Love In Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 explains that, “love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT). Author Zora Hurston takes this definition of love and applies it to young Janie as she struggles to find her identity in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. As Janie experiences three juxtaposing marriages, she recognizes that love doesn’t exist to appease a third party, requires respect, and truly “endures through every circumstance,” which aids her development into an independent woman (1 Corinthians 13:7b).

Janie’s first marriage to Logan Killicks is arranged by her Nanny while Janie is still young. Her grandmother says that, “de though uh you bein’ kicked around from pillar tuh post is uh hurtin’ thing,” and wants Janie to abandon her mother’s legacy(15). Janie marries to please Nanny with the hope that “she would love Logan after they were

Her final love isn’t intended to appease another person, values respect, and pushes past trials while exemplifying kindness (1 Corinthians 13:4). This outward expression of Janie’s maturity and faith allows her to lessen her dependence on a husband. On the final page of the novel Janie finally finds peace, without a man standing by her side (193). She recognizes that in her first two marriages, abuse, conformity, and pride were rampant and that these characteristics strongly oppose the marriage she viewed in nature. However, Janie finds a love with Tea Cake that “never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance,” which she remembers and refuses to let die (1 Corinthians