Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis

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.

In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie, the protagonist, tells the story of her ascension to adulthood and several of the lessons she learned along the way. Though married three times, her second marriage to Joe Starks had the most formative impact on her transition to maturity. Given that Joe played such a crucial role in this affair, we can classify him as a type of parent to Janie. Later, after her final marriage, Janie reflects on her life and is at peace. By that point, she came to realize how to be truly happy.

Up to chapter nine of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the audience explores an initially innocent love story that progresses into a tale of womanhood. In chapter 6, Joe states the aforementioned quote. Here, he explicitly tells Janie that women aren’t capable of complex thinking. This interaction explains more about Joe, but also provides a new insight into Janie’s life.

Leo Rosten once said, "Money can't buy happiness." Janie from Zora Neale Hurston's, Their Eyes Were Watching God, would agree with this famous quote. Janie's first husband is financially stable and her second husband is powerful; but it is with her third marriage where she finally experiences happiness and receives respect. Through the first two marriages, we see how worldly desires and pride can ruin a relationship. Ultimately, Hurston portrays that equality in a relationship truly nourishes a bond far more valuable that materialistic possessions or reputations.

Janie, the main character, marries three times throughout the novel. Her marriages do not contain unconditional love and because of this, do not last. Her first husband, Joe Starks, belittles Janie as a person including her intellect. "Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves." (119). Joe shows his dominance over Janie by being the breadwinner in the relationship. Janie’s next marriage is with a man named Joe Starks. He tries to show his dominance over Janie by controlling her. “Janie! "Come help me move dis manure pile befo’ de sun gits hot. You don’t take a bit of interest in dis place. ‘Tain’t no use in foolin’ round in dat kitchen all day long…" (42). Joe belittles the

Joe Starks whom swept her off her feet from Mr. Logan Killicks right outside of his home. Joe Starks told Janie everything she wanted to hear within just a few meetings on the side of the road. Joe made this grand life for her as they moved from Middle Georgy to a little colored town by Maitland. Joe there became the Mayor while Janie followed behind him as his wife, who later ran the grocery store for him. The beginning of their marriage had been Janie’s ideal lifestyle up until she felt as if she could not indulge in things on her own. Joe kept her locked up away from everyone besides standing in the store. Janie felt buried away inside the store all day. At first Janie felt positive about her marriage because Joe gave her everything she wanted and kept her happy for a great amount of time. After a while Janie and Joe began to grow apart because of him always bashing her in front of people, up until one day she struck back with her own words against Joe saying, “…When you pull down yo’ britches, you look lak de change uh life”. This made Joe resent Janie for now talking back to him. Joe became ill and later died, leaving Janie who then found her way into a love for Teacake. This created a negative feeling for Janie, but ended with a positive outcome for her

Janie’s expectation of love in a marriage seems to be renewed with Joe and even though she didn't get a dream wedding, she was hopeful and happy about the future which was more than what she had with Logan. Their destination was eatonville but when they got there, they were presented with a scanty town. This image left a sinking disappointed feeling in Janie but joe had ambitions and he started to put them in actions right away. Eventually, over time, joe became mayor and he was able to fix the town with their own store which was where everyone hung out. As we learn more about Joe, we find out that he didn't marry Janie so he can have a partner to love but he married her to complete his image of a “perfect” man. Just like nanny, Joe holds the same belief that women can't do anything but stay at home and be protected by the men and we see this in him when he refused the request for Janie to give a speech. His explanation was “Thank yuh fur yo’ compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin’ ’bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s a woman and her place is in de home”(43). This was said right after Janie was asked to make a speech. Joe did not give her a chance to form her own answer and that was like a warning bell for Janie. Even though Janie didn't show that she was upset, Once Joe had basically talked her down in front of the whole town, Janie knew, for sure, that she did not, and would not

In many novels, authors have implemented social constructs in order to shape the mood of the books. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston alludes to social class, especially race, subtly. Hurston’s background of anthropology and growing up as an African-American woman clearly plays a role in the social makeup of the novel. The main character of the novel, Janie, has various experiences in which readers can discover the social structures in her life. Through Janie’s story of self-discovery, Hurston reveals social constructs of the time, especially race and wealth, by including anecdotes, complex characters, and thought-provoking scenes that highlight controversial issues.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, she sets the protagonist, Janie Mae Crawford as a woman who wants to find true love and who is struggling to find her identity. To find her identity and true love it takes her three marriages to go through. While being married to three different men who each have different philosophies, Janie comes to understand that she is developed into a strong woman. Hurston makes each idea through each man’s view of Janie, and their relationship with the society. The lifestyle with little hope of or reason to hope for improvement. He holds a sizeable amount of land, but the couple's life involves little interaction with anyone else.

Some people may have a different opinion on what makes a good husband, but there are some basic traits that everyone can agree on like selflessness, the ability to provide for the other, and most importantly actually loving and caring for each other. Many people look for a spouse with at least some of these qualities. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie, spends her lifetime looking for a man with all of these qualities. Janie marries Logan Killicks first by the arrangement of her grandmother.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston in 1937 that tells the story of the life of a woman named Janie. When another man shows interest in Janie, her husband Tea Cake decides to beat her to scare him off. Although he believes his intent was pure he still finds himself justifying his actions to his co-workers the next day. In Othello, a play written in 1622 by William Shakespeare Roderigo is in love with Othello’s wife Desdemona and Iago has convinced Roderigo that Desdemona loves Cassio and that he should fight Cassio to win Desdemona. Although it seems as though these speeches are completely different as Tea Cake’s intent is pure, and Iago’s is malicious, both speeches support the conclusion that the way to a woman’s heart is by exerting physical dominance.

Richard Wright and Alain Locke’s critique on Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God reveal the common notion held by many of the time, and still today, that there is a right and wrong way for a black person to talk and to act. Wright’s point of view of clearly racially charged and coming from a place of ignorance and intolerance. While, Locke’s point is simply due to a lack of an ability to think out of the box and observe deeper meaning, perhaps due to internalized oppression and a fearful desire to talk and act just like a white man in order to be taken seriously. Wright’s argument that the novel has no central theme and is parallel to minstrel shows, and Locke’s belief that Hurston uses relatable language to avoid diving into mature writing, are inherently wrong and fueled by the very issues Hurston was trying to combat: racism and sexism.

I read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, copyright in 1937 and has a total of 193 pages.

God is a substantial part in the lives of people, whether it is to help or harm He is known for being there for anyone. Hurston follows Janie with a force to be reckoned with, or as Janie believes, God. He is a means of guidance, though she has not directly spoken to or asked of God, He continually guides. Hurston interprets God as a force in Janie’s world, a role of characters she meets and as a metaphysical being, to convey the power that God has on Janie’s life.

The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about Janie Crawford and her quest for self-independence and real love. She finds herself in three marriages, one she escapes from, and the other two end tragically. And throughout her journey, she learns a lot about love, and herself. Janie’s three marriages were all different, each one brought her in for a different reason, and each one had something different to teach her, she was forced into marrying Logan Killicks and hated it. So, she left him for Joe Starks who promised to treat her the way a lady should be treated, but he also made her the way he thought a lady should be. After Joe died she found Tea Cake, a romantic man who loved Janie the way she was, and worked hard