theme in the novel. Her husbands, and Jody Starks in particular, often prevent her from expressing her voice, and they speak “without giving her a chance to say anything” (43). Regarding her appearance, she is told by them to wear specific clothes so “nobody else’s wife [would] rank with her” (41), but on the other hand, she is told to “keep her head tied up lak some ole ‘oman” (49) as to not show off her beauty and draw others’ attention. As for her job or duty, her husbands are the ones who choose whether “her place is in de home” (43), at the store, or in the field. Regardless, Janie’s main job is to be a good and loyal wife. Although her husbands “[want] her submission” (71) sometimes even more than they want her, Janie chooses to accept “all those signs of possession” (111) and tries to save her marriages hoping that one day it will be as successful as the one represented by the pear