Wilkie Collins said “Any woman who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper.” In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes were Watching God, Janie threatens Joe’s sense of control. Janie threatens Joe because of her ability to undermine Joe’s management and authority. Joe Starks is uncomfortable because he enjoys being in control, but isn’t always in that position. Janie threatens Joe because of her free will
Joe Starks feels threatened by Janie because of her independence. When Janie is asked to give a speech, Joe cuts in and says, “Thank yuh fuh 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). Joe Starks wants Janie to be an object that is to be admired and to help her husband when needed. When Janie stands up to Joe he feels he is losing control of his wife. After Janie cuts the tobacco incorrectly, Janie and Joe
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Joe goes as far as to ordering her what to wear when he says,” Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was”(55).Joe is concerned about other men admiring his wife because he is afraid that Janie will no longer listen to him, and then leave him. It is very important to Joe that he possesses complete ownership and dominance over Janie, so when Janie resists, Joe becomes worried. When Joe couldn’t find the order for the pig’s feet, he says, ”You ain’t put it where Ah told yuh tuh. If you’d git yo’ mind out de streets and keep it on yo’ business maybe you could git somethin’ straight sometimes” (70). Joe use Janie’s errors as a way to exert control over her because it makes him feel that he is more powerful than Janie. Joe becomes worried and anxious when Janie talks back because he feels like he has lost control. Joe needs his sense of control to feel
Eventually, Janie decided to leave Logan for another man she met names Joe Starks, and her quest for love continued with her new marriage. Janie was instantly attracted to Joe’s innate power because he gave her hope that she could reach the “horizon” (page 36). Joe took over as mayor of Eatonville and his influence increased dramatically with his improved confidence. He made decisions for Janie, just as her grandmother had, and forbid her from living like every other townsperson. For example, Janie was not allowed to associate with any customers in the store she helped Joe run, she could not wear her hair down in the store, and she had to dress a particular way because of Joe’s raging jealousy.
He is the man who fills the voids of loneliness and love, and continues her development as a woman. Joe’s impact on Janie’s emotional growth is that he emotionally abused her to the point where she wouldn’t talk anymore and he only wanted a pretty wife/show wife because he was the mayor of Eatonville. She felt like she had lost her identity because the people would call her Mrs. Mayor Starks and would never use her real name. She also feels like she lost her identity because she always listened to what Joe had to say about her appearance and whatever he suggested she would do it. Joe also had an impact on Janie’s physical growth is that he also physically abused her when every should would do the slightest thing wrong.
Joe Starks uses the idea of living large to appeal to Janie; the idea of being taken care of, along with the ability to live with more freedoms convinced her to flee her first husband in hopes of finding the true love she yearned for. Starks obtained the title as mayor, displaying his status in the political hierarchy, to which she enjoyed happily; “Quote” accordingly, the theme of utilizing power to persuade a woman is displayed in both
He then sets off to buy her a mule so she can work, and then she runs off with Joe. Now, Joe treats her as a trophy wife and doesn’t allow her to do
Janie the protagonist of the book Their Eyes Were Watching God is introduced as a forty-year-old harlot by the woman on the porch. “They made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs” (pg 2). From this porch Janie’s best friend Pheoby comes in to save her rep, Pheoby refutes, saying “You mad ‘cause she didn’t stop and tell us all her business” (pg 3). From this friendship we see that Janie is not a harlot she is just the talk of the neighborhood; she describes it as “Mouth-Almighty … got me up in they mouth now” (pg 5) . She then replies to the gossipers saying “They don’t know if life is a mess of corn-meal dumplings, and if love is a bed-quilt” (pg 6).
As time pass Janie grows tired of waiting and being with Joe. Still she stays with him because she has the hope that he will change. Joe Starks in the other hand sees Janie as his ticket to get know by more people, including the porch people, and to recieve more property. He like demanding Janie, “Janie, Ah reekon you better go fetch me dem old black gaiters,”(C.6 P.57) but deep inside he still feels something for Janie. Their respected because Joe is mayor and Janie is Mrs.Mayor Janie.
Killicks treats Janie very badly and overworks her, Janie decides to leave him for a new man named Joe. When Janie first meets Joe, she is astounded by his ambition, the way he carries himself, and his promises of fulfilling her dreams by giving her a new life of not having to do labor. As soon as Joe meets Janie he says to her, "You behind a plow! You ain’t got no mo’ business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday! You ain’t got no business cuttin’ up no seed p’taters neither.
As time progresses, Janie and Joe’s relationship goes from arguably unloving to abusive. After Joe beats Janie for the first time, “She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was. It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered. But looking at it she knew that it never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams.
When Joe and Janie have the whole town celebration, the townfolk want Janie to give a speech but instead of letting that happen. " Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home. (78)"
Women are confined to single roles and are expected to be submissive and respectful. When Joe married Janie, he forced her into a role of subservience. Hurston indicates that Joe attempted to mold Janie into what white women do on a daily basis which is to “sit on their high stools on the porches of their house and relax.” Doing this, Joe believes he is granting his wife all the wishes she ever wanted while neglecting the fact that Janie takes pleasure in the simple things in life like chatting, laughing, fishing and dancing. “Janie [especially] loved the conversation[s]” that took place on the porch and sometimes “she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had forbidden her to indulge” because he didn’t want her to talk after those “trashy people” (Page 104).
Since Harry didn't want to lose his second wife, Harry submitted it and requested Joe to move out of the house. Joe had to quit the house empty. After moving to schoolhouse, he had to do chores in cookhouse, such as carrying heavy trays of food. During that time, he got dark, gloomy and felt loneliness. Then one day, one of school teachers brought Joe at his lecture about a natural history field trip.
In Chapter Five of the novel, Janie describes Joe’s impact on the people of the town of Eatonville and his unique dominance qualities: “There was something about Joe Starks that cowed the town. It was not because of physical fear. He was no fist fighter. His bulk was not even imposing as men go. Neither was it because he was more literate than the rest.
He becomes Mayor of the town he started and tries to makes Janie suppress her spirit. A symbol of the suppression is the head rag that he insists that Janie wears in the store. She as not to show people her hair and Joe did not want her talking to the townspeople. “He didn't want her talking after such trashy people. “ You’se Mrs. Mayor Starks, Janie.”
When Joe instructed Janie to wear the head rag she didn't fight back. This reveals to us that Joe wants to confine Janie to
From a young age, many people are told that they have free will to do what they want and that their actions are what define them as a person; however, what people are told isn’t always the complete truth. In the realms of reality, individuals are always influenced by the people they spend the most time around to such an extent that it can change who they are as a person. Zora Neale Hurston 's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, epitomizes such truth through the development of Janie, a women who grows from not knowing her own race or what love even means to someone that has gained and lost countless relationships with people. Initially, she marries a wealthy man named Logan Killicks for financial security, but then runs away with a man named