How Does Janie Change Throughout The Novel

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

Logan Killicks developed Janie to become a worker. Logan Killicks was a farmer that owned a lot of acres of farmland. It was quite a task for Logan Killicks to keep up all of that farm land alone, so he married Janie. Once Logan Killicks and Janie was married, all of those farm tasks were given to Janie. Janie worked day in and day out. Janie never really had a break because of all of the tiresome tasks she had to complete. Janie was not happy being married to Logan Killicks. When Logan Killicks gave Janie a chance to leave, Janie left. Janie ran of with another man, her next husband, Joe Starks.

(Hurston). She thought that she could learn to love her husband just as long as someone can tell her how. Logan was a very demanding husband who expected Janie to help him around the house and still tend to many things that he felt were “women’s chores” like being in the kitchen. Eventually, Janie got tired of Logan’s demands and ran off with Joe Starks.

In chapter 3 Janie realizes that she does not want to marry Logan because she does not love him, however she marries Logan due to her grandmother’s wishes. Janie clearly used to believe that love is a requirement in marriage and searched for an emotional connection. As soon as Janie married Logan, her dream for a happy relationship with her true love was ruined and concluded that marriage doesn’t require a physical or emotional connection. Her grandmother marrying her off led to Janie’s discovery that love is not always required. Janie’s dream of true love “had failed her… so she became a woman” (24).The reality of marriage proved Janie’s dream to be false which led her to transition to a ”women” where it means to be mature and obey her husband.

Janie met someone new named, Joe Starks, when Logan was out and about. After Janie met Joe she was thinking about leaving Logan. She might of been thinking this because she seemed unhappy and probably thought that Joe would be better for her. Janie started

Her decision to leave Logan for Joe Starks shows her determination to achieve her dream of love; she does not want to give and take this dream for stability. Logan is extremely ignorant of Janie′s feelings. When she tries to talk with him about them he simply replies: "′Ah′m getting′ sleepy Janie. Let′s don′t talk no mo′.′" (Hurston,30) He does not realize that Janie is serious about leaving him and that she wants him to show his feelings for her. Instead, he tries to hurt her like she hurt him, by pretending not to be worried about her leaving him. Janie gets to know Joe during her marriage with Logan. Right from the beginning he treats her like a lady. This is one reason why Janie is so attracted to him.

As the reader all already knows from Jannies first marriage, she has high expectations from just the first glance. She dreams of adventure and a man who can give her all the freedom to express herself. Soon after Jannie runs away from Logan, she meets Joe Starks. Joe seems like the perfect man for her, rich, handsome, smart. He is well respected as the mayor of a town.

Throughout Janie’s life, she has had three major influences on her life that made her who she was at the end of the novel starting with Nanny and then progressing to Joe Starks and finally Tea Cake. Her influences were stepping stones that helped her grow, each giving her valuable lessons that shape her perspective on life, particularly on love. She starts off as a free-spirit that through the people in her life eventually becomes independent. Starting in the beginning, Nanny was the first figure that influenced Janie’s life to later progress onto Jody in regards of love and marriage. Nanny’s own beliefs of needing marriage for stability and wanting Janie to have a better life than what she had forced Janie into a marriage with Logan Killicks

Though it is true that Logan has 60 acres of land, cattles and houses and can certainly offer protection to Janie, Janie cannot love him indeed. She thinks once she got married she will live her husband. She complains that Logan is ugly and even does not touch her when lying on the bed; later Logan even asks her to begin working on the farm. Nanny is surprised at her consideration of love “ ...and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis’ Killicks, and you come worryin’ me ‘bout love.” However, Janie does not want this life. She feels confined and lack of both emotional and physical fulfillment. Until one day she meets Joe.

Janie learns from her marriage with Joe Starks (Jody) that she has to come to understand the importance of being authentic in a marriage and she then learns that Nanny was wrong about social status and financial security being the key reasons to marry. Janie learns that what she wants out of a relationship is more

In essence, Janie had a hard time finding her identity but she never gave up, she was willing to go on and find out who she is. Throughout Janie’s childhood, her marriage to Logan, Joe, and then finally Tea Cake she struggled with finding her true self. Janie has always hoped to have an identity independent of anyone else but never really knew how to achieve this goal until she finally left Tea Cake. Janie to me is a model for women who wish to behold their own freedom, identity, and a sense of self. Overall Janie's true identity is one that many women like myself wish to maintain because of her strong willpower and self confidence that no one in her time period would usually have.

Janie's marriage to Logan Killicks was the first stage in her growth as a woman. She hoped that her obligatory marriage with Logan would

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.

Janie starts out in a marriage with Logan Killicks, a man who does not have many goals except to farm and that is what he expects out of Janie. To just be a woman who does what is told. A few months into Janie and Logan's marriage, they fight over the roles of men and women they are supposed to be. Logan then tells Janie that he wishes that she would be more like his old wife who would “grab dat ax and sling chips lak uh man” (Their Eyes Watching. Ch 2).

However, she quickly learns that Logan, finds her useless, “spoilt rotten” and compares her to his old wife, who did manual labor for him without many complaints (26). Not only does Janie find Logan unattractive, but she does not even find him intellectually or emotionally stimulating, as he never shows her affection (24). Attempting to gain some perspective on how to liven up her marriage, Janie seeks out the advice of her Nanny, an unmarried former slave. Janie claims that she “wants to want him sometimes” (23), but her efforts are in vain. Due to the conditions Nanny was raised in, Nanny told her granddaughter that love was bound to happen eventually because Logan was financially stable. Nanny did not understand Janie’s wishes of love; she was on a basic level of understanding. While Janie obeyed Nanny’s wish of her to stay with Logan for almost a year, when Janie knew the marriage was headed nowhere except disaster, she runs off with a man named Joe Sparks who she had correspondence with for almost a year. Janie concluded from her time with Logan “that marriage did not make love” (25). Janie’s view on love did not change with her relationship with Logan. In fact, it was because of the horrendous outcomes of the marriage that Janie decided to chase after her ideal relationship with