Their Eyes Were Watching God Relationships

The Janie at the end of the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, is far more different from the Janie at the beginning of the novel. As the novel continues, Janie goes through many life changing events due to the many communities she relocated to. In the beginning of the novel, Janie runs away from her first marriage with Logan Killicks for Jody Starks. Janie and Jody then moved to Eatonville, where they ran a store together until Jody’s final breath. Subsequently, Janie moves to different parts of Florida with Tea Cake, whom she met in Eatonville.

Tea Cake trusts Janie and he doesn't feel threatened by other men but feels the need to be kind and caring and let Janie have the freedom she deserves. Janie enjoyed spending time with Tea Cake and loved the new experiences that he brought into her

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

Despite Nanny having Janie’s best interests in mind, Janie disregards this. During Jody’s funeral, Janie contemplates her

This quote shows how as the story progresses Janie continues to discover more about herself and more about what she thinks is important when it comes to discussing love. She realizes she strongly dislikes her grandmother for putting ideas in her

Nanny controls Janie’s life because she wants her to do what she was never able to; accomplish what she failed to accomplish. Additionally, Hurston shows no doubt to the readers that Nanny only wants the best for Janie; however, sometimes her obsession with making Janie’s life perfect and flaw free gets in the way of Janie deciding for herself. Nanny wants to make sure that Janie is in a secure relationship, “‘Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection” (15). Nanny is afraid that Janie will not find a man that will provide for her. Before Nanny passes, Nanny wants to

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

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.

After Nanny was raped by her white slave master, she was threatened to be “whipped till de blood run down to yo’ heels… And if it kills you Ah’ll stand the loss” by the Master’s wife (Hurston 18). On the Plantation, Nanny’s identity was stripped away and she was perceived as an asset to help the slave owners increase their profit instead of a person. Given that Nanny was the parental figure in Janie’s life, she did not want Janie to be trapped in racial and gender discrimination like her. Despite her efforts to protect Janie, Janie was sexually assaulted by her second husband JodyStarks, a mayor, due to power dynamics in their relationship since Jody is well respected in the community and Janie is a powerless

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,

In the beginning Janie feels as if Tea Cake’s age would effect their relationship. She has strong feelings for him, but on the other hand people are saying he will run off with her money. Janie proves them wrong and runs off and gets married to Tea Cake. He makes Janie feel wanted, she feels like she could be herself. Janie states, "We been tuhgether round two years.

Instead, she runs away with a new acquaintance named Jody even against her grandmother's wishes. In her second marriage to Jody Starks, Janie is stuck in the same loop oppressed again. Her husband Jody seeks to control every aspect of her life, from the way she dresses to the people she associates

After doing this her grandma is at peace and can die knowing that she left Janie in the best possible situation. But in reality, Janie was lied to for her grandmother's benefit and she doesn't realize her grandma's true selfishness until the end of her second marriage when she realizes she still has never known what love feels like. This causes her to live the rest of her life being the woman she always wanted to be, free and in control of her own life, and after discovering this is when she finally finds her true love, Tea

Nanny did not believe in love, so Janie had little guidance in how one can find love. Janie does not realize until the end, that one must “go there tuh know there”(192). In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston shows how society and influences can cause someone to hide himself and conform to the expectations of others. Janie was a strong person inside but conformity hid her from the rest of the world.

One of the universal themes of literature is the idea that children suffer because of the mistakes of an earlier generation. The novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" follows the story of Janie Mae Crawford through her childhood, her turbulent and passionate relationships, and her rejection of the status quo and through correlation of Nanny 's life and Janie 's problems, Hurston develops the theme of children 's tribulations stemming from the teachings and thoughts of an earlier generation. Nanny made a fatal mistake in forcibly pushing her own conclusions about life, based primarily on her own experiences, onto her granddaughter Janie and the cost of the mistake was negatively affecting her relationship with Janie. Nanny lived a hard life and she made a rough conclusion about how to survive in the world for her granddaughter, provoked by fear. " Ah can’t die easy thinkin’ maybe de menfolks white or black is makin’ a spit cup outa you: Have some sympathy fuh me.