Janie's Marriage Quotes

Janie had three different marriages with three different men: Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Tea Cake. These three marriages were very different from each other, each spouse having a different personality. Janie learns from each relationship and she develops her sense of independance.

Near the beginning of the book, Janie develops an idealistic view of love whilst lying underneath a pear tree. She is young and naïve, enthralled with the beauty of spring. She comes to the conclusion that marriage is the ultimate expression of love and finds herself pondering why she does not have a partner. In the rashness of her hormone clouded brain, she is drawn to Johnny Taylor, who is nearly a stranger. This is her first experience formulating ideas about

Janie is forced to marry Logan Killicks. She is upset because her Nanny makes her, even though she does not love him. Nanny however, does not care. She only wants the best treatment for Janie, and Nanny also does not want Janie to end up like her mom. So she sends him off to a kind and old man, Logan Killicks.

She compares the beauty of nature to her love life. Hurston wrote, “Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard. She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days” (10). She was intrigued by the tree and wanted to seek answers. She longed for that unforgettable, blooming love that is unconditional. Janie’s description on page 106 of Tea Cake being a “bee to a blossom – a pear tree blossom in spring” (Hurston) fits with Janie’s dream in the beginning of the novel because Janie's vision represented a perfect love that would "bloom" when true love was near. At the beginning of her marriage to Jody, Janie believed that he fulfilled this vision, but the longer she remained with him, the more her “pear tree” shriveled up. Tea Cake fits her vision in more ways than one from wooing her, treating her as an equal, not being controlling, taking her on adventures/dates, joking around with her, and most importantly he evokes that feeling of love and happiness from Janie that she always longed for. Unlike Janie’s two other husbands, he allows her to bloom like a bee allowing a blossom to

Janie 's visionary scene under the blossoming pear tree aroused her sexual awakening where she seeks to find the utopia where she evolves around love.Her insularity feeling of love sets her adventurous mislead of marriages.The pear tree in the beginning of the novel provides Janie the imaginative feeling of love and path to follow, but that love decays after being forced to marry Logan Killicks, a wealthy old man, whom Janie has no love for. But Janie is assured by Nanny that her love for Logan will unfold, so Janie spontaneously marries Logan.Nanny having gone through the rough life of a slave black woman and experience the mistress of women, acknowledge the role of

In Janie’s second marriage, she is forced to work for her husband in his store. The suppression of Janie in this relationship is more intense than in her previous marriage.

Initially Janie was raised in a impecunious African American household by her grandmother. She was taught from a young age that marriage equals love and that women depend on men for financial security. Janie wanted a love “sweet…lak when you sit under a pear tree” (29) but instead receives Logan, a man who wants her to “chop and tote wood” and calls her “spoilt rotten.” (31) Janie was stuck to succumb to these expectations when she was with Logan. However, Janie’s second marriage begins with a personal choice that Janie makes to leave Logan and follow Jody, a man whose plan was to build “a town all outa colored folks” and become a leader in the new city. Just the fact that she left her first husband was a very bold move, but the profound point is that Janie chooses to get together with another man. Janie expresses her true feelings and voice by leaving Logan and telling him that he “ain’t done [her] no favor by marryin’ [her.]” This displays that Janie’s views on marital expectations have took a turn and she will no longer be put under this illusion of a perfect woman during this time period. However this newly acquired confidence that Janie had gained

In marriage, a man should possess certain qualities in order to be a good husband, and he must provide both financial, and personal support. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, characters Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake all have some of these qualities in their marriages. Janie’s first husband Logan does not provide support for her and has very poor qualities in their marriage, in fact, he requires Janie to do unnecessary work on his farm, therefore, he is not a good husband. Furthermore, in her next marriage, she is overshadowed by Joe Starks, a selfish entrepreneur that provides her with financial support, but does not support her needs and desires. Nevertheless, Janie obtains a third husband, Tea Cake, who has exceptional

At the same time, however, Janie begins to confuse this desire with romance. Despite the fact that nature’s “love embrace” leaves her feeling “limp and languid,” she pursues the first thing she sees that appears to satisfy her desire: a young man named Johnny Taylor (Hurston 11). Leaning over the gate’s threshold to kiss Johnny, Janie takes the first step toward her newfound horizon. Nanny sees this kiss and declares Janie’s womanhood. She wants Janie to marry Logan Killicks, a financially secure and well-respected farmer who can protect her from corruption. The marriage of convenience that Nanny suggests is “desecrating … [Janie’s] pear tree” because it contradicts her ideal vision of love (Hurston 14). Because she did not have the strength to fight people in her youth, Janie’s grandmother believes that Janie needs to rely on a husband in order to stay safe and reach liberation. Ironically, Janie’s adherence to Nanny’s last request suppresses her even more because it causes her to leave behind her own horizon.

Janie’s three marriages were all different for the most part, though they each had their ups and downs. Her marriage with Logan Killicks was the worst of the three. The only upside to this marriage was that she did have the protection and security her grandmother wanted, but Logan was not willing to make compromises like, “And ‘tain’t nothing’ in de way of him washin’ his feet every evenin’ before he comes tuh bed. ‘Tain’t nothing’ tuh hinder him ‘cause Ah places de water for him.” (Hurston 24) which shows that he wasn’t even willing to wash his feet so Janie wouldn’t have to smell his feet. Logan also expected Janie to help him with everything he was supposed to do and still make dinner for him. Despite all that Janie still wanted to love him but she just couldn’t do it. Janie’s marriage to Joe was better than Logan’s but was still really bad. Joe provided Janie with anything and everything she needed, but not what she wanted. Their relationship was about Joe, and what Joe wanted. Joe also thought he was superior to Janie. “Ah knows uh few things, and womenfolks thinks sometimes too!” “Aw naw they don’t.

Janie’s relationship with her second husband, Joe Starks, is perhaps the most damaging. In the beginning of their marriage, Janie is proud and admiring of the successful, strong man she marries and runs off with. At first, it seems as though Janie has executed a successful breakaway from her unfulfilling life with Logan Killicks, and transitioned to an exciting, happy life with Joe Starks. Unfortunately, Janie and Joe’s marriage retracts from the infatuated love it once was, into a

“So they were married there before sundown…”(Zora Neale Hurston, 1937). Lastly, after Jody’s death, Janie marries Teacake by cause of the death of Jody and he makes her laugh. In the book, on page 97, it says, “She laughed and he gave her a little cut-eye look to get her meaning.” This means that Teacake flirts with Janie which makes her laugh and therefore she likes Teacake. Later she gets married to Teacake until he died. The three husbands are different from each other because Logan wanted her to help him work. On the other hand, Jody and Teacake both wanted to do the work for her. Teacke is different from Janie's other husbands because he doesn’t force her to do what he wants. Logan is different because he is her only husband that was still alive after Janie moved back to Maycomb. Janie learns a lot from her three husbands. For example, from Logan she learns that she needs to help her husband and she has to contribute to their marriage. Another lesson she learned, from Jody, was that when you’re married you need to be an obedient spouse. Lastly, she learned from Teacake, that you should trust your spouse and let them explain something before you falsely accuse

In Janie’s first marriage with Logan Killick, she learns that he gives her golden treatment for quite a long time before forcing her to help him on the farm. Within this relationship, Janie had learned that she was nothing to him but a pack mule, and as she had left the farm and him for a man named Joe Starks, “a feeling of sudden newness and change came over her. Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good.” (32). She had begun to recognize that this was not the life she had wanted for herself, despite her grandmother telling her that it was the life she should pursue.

She grew up believing that matrimony was one of the only ways to live a financially stable life. Unlike the previous play, she was actually quite successful at finding a hardworking man that was also willing to marry her. The problem was that many of these marriages included domestic violence, emotional abuse, and plenty other damaging situations. Her first husband, Logan Killicks, was an overly demanding man that expected much more than what Janie is capable of. Her second husband was an outstanding man with confidence that outshined other men, but he often suppressed Janie and restrains her from expressing her true self. He only married Janie because he liked the idea that was constructed over Janie, not Janie herself. After his death, she ends up falling in love with a younger man named Vergible Woods, also known as Tea Cake. He is the most loving of the two husbands, but he also has a few faults as well including his domestic abuse to show ownership over his own wife. The tale ends in a very tragic scene resulting in an ultimate

All three of Janie’s relationship’s were different and alluring. They all had very different challenges in them that made them hard to face. Her first man was forced, her grandmother wanted her to have a relationship unlike her so made her have a husband. Her second man was out of curiosity, fear and desperosity. She had nobody else and thought he would be right for her not knowing he was a mad man. Her third man was a nice but crazy man. They’re all very different. The first husband was just down right an evil man. He abused her and treated her as she was weaker human being. This resulted in her being lost and trying to find a new husband as soon as possible, which resulted in her dating a mad man. Tea-Cup, He was a jealous and self centered