Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was a novel that focused on Janie, and her journey with love, as well as the process of learning and growing from it. I felt that this common theme was present throughout the entire novel, where Janie had no idea what love was in the beginning, but from her experiences, learned what love meant to her, even if it resulted in killing Tea Cake in the end. When Janie was married to her first husband, it seemed as though she was only married to him because she wanted love, but didn’t know what it was. She felt this was what she was “supposed” to be doing, and went along with the process yet had no idea what she was getting herself into. Her first marriage, to Logan, was not what Janie wanted or expected out of a marriage. I think that Janie thought that when you marry any person then you will find a way to love each other the way you are supposed to in a marriage where there is already existing love between two people. Logan and Janie’s marriage was arranged by Nanny, who felt that financial security was more important than love in a marriage. Janie followed her Nanny’s guide because that was what she was supposed to do, but ended up feeling used, and knew that there was no love connection between her and Logan. This marriage was a big learning experience for Janie however, and I feel she needed to experience the marriage in order to learn what love isn’t, and know what she does not want in a marriage.
Janie’s strength that she endured was very helpful when she left Logan for Jody Starks. At first, Janie feels that this marriage will be better for her due to Jody’s gentleman-like qualities, but soon after Jody becomes very money and power hungry, and lets it take over his marriage with Janie. Janie and Jody turn into a couple that are staying together for the sake of being together, not because of love or any other reason that a couple should be together. Jody takes over the town of Eatonville, and becomes the mayor as well as every other important ruler to the African American community. As I read about Jody’s power and responsibilities, I felt as though he played the role of a dominating white male in Eatonville. As Jody’s power grew, he became more and more well-respected in the community, and held the position that most white males do. He became very authoritative, which soon lead to the deterioration of their relationship. Jody and Janie’s relationship soon ends, however I feel that Janie got a sense of what love was from their relationship. It was unfortunate that Jody did not have Janie as his priority and became power and money hungry, but if he didn’t then they could have possibly worked out their differences. Jody was very protective of Janie and didn’t let her be herself in her own skin. Jody felt he had to control Janie in order for her to function correctly around other people, which was unfair to Janie. I think that Jody was insecure about him, which led him to take his self-consciousness out on to Janie. Janie never let Jody know of her feelings about situations and whenever they argued, Jody always had the upper hand. Janie grew to secretly hate Jody, and I feel that his death was almost a way to relieve Janie of her hostility, and was a chance for Janie to let her true colors show.
Janie’s third husband, Tea Cake, was very different than most males, and much younger than Janie. Tea Cake let Janie be the person she was inside, and let the child in her come out more often than she ever was allowed. Tea Cake would do things with Janie that she was never allowed to. Janie was uneasy at first with her relationship with Tea Cake because of the age difference and because she didn’t want to get hurt again a third time. Tea Cake and Janie grew to truly love each other. Janie grew a lot from the start of her relationships to the last relationship she had with Tea Cake. Although Janie ended up killing Tea Cake, I feel she came full circle and conquered her quest. Janie shot Tea Cake because he tried to shoot her with a gun and killed him in self defense. I feel that Janie could have been, in a sense, taking Tea Cake out of his misery from the rabbis he encountered when he saved her life from the dog that tried to attack her. Janie also learns here that she does not need a man to love her in order for her to live. The commonality at this time was that women were supposed to get married when they are young and have children and be supporters of their husbands. Janie learned that she doesn’t need a relationship in order to function and I feel that she shows this at the end of the novel by killing Tea Cake. Janie truly loved him, but needed the relationship to end, where she would have the upper hand at the end. Therefore, I feel that Janie needed to be with all three of her husbands, Logan, Jody and Tea Cake, in order to find herself.
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8 comments:
I completely agree that even though Janie's marriages were bad, that she needed to go through with them because they were learning experiences. She definitely grew a lot throughout all of the marriages she gained so much strength. I felt terrbile for her during her first and second marriage because those husbands treated her poorly but then with the last one with Tea Cake I thought that maybe she would catch a break but apparently not. It doesn't matter now that Janie ended up alone because she can do so much more for herself depending on herself rather than a husband.
I agree that Janie's marriages were destructive. But I think that they enabled her to become a new woman. They opened hers eyes to what truly made her happy. They were invaluable expierences that allowed her to define love in her own terms. Not the terms of others like her grandmother. Hurston may have been trying to establish that women needed to think freely. And by thinking freely they would be able to discover what they truly wanted to do and what they wanted.
Kathryn,
I really enjoyed your post; you made some really strong points. I appreciate how you brought out the fact that Janie needed all three of her husbands in order to bring her to the place where she finally knew herself. Although at points it was hard not to question why Hurston put certain things in the novel, in the end it all seems to make more sense. Without these experiences, Janie would not have become the strong, independent woman she was by the end of the novel.
Kathryn,
I agree that in the beginning, Janie was blind to what love truly was, and therefore she was not able to achieve it. I also like that you pointed out how twisted it was for Janie to try to get married and then just expect love to naturally come next. I think most people today believe that there must be love FIRST and then marriage second. Otherwise, the marriage will fail and divorce, especially in the world that we live in today, will ensue. I also like how you went though all of the different marriages in which Janie had, in order to find true love. I feel that Janie had much more patience than I would ever have. For example, when you talk about how Jody becomes “very money and power hungry, and lets it take over his marriage with Janie” I would not have tolerated it. I would have stood up to him and told him how I felt and if he did not change, I would get a divorce. I believe that Janie does find true love in the end, and in doing so, learned to be independent rather than dependant. Each of her husbands however, as you stated yourself, helped her along her “quest” in order to find love. If she had not married all three, then Janie never would have learned, nor have found true love.
Kathryn:
You made some really good points and I agree with you that Janie was on a quest for love. Throughout this journey though, she had to discover what love was and her view of love kept changing through her marriages. Janie's refusal to settle for anything less than the best demonstrates how she eventually moved out from under her husband's control and learned to harness and crave that freedom from within. Love truly carried her through a lifetime.
I agree that Janie's marriages were learning experiences that helped Janie to learn what love is for her. I like that you pointed out Jainie thought that love would come naturally after she was married it shows how young and nieve she really was.
I agree its like she didn't question love at first because she just thought that what people told her was right. But even with her first marriage she realizes that people like her grandmother were wrong and that she needs to decide on her own what love is by trial and error.
I definitly agree! Her marriages made her stronger and they turned her into a new woman. She thought defferently about love and marraige, i think, after she went throuh many relationship that did not work out. They were definitly learning experiences. She is more dependent in relationships. She does not need a guy to take care of her, like she use to . Now she wants more excitement like she had with Tea Cake. They had so much fun together. Even though its sad she had several rellationships that did not work out, it was positive because it was a learning experience and she found what she really wants in a relationship.
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