Janie’s Growth in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

1341 Words3 Pages

Janie’s Growth in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has allowed us to better understand the restraints that women in society had to deal with in a male dominated society. Her marriage with Logan Killicks consisted of dull, daily routines. Wedding herself to Joe Starks brought her closer to others, than to herself. In her final marriage to Vergible Woods, also known as Tea Cake, she finally learned how to live her life on her own. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie suffered through many difficult situations that eventually enabled her to grow into an independent person.

Janie Crawford was forced into a relationship with Logan Killicks unwillingly by her Grandmother, Nanny. When marrying Logan, she had to learn to love him for who he was and what he did. She never had the chance to know him before marriage. In the text, she says, "Ah'll cut de p'taters fuh yuh. When you comin' back?". (Hurston, 26) This was something that she did not enjoy doing. She had to follow his directions and do as she was told. Janie was trapped in this marriage with no self-esteem. She was dependent on Logan when it came to doing things such as chores around the house. As time passed, Logan had told her, "If Ah kin haul de wood heah and chop it fuh yuh, look lak you oughta be able tuh tote it inside.... You done been spoilt rotten." (Hurston, 25). Day after day, she would follow his directions, being so dependent on his orders; until one day, Joe Starks came into her life.

Joe Starks was a man who had promised Janie the best if she left Logan Killicks. "Janie, if you think Ah aims to told you off and make a dog o...

... middle of paper ...

...ance: Passion, Patriarchy, and the Modern Marriage Plot.

" The Coupling Convention: Sex, Text and Tradition in Black Women's Fiction. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. 110-142.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). : Urbana, Ill.: U of Illinois P, 1937.

Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.

Kayano, Yoshiko. "Burden, Escape, and Nature's Role: A Study of Janie's Development in Their Eyes Were Watching God."

Publications of the Mississippi Philological Association (1998): 36-44. (ILL - not yet received)

Kubitschek, Missy Dehn. " 'Tuh de Horizon and Back': The Female Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God." Modern Critical

Williams, Shirley Anne. Forward. Their Eyes Were Watching God. By Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Bantam-Dell, 1937. xv

Open Document