Their Eyes Were Watching God Identity Analysis

520 Words2 Pages

Everyone faces a time in their life when they feel the need to “find themselves”. This is a phase that can take short periods of time as well as long ones. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God” the protagonist Janie Crawford ends up taking longer than most to find her “identity”. It takes her 3 marriages, the first in which she runs away from him, the second where he dies, and the third with the man she fell head over heels for, and then he later died as well. All her life she was told what to do and what to be so finally when she had no one left she had time to find herself. Throughout this novel many motifs take place one of the main one’s being Janie’s long, thick, beautiful black hair. Janie’s hair was a part of her and is how people recognized her except Logan who ignored it and Joe who forced her to hide it. Teacake was the only one who showed her how to embrace it.
When Janie was married to Logan she was put to work like a man, there was absolutely no romance or physical attraction like Janie always wanted with a man, not to mention she was only 16 years old. Since Logan even ignored her beautiful hair like no man ever did she felt as if she were no one, with no identity. When Janie left Logan for Joe thinking the grass would be …show more content…

Janie finally found herself in her search for identity. Once she is on her own she realizes she doesn’t need a man to have an identity she just has one, because she’s Janie and she’s important too, just like every man she’s ever been with, not being treated like a slave with Logan or being only “the Mayor’s wife” with Joe or even Teacakes cougar. Janie realizes no one can make Janie truly happy except Janie. Of course she misses her soulmate Teacake, but she knows he’s with her every step of the way in her heart and she can’t wait to see what lies ahead. She has found her identity and no one can stop her

Show More
Related

  • Perceptions of Marriage in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    & nbsp;          &nbsp ; Second, Janie sees Logan Killicks' perception of marriage.  In the beginning it appears to Janie that Logan is a very nice gentleman, who is. constantly treating her well.  However, as time goes on, Janie sees Logan's the "true colors" of the.

    Read More

  • Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

     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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Hurston

    2115 Words  | 5 Pages

    When Janie marries Logan, her life is changed completely. She was not only forced into a loveless marriage but she was also forced into a slave like position. Logan sees nothing wrong with the marriage and when Janie complains he responds with, “Ah thought you would ‘preciate good treatement. Thought Ah’d take and make somethin’ outa yuh. You think youse white folks by de way you act” (Hurston, 42). Logan sees marriage much the same way that Nanny does; he believes that because he does not abuse her and provides the necessities that Janie should be happy. According to Tracy L. Bealer’s article “The Kiss of Memory: The Problem of Love in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God,” “Though Logan does not abuse or violate Janie, even his money proves no protection from unsatisfying labor, as his ominous purchase of a mule ‘all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle ‘im’’ (26) implies the treat of compulsive labor” (316). The physical labor was only one of the problems that Janie had in her marriage with Logan; Logan looked down on Janie for having grown up with and around white people. He would insult Janie by saying, “Considerin’ youse born in a carriage ‘thout no top to it, and yo’ mama and you bein’ born and raised in de white folks back-yard” (Hurston, 40). Logan resented that Janie did not identify with other blacks as a child and saw Janie as his lesser because of this.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Book Analysis

    1804 Words  | 4 Pages

    Janie’s character undergoes a major change after Joe’s death. She has freedom. While the town goes to watch a ball game Janie meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake teaches Janie how to play checkers, hunt, and fish. That made Janie happy. “Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 96). Tea Cake gave her the comfort of feeling wanted. Janie realizes Tea Cake’s difference from her prior relationships because he wants her to become happy and cares about what she likes to do. Janie tells Pheoby about moving away with Tea Cake and Pheoby tells her that people disapprove of the way she behaves right after the death of her husband. Janie says she controls her life and it has become time for her to live it her way. “Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine” (Hurston 114). Janie becomes stronger as she dates Tea Cake because she no longer does for everyone else. Janie and Tea Cake decided to move to the Everglades, the muck. One afternoon, a hurricane came. The hurricane symbolizes disaster and another change in Janie’s life. “Capricious but impersonal, it is a concrete example of the destructive power found in nature. Janie, Tea Cake, and their friends can only look on in terror as the hurricane destroys the

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Janie's Metamorphosis in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    For a short time Janie shared her life with her betrothed husband Logan Killicks. She desperately tried to become her new pseudo identity, to conform to the perfect "housewife" persona. Trying to make a marriage work that couldn't survive without love, love that Janie didn't have for Logan. Time and again Janie referred to love and her life in reference to nature, "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think... She often spoke to falling seeds and said Ah hope you fall on soft grounds... She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether"(24 - 25). Logan had blown out the hope in Janie's heart for any real love; she experienced the death of the childish imagery that life isn't a fairytale, her first dose of reality encountered and it tasted sour.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Figurative Language In Their Eyes Were Watching God

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    For many people love comes easily or within a short time, but for Janie it took much longer. Love was always very important to Janie. With Janie’s first husband which Nanny arranged. Feeling unloved and used Janie decided to leave logan and keep going on her search for love. “The morning road air was like a new dress”. This quote is an example of a simile revealing all the hope Janie still had for herself after leaving Logan. Dealing with many restrictions put by people in her life Janie always just dealt with stuff and went on without complaining like most women did in that time. Jody Sparks played a major role in Janie’s quest of finding herself. “To my thinkin’ mourning oughtn’t tuh last no longer’n grief.” After Jody’s death Janie feels a quick feelings of independence. Jody being represented as a character who tries to be dominate of others and is cruel makes Janie understand that in a relationship there has to be equality in order to be happy. Being a man who saw Janie as an object makes Janie speak up and stop muting herself. She rebels against him and destroys his will. Showing women can gain equality for

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God

    6207 Words  | 13 Pages

    Janie Crawford - Janie Crawford is the protagonist of the novel. She was raised by her grandmother, Nanny. She wanted to define her identity on her own terms, but Nanny coerced her into marrying Logan Killicks. She valued financial security over love. However, Janie was miserable in her first marriage. She left Logan to marry Jody Starks. Jody refused to allow Janie to make her own decisions, so their marriage turns out unhappily as well. After Jody's death, Janie married Tea Cake. Through Tea Cake, Janie enjoyed her first real love. She grew beyond what other people wanted her to be and experienced her first taste of real freedom.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    herself. Janie, all her life, had been pushed around and told what to do and how to live her life. She searched and searched high and low to find a peace that makes her whole and makes her feel like a complete person. To make her feel like she is in fact an individual and that she’s not like everyone else around her. During the time of ‘Their Eyes’, the correct way to treat women was to show them who was in charge and who was inferior. Men were looked to as the superior being, the one who women were supposed to look up to and serve. Especially in the fact that Janie was an African American women during these oppressed times. Throughout this book, it looks as though Janie makes many mistakes in trying to find who she really is, and achieving the respect that she deserves.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Gender Analysis

    1685 Words  | 4 Pages

    Different social classes come with different perspectives and challenges, usually the belief is that higher society is much happier than those in the lower rank, but not including race into the education does not give all sides of that story. By evaluating parts in Cane by Jean Toomer, Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larsen, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston story of class and race is being told. Color and classism have gone hand in hand for many years and evaluating the lives of characters that are considered the lowest of the low and yet made it up the totem pole brings up an important discussion. The conflicting ideas of race and class actually encourage racism and ruin the lives of characters in the black bourgeoisie.

    Read More

  • Janie's Three Marriages in Hurston's There Eyes Were Watching God

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    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, ...

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis Essay

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tea Cake is Janie's first love, but he is a migrant worker. Because of how little he makes and how young he is, Janie is afraid that Tea Cake just wants to take her money. She feels that he is naive and it is all an act, but once he returns from a week of being away, Janie tries to be unkind to him and realizes that she cannot. They fall in love and Janie is finally happy with a man. She realizes that marriage does not lead to love, but love leads to marriage. Even though Tea Cake always expresses his love for Janie, she doubts him. Janie decides to run off with Tea Cake because she doesn't like the way the town compares him to Joe Starks. They leave to Jacksonville and get married. Janie takes 200 dollars with her sectretly, and doesn't tell Tea Cake that she has it. He finds it and runs off. He soon returns and then reminds her how in love he is and how he will earn it all back by gambling. He worries Janie by being out all night but then comes home with wounds from a fight. He gets more money back than expected and Janie cleans off his wounds. Janie begins working with Tea Cake once they move to the Everglades, not because he forces her to like Logan, but because she wants

    Read More

  • Facing Inner Conflict in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford, the protagonist, constantly faces the inner conflicts she has against herself. Throughout a lot of her life, Janie is controlled, whether it be by her Nanny or by her husbands, Logan Killicks and Joe Starks. Her outspoken attitude is quickly silenced and soon she becomes nothing more than a trophy, only meant to help her second husband, Joe Starks, achieve power. With time, she no longer attempts to stand up to Joe and make her own decisions. Janie changes a lot from the young girl laying underneath a cotton tree at the beginning of her story. Not only is she not herself, she finds herself aging and unhappy with her life. Joe’s death become the turning point it takes to lead to the resolution of her story which illustrates that others cannot determine who you are, it takes finding your own voice and gaining independence to become yourself and find those who accept you.

    Read More

  • Janie: a Hero?

    359 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the beginning of the story, Janie is stifled and does not truly reveal her identity. When caught kissing Johnny Taylor, a local boy, her nanny marries her off to Logan Killicks. While with Killicks, the reader never learns who the real Janie is. Janie does not make any decisions for herself and displays no personality. Janie takes a brave leap by leaving Killicks for Jody Starks. Starks is a smooth talking power hungry man who never allows Janie express her real self. The Eatonville community views Janie as the typical woman who tends to her husband and their house. Janie does not want to be accepted into the society as the average wife. Before Jody dies, Janie is able to let her suppressed anger out.

    Read More

  • Were Watching God Archetype

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    She realized that she married him only because of Nanny’s wishes, and she did not - and was never going to - love him. It was with this realization that her “first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (25) And although the “memory of Nanny was still powerful and strong”, (29) Janie left with Joe Starks. However her marriage to Jody was no better than her marriage to Logan. Jody was powerful and demanding, and although at first he seemed amazing, Jody forced Janie into a domestic lifestyle that was worse than the one that she escaped. Jody abused Janie both emotionally and physically, and belittled her to nothing more than a trophy wife. But Janie never left him. This time Janie stayed in the abusive marriage until he died, because Janie did not then know how to the tools capable of making her a sovereign person. She once again chose caution over nature, because caution was the safest option. And overtime she became less and less Janie, and less and less of her sovereign self, and eventually, “the years took all the fight out of Janie’s face. For a while she thought it was gone from her soul...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” (76). During her marriage to Jody, Janie never got it right. She was trapped under Jodi’s command and because of this she never

    Read More

  • Janie’s Courageous Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Janie’s first attempt at love does not turn out quite like she hopes. Her grandmother forces her into marrying Logan Killicks. As the year passes, Janie grows unhappy and miserable. By pure fate, Janie meets Joe Starks and immediately lusts after him. With the knowledge of being wrong and expecting to be ridiculed, she leaves Logan and runs off with Joe to start a new marriage. This is the first time that Janie does what she wants in her search of happiness: “Even if Joe was not waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good…From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything” (32). Janie’s new outlook on life, although somewhat shadowed by blind love, will keep her satisfied momentarily, but soon she will return to the loneliness she is running from.

    Read More

More about Their Eyes Were Watching God Identity Analysis

Open Document