Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie's Voice

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In Their Eyes were Watching God, Janie’s voice develops through the ability to speak truthfully to her husband, whoever that may be, and because of these changes, she shapes into a very strong, independent woman who can freely speak her mind no matter the circumstances. Janie’s courage and fierceness that she possesses at the end of her story is far from the scared, shy, and hidden girl during her first marriage. Her voice is so small at this time that she could not even tell Nanny of her dislike for Logan Killicks. Although “the vision of Logan Killicks [is] desecrating the pear tree,” Janie does not “know how to tell Nanny that” (14). Janie does not have the ability to express her thoughts yet, stopping her from telling the …show more content…

After Janie moves to Eatonville with Jody and they establish the town together, she learns that Joe wants to be the white man or boss of this all black town, and he will not let anyone speak above him. Janie has “[to press] her teeth together and [learn] to hush” (71). Restricting the truth to her mind proves to be increasingly hard for Janie, who is discovering more everyday about the strength she has. Janie honestly wants to speak her mind and prove her intellect, but she is held back by not only Joe but also by fear of losing everything. As she and Jody aged together, Janie becomes closer to exploding with the truth she has been hiding. Janie finds “a host of thoughts she [has] never expressed to him, and numerous emotions she [has] never let Jody know about” (72). This realization leads to Janie’s speech to Jody on his deathbed which releases all of the honest, truthful thoughts that have been locked in her mind for so long. Janie finally reaches the day that she is free from the chains holding her from the truth that is her voice and longing to be heard and listened to. At this time in her life, Janie feels that no one can truly ever give her that horizon moment where she can be herself with no persecution. She loses hope of the horizon until she meets Tea

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