How Is Janie Static Or Dynamic

Throughout the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, we saw that Janie, the main character, changes in many ways. Janie goes through many difficult situations in life and goes through heartbreaks. She changes as a character because she is affected as a person mainly by the three relationships shes has. She was forced to a marriage with an old farmer, Logan Killicks. Janie then met a man by the name of Joe Starks but insisted on calling him Jody. She then met a young boy named Tea Cake who was quite young for her but she did not mind. As we see Janie go through the different relationships with the three different men, she changes in many ways and they are either positive or negative.

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.

Nanny did not give a clear answer except for giving it time to evolve between them. Janie tried to argue that Logan was not meant to be loved but Nanny disagreed, I think because she wanted Janie to have a name and a good life when she was gone which Logan could provided her with. Janie did not seem to like this answer so she wondered, “Did marriage compel love like the sun the day?” (Hurston 21). This simile seemed to make Janie wonder if marriage meant two people were forced to love one another just because of the title of Mr. and Mrs. This question from Janie made me see a theme of confusion in this chapter; Janie keeps coming back to asking what marriage is and what love feels like. This made me think she has never been in love before causing her to find it unclear. I think Janie was nervous that she would not love Logan, which makes sense since she was told to marry him, and did not want to never get that chance to feel true love for someone she picked. The first chapter of the novel tells us of a man named Tea Cake whom Janie ran away with. When I reflected on this I knew Janie must have either been cheating on or divorced Logan Killicks. Could this have been because she wanted to truly love someone? I think Janie did this to please herself with true love and not feel forced to love someone just because they are

Zora Neale Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God explains the journey of Janie Crawford’s life. Janie experiences abuse, sacrifice, and true love throughout different situations in the book. As she goes through each circumstance of life, Janie gains confidence and courage that she does not have in the beginning of the story. Janie’s chief accomplishments in the book are finding freedom and independence despite the situations in which she has to overcome loss and disaster, has to prove her worth to a man, and has to learn to value and accept herself.

Janie comes to an understanding of the true meaning of love “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (Hurston, 25). Janie assumed that love and marriage was easy, but now realizes that it's hard to have a healthy relationship. Hurston uses metaphors to reveal the difficulties of marriage and love with both Jody and Logan. Hurston also uses metaphors to show Janie's feeling of being restrained because she's unable to express her true emotions.

Having money doesn't mean the marriage will be a success, it’s just a little advantage of a secure good life. Logan has 60 acres and for an African American to have that much land is set off to be a well known man. That is why Nanny decides to marry Janie to him, she wants her to have a secured life unlike she did. Janie tries to love Logan but she can’t she is disgusted by this older man. She complains to Nanny “his belly is too big too, now, and his toe-nails look lak mule foots” (Hurston 24). Logan may have the land, but he doesn't have the attractive looks that a young woman like Janie would like. Janie unlike any girl adores the feeling of attraction, which is what she can’t offer to Logan. Janie must give up her youth and her pear tree illusion. As her young self she romanticized and glamorized ideas about love. Thus, the idea of marrying such an older man just for a financial security reasons and pleasing Nanny is repugnant to her and it desecrated her vision. But as the months pass “she knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a women” (25). The more time she gets to analyze Logan she realizes that there is no love in their relationship. He never shows her the compassion she desired with such enthusiasm. He may keep a roof over her head and food on their plate, but he is not the dream man Janie

Jannie’s quest for her “pear tree” is not a simple one. As a child she kissed a boy and was caught by her Nanny whos response to this act was for Jannie to get married to Logan Killicks. Speaking about black women, “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see," Nanny tells Janie that black women are the lowest point in society and marrying Logan can benefit her life(2.44). Despite Jannies good intentions she is giving Jannie a life that she does not want or will want. Jannie knows she wants her life to be filled with love and she doesn't

Janie as a protagonist is the only character who believes, wants, and dreams of love and a better life. She, therefore, does this with the pear tree while her ex-husbands were stuck in the burden of overcoming slavery.

Janie, in Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, was a unique individual; as a half-white, half-black girl growing up in Florida in the early 1930's, a lifetime of trials and search for understanding was set for her from the start. As the main character she sought to finally find herself, true love, and have a meaningful life. Growing up, in itself, provides a perfect opportunity for finding that essential state of self-realization and ideal comfort. Michael G. Cooke reviews Their Eyes Were Watching God in his article "The Beginnings of Self-Realization"; within the article it is falsely criticized that every time Janie is negatively impacted she grows to become more

After seeing Janie kiss Johnny Taylor under a romantic pear tree, Janie’s Nanny insists on her to wed an old man named Logan. This is where the battle begins. Should Janie be submissive to Nanny and marry Logan, or should she let her self-reliance win and stay away from marriage? She definitely shows signs of wanting her self-reliance to win by stating, “Naw, Nanny… Ah ain’t no real ‘oman yet” (Hurston 12). With all her might, Janie is trying to refuse Nanny’s offer by pleading that she is not matured enough yet, displaying how she desires to be self-reliant. However, Nanny counters this by replying, “T’aint Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection” (Hurston 15). As a child, Nanny instills this idea that Janie, without a doubt, needs a man by her side to give her safety and stability. In other words, Nanny wants Janie to be submissive to men because her time is almost up. Janie ends up following her dear Nanny and marries Logan, even though she was previously reluctant to do so. Submissiveness wins this first round of this battle. With Logan, Janie finds out that marriage does not necessarily equate to love. She tries her hardest bowing down to every command of Logan in hopes that doing so will make them love one another, but it simply is not possible; although it is true that Janie is granted a stable lifestyle with Logan, she is also

Janie’s relationship with Nanny provides Janie with her first views on her role in society and the assertion of men’s power over women. After Janie’s sexual awakening with the pear tree and her kiss with Johnny Taylor, Nanny warns Janie that “de nigger woman is de mule uh de world” (Hurston 14). In Nanny’s prospective, the Negro woman is especially subservient to others, and when Janie goes to Nanny to ask how to love Logan, Nanny dissolves Janie’s notion of love and affirms that love only complicates things. Nanny is seen as Janie’s mother figure and she “dismisses Janie’s romantic ideal of love, feeling that marriage serves a strictly pragmatic purpose, on in which the woman is passive and taken

Got a house bought and paid for and sixty acres uh land right on de big road…Lawd have mussy! Dat’s de very prong all us black women gits hung on’” (Hurston 23). In Nanny’s speech, Hurston is trying to emphasize that the female’s only role is to marry and look good, and let the man do all the work. Also in her article, Hartman says that “…due to the fact that the man was almost always working, little room was left to develop a connection between husband and wife; love was a foreign concept.”, which describes what Janie and Logan have together exactly. Despite being given all she should want, Janie seeks more.

Janie’s first husband is Logan Killicks, an old, unattractive man whom Janie marries while trying to appease her grandmother. Logan is a farmer with 60 acres of land and a comfortable house. Nanny believes in marrying for financial stability, not for love: “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection” (Hurston 15). Instead of following her heart and insisting on not marrying someone she doesn’t love, Janie consents due to the pressure and marries Logan. He wants to keep her firmly under his control so he forces her to work in the field with him and clean the house. In addition to physically oppressing Janie, Logan also mentally oppresses her by showing Janie no affection during their marriage. Due to

In conclusion, In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston, the audience watches Janie enter a period of self-discovery. When Janie gains this power of freedom, she realizes she craves something different from what society had told her she would want; What we feel inwardly to be true, society seeks to take that truth away. With this experience an internal and external

Their Eyes Were Watching God was a book that presented the world with a new look on writing novels. Zora Neale Hurston’s experience in what she has seen through research was embodies in this novel. She demonstrates what data she has collected and intertwined it into the culture within the novel. While being a folklorist/anthropologist, and inspired by her life experiences, she developed a character who dealt with the issues that were not yet uncovered, female empowerment was one of them. Zora Neale Hurston defined this topic of female empowerment throughout the character Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God.