Janie had many turning points in her life which led her to womanhood. The first came when she figured out that marriage was not the key to love. "She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman" (Hurston 25). After being married to Logan Killicks, Janie said he was not lovable. She described him as an ugly, soulless human being. There was not enough substance to him; therefore she had to leave him. Furthermore, the only reason Logan wanted Janie was so she could help him in the fields. After leaving Logan, Janie met another man, Jody Starks. At first, she was immediately attracted to him because he offered her a new life. The two went on to settle in Eatonville, Florida, where Jody became the mayor. …show more content…
Jody would restrict her freedom from speaking her mind, and would beat her for simple errors. Janie would either stay at the house to clean and cook, or work at the store. Jody even forced Janie to wear hair knits to restrict others from staring at her beautiful hair. One day at the store, Jody began to yell at Janie, and she finally stood up for herself. "But Ah’m uh woman every inch of me, and Ah know it. Dat’s uh whole lot more’n you kin say. You big-bellies round here and put out a lot of brag, but ‘tain’t nothin’ to it but yo’ big voice. Humph! Talkin’ ‘bout me lookin’ old! When you pull down yo’ britches, you look lak de change uh life" (79). After being married for about 20 years, Janie had finally spoken her mind. This was very important for her because it shows that she was no longer afraid to stand up for herself. It also shows that Janie was a powerful being. Jody was appalled by what Janie had said, and the only thing he could do was hit her. Eventually, Jody got very sick and died. This gave Janie time to reflect on her life. She was able to think about her past marriages, and was happy to be
After a year of pampering, Logan becomes demanding and rude, he went as far to try to force Janie to do farm work. It was when this happened that Janie decided to take a stand and run away with Joe. At this time, Janie appears to have found a part of her voice and strong will. In a way, she gains a sense of independence and realizes she has the power to walk away from an unhealthy situation and does not have to be a slave to her own husband. After moving to Eatonville and marrying Joe, Janie discovers that people are not always who they seem to be.
Zora Neale was an early 20th century American novelist, short story writer, folklorist, and anthropologist. In her best known novel Their eyes were watching God, Hurston integrated her own first-hand knowledge of African American oral culture into her characters dialogue and the novels descriptive passages. By combing folklore, folk language and traditional literary techniques; Hurston created a truly unique literary voice and viewpoint. Zora Neale Hurston's underlying theme of self-expression and search for one’s independence was truly revolutionary for its time. She explored marginal issues ahead of her time using the oral tradition to explore contentious debates. In this essay I will explore Hurston narrative in her depiction of biblical imagery, oppression of African women and her use of colloquial dialect.
There are a lot of good husbands out there, but there are also a lot of bad ones too. A good husband needs to be honest, loyal, and kind. Janie has to marry her first husband, Logan, because her grandma made her because he has money. Then she ran off with Joe who becomes the mayor of the first black town. After Joe dies she marries Tea Cake, who is younger than her. Which one of the husbands is the best for Janie.
Until one day, towards the end of their long marriage, when Jody made a very mean comment about Janie's body. She came back with, "When you pull down yo' britches, you look lak de change uh life." After these words came out, Jody hit her. These harsh words could never be forgiven. At the end of their marriage, before Jody died she finally told him her feelings.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel that presents a happy ending through the moral development of Janie, the protagonist. The novel divulges Janie’s reflection on her life’s adventures, by narrating the novel in flashback form. Her story is disclosed to Janie’s best friend Phoebe who comes to learn the motive for Janie’s return to Eatonville. By writing the novel in this style they witness Janie’s childhood, marriages, and present life, to observe Janie’s growth into a dynamic character and achievement of her quest to discover identity and spirit.
Every novel has a protagonist and an antagonist of the story. There has to be a "good guy" and "bad guy" in order for there to be some sort of an interesting plot. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, my most and least favorite characters happen to be the protagonist, Janie, and the antagonist, Jody Starks. There are many things that symbolize these characters that are both comparable and contradictory of my personality. Symbols, objects or characters that are used to represent abstract ideas or concepts, play a major role in this novel. Janie is represented by her hair and Jody by his power, wealth and status of the town. Janie Jody and the symbolic representations are the three most appealing fundamentals of the story.
When Janie became the mayor’s wife things have change for her. In the beginning of chapter 7 Hurston describes Janie as being a ‘rut in the road’ ever since she has gotten that title of being the mayor’s wife. “ For a while she thought it was gone from her soul. No matter what Jody did, she said nothing. She had learned how to talk some and leave some. She was a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept beaten down by the wheels. Somethings she stuck out into the future, imaging her life different from what is was, But mostly she lives 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” (pg 76). This metaphor shows how the relationship between
In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston chapter 10 begins when there is a big baseball game in Winter Park and Janie stays back by herself to work in the store. A man walks into the store just as it is about to close and they completely hit it off. After he invites Janie to play checkers and she does not know how to, so he teaches her. Janie starts to get really excited because she feels he is everything a woman could want in a man. They talk and joke around the whole night and ends up walking Janie home. By the end of the chapter, we know his name is Vergible Woods, however, he goes by Tea Cake. Even though Janie is a little cautious, she feels like she has known him her whole life.
Janie’s first marriage was to Logan Killicks, an accomplished middle aged farmer. Her grandmother wanted Janie to be financially set and be protected, so she pretty much forced Janie into marrying Logan. With her grandmothers rough past of being a slave and all she did not wa...
Though Janie had three marriages in total, each one drew her in for a different reason. She was married off to Logan Killicks by her Grandmother who wanted her to have protection and security. “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have baby, its protection.” (Hurston 15) says Janie’s grandmother when Janie said she did not want to marry Logan. Though Janie did not agree with her grandmother, she knew that she just wanted what’s best for her. Next, she married Joe Starks, Janie was unsatisfied with her marriage to Logan so Joe came in and swept her off her feet. Janie did not like the fact that Logan was trying to make her work, so Joe’s proposition, “You ain’t never knowed what it was to be treated like a lady and ah want to be de one tuh show yuh.” (Hurston 29) was too good to pass up, so she left Logan and married Joe. Janie’s last marriage was to Tea Cake. Fed up after having been treated poorly by Joe, Janie finally found someone who liked her for who she was. “Naw, ...
Janie’s first relationship was with Logan Killicks. She married him only because she wanted to appease her grandmother. Logan did not truly love Janie, but saw her as an asset to increase his own power. Logan expressed this through several actions. He first tries to use her to "increase his profits" rather than treating her as a wife when he travels to Lake City to buy a second mule so Janie can use it to plow in the potato field because potatoes were "bringin' big prices”. When Janie later refused to work at his command, stating that it was not her place to do so, Logan told her, "You ain't got no particular place. It's wherever Ah need yuh". After Logan told her this, Janie decided she had to either escape or face becoming her husband's mule for life. Janie stood up to her husband. This is a feminist action because Janie is willing to leave a husband who makes her unhappy, which was rare act of independence and defiance for women living in the 1930’s. To free herself from her marriage with Logan Killicks, she only needed to invalidate the elements of his symbolic vision. She recognized that for Killicks marriage was primarily a financial arrangement, and his sixty acres acted both as a sign and guarantee of matrimonial un...
From Killicks, Janie walked off with Jody: Joe Starks. Where Killicks promised hard work, Jody promised the easy life of importance and attention. He says that “a pretty doll baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat ptaters dat other folks plant special just for you.” The truth was somewhat afield from these courting words. Instead of sitting on the porch, Janie had to work again, this time inside Joe’s store. Like Janie, Jody needed an audience and he got one on his porch.
She abandons Logan Killicks to marry the citified, innovative man by the name of Jody Starks. Janie’s naïve personality is evident during Jody’s pledge to attract Janie away from Logan and towards him, he tells her “Janie, if you think Ah aims to tole you off and make a dog outa you, youse wrong. Ah wants to make a wife outa you” (Hurston 29). This quote by Jody wins Janie over entirely. Janie’s innocence plays a pivotal role in this encounter because Janie falls for Jody after a quick ten minute conversation filled with promises from the man. Janie’s lack of experience when interacting with people increases her innocence, as she does not know when to believe in what is being said and when not to. She is immediately attracted to the soft-spoken, auspicious demeanor which Jody
Path to Finding True Love “True love doesn't happen right away; it's an ever-growing process. It develops after you've gone through many ups and downs, when you've suffered together, cried together, laughed together.” This quote by Ricardo Montalban tells us that true love simply has to develop and it doesn’t happen right away. Janie is the main character from the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and she struggled on the concept of true love. This quote explains exactly why Janie never found true love.
The narrator alludes, “She had learned how to talk some and leave some”(76). During this time Jody began hitting Janie