Examples Of Determination In Their Eyes Were Watching God

She’s uh woman and her place is in de home” (43). In other words, Janie is still under control of her significant other. Similar situations such as this continue to occur throughout Janie’s relationship with the Mayor. He orders her to wear certain clothes, doesn’t let her sit outside the store she runs, etcetera. The Mayor becomes increasingly toxic towards Janie, and he eventually dies of old age.

“Jaine, if you think Ah aims to tole you off and make a god outa you, youse wrong. Ah wants to make a wife outa you,” says Jody, knowing he only wants Janie for her looks (29). Jody displays an act of respecting Janie at the beginning of the book, but his act doesn’t last very long. His desire for Janie was only until her looks, nothing beyond that. He would never let Janie act on her own, and always disregarded the things Janie wants to do, “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’.

Through Janie’s struggle for independence and sense of self, she experiences hardships, but in the end, accomplishes her goals. As a woman,

Janie takes a progressive, personal approach to growth and self-expression. She moves through her three marriages as they increase in opportunity and

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie a girl who develops into a woman during her problematic life; with love and the people around her. Illustrates that the struggle through obstacles and conflicts in life, shapes you to be who you are. A conflict that Janie experienced that helped her shape who she is, was when Nanny speaks to Janie about marriage, and how Janie should marry Logan Killicks even though she isn’t interested. Nanny informs Janie begs Nanny “Ah ain’t gointuh do it no mo’, Nanny.

Instead, she works extremely hard to bring this to Janie. Nanny did not want to see Janie taken advantage of in the same way that she was; instead choosing to work as a nanny to a white woman in order to provide food and land for her granddaughter. Because of her early life experience, her value of stability was very rational. In her mind, Logan Killicks was an ideal candidate to be Janie’s husband, because he was wealthy, had plenty of land, and had a stable career. He would be able to provide for Janie, which Nanny never had.

Nanny’s controlling nature comes from her life experiences of being taken advantage of; she wants Janie to have a different experience. Nanny longs for Janie to have a different experience from her: “She was borned in slavery time when folks, dat is black folks, didn’t sit down anytime dey felt lak it. So sittin’ on porches lak de white madam looked lak uh mighty fine thing tuh her. Dat’s whut she wanted for me—don’t keer whut it cost.” (114).

At the beginning of the story, Janie always wants to discover the outside world and has an ambitious attitude towards chasing her goals in life, and she often would “search as much of the world as she could”(11), showing how curious and confident Janie is to put herself out there. Additionally, enthusiastic and lively attributes are embodied by Janie’s character at first, as well as her aspirations because she has “glossy leaves and bursting buds”(11), wanting to achieve the chance to live life. Lastly, before Janie met Joe, she was happy and eager to get out and know the outside world and often “looked up the road towards way off”(25), longing for the adventure of that long road and not feeling discouraged or controlled to stay in one place. Although Janie was free and optimistic at first, when Joe came into the picture that attitude changed as he was restraining and controlling over Janie. With Joe wanting to be a big voice it ended up restraining Janie to just staying in the market place and having no value, which further lead her to putting “up a drape over her dreams”(72), showing how shattered and invaluable she felt in the position Joe gave her, not even

Throughout her story she meets new people and resides in many places, thus shaping and changing who she is. In her novel, Hurston uses characterization to illustrate the theme of how one’s trust of what

Janie shows determination as she persists and struggles to define love on her own terms through her marriages. First, her determination shows when Janie runs away with Jody. She becomes aware that her marriage with Logan does not satisfy her goals and dreams for love, so she takes a chance and marries Jody. Hurston states, “Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south.

Jody controlled major aspects of Janie’s life, such as her appearance, when he forces her to keep her hair up. Janie does not like that Jody feels the need to control her: “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it... that was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was” (Hurston 55).

but it didn’t do her any good” as Jody kept on fighting for her “submission” (71). As Jody continues to make Janie submit, less of her individuality is present as she is reduced to the ideal wife in Jody’s eyes. He does this by covering her hair, confining her to the store, and insults her. Again, In one scene,

It is shown through Janie’s perspective who has a single ambition. To

Janie is so fed up she finally says, ‘Ah knowed you wasn’t gointuh lissen tuh me. You changes everything but nothin’ don’t change you-not even death. But Ah ain’t goin’ outa here and Ah ain’t gointuh hush. Naw, you gointuh listen tuh me one time befo’ you die. Have yo’ way all yo’ life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let yo’ self heah ‘bout it.

In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a main character whose outward existence conforms, and her inward life questions. This tension helps to evolve the author’s theme of the importance of individuality and how individuality creates happiness. Janie experiences most of her life in trying to conform, and grows to despise it. Once free, she becomes herself and becomes happy. Early in the novel, Janie marries Logan Killicks.