In their eyes were watching god just before marrying Logan Janie claims that “husbands and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage meant.”(21) however Janie never fell in love with Logan and her false reality of what these titles meant fell apart. This theme stays consistent throughout Both Novels Sing Unburied Sing and Their Eyes Were Watching God which both display that titles such as parent and spouse don’t always determine who is right for the role. Janie's relationships with her first two husbands respectively show that love does not come out of marriage. Before Janie's first marriage, she was naive to what marriage was and how it would work. She expected to love her husband just because he was her husband. Janie even …show more content…
Although Janie found herself in the position of logans wife she did not feel love for him and that means that he was not the right person to fill the role of her husband. Janie has now realized how little the title of husband really means and she now understands that marriage doesn't always mean love if it isn't with the right person. So when Joe Starks came to Janie she left Logan in search of the right person to fill the role of her husband. She initially thought that Joe was right for the role but eventually realized that she never really loved Joe. Janie says that “Gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush. The spirit of the marriage left the bedroom and took to living in the parlor. It was there to shake hands whenever company came to visit”. (71) Once again Janie is in a marriage in which there is no love or joy between the Husband and Wife. A marriage is supposed to be filled with joy and have mutual love but the way that joe silences Janie makes her feel nothing for him. They may have the titles of husband and wife but they do not support each other and they have no love for each other showing that they are not
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.
Janies states, “ Husbands and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage was. it was just so.” (Hurston 25). Janie didn't like this marriage and it wasn't great. Janie left him after only a few months.
Because nanny is sheltering her, she is setting Janie up for a long journey to self-discovery and to find the answer to the question, what is love? Thinking that she is protecting Janie nanny marries her off to Logan Killicks.so that she could have financial stability and protection from being taken advantage of. The marriage is doomed before it even starts, because it is loveless and trustless. You can’t build a house and expect it to stand if you haven’t even lain the foundation yet. Janie with her naïve way of thinking feels that even though love isn’t present, love with eventually
He considers Janie to be daft, and always controls her even to the point of making her tie a rag on her hair. Janie “[goes] through many silent rebellions”, but chooses to keep silent in order to avoid conflict. Janie is not using her voice to empower herself, but instead she is debasing her voice’s value. Eventually, Joe’s degradation causes to Janie to finally retaliate, a pivotal point in Janie’s discovery of voice. Joe is weakened by Janie’s retaliation and his liver failure, and soon succumbs to death, but not before Janie realizes something.
He is constantly trying to fill his love with possessions to give to janie instead of caring for her and telling her how much he really loves her. Joe also is very controlling of Janie and even begins to tell her what to wear and how she should put up her hair, “‘Whut make her keep her head tied up lak some ole ‘oman round de store?’” (Hurston 68). Joe begins to force things upon her and separate her from her friends. Joe loves power and change much more than he loves Janie and as a result he tries to control her and create her into something she is not.
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God love is one of the main themes that is recurrent throughout the novel. Janie struggles a lot since a young age with love and marriage. She goes through many marriages and only finds one man she truly loves and feels herself with. Her first husband Logan Killicks taught her how love is not simply made from marriage; she did not really love her second husband, Joe Starks, because he tended to belittle and isolate her. Both husbands made Janie feel that marriage and love did not correlate and that marriage is mainly for social status.
Jody is charismatic and ambitious, and Janie is initially drawn to his confidence and vision for their future. However, Jody is also controlling and belittles Janie, refusing to allow her to express herself or engage with the community. Their marriage ends when Jody becomes ill and dies, and Janie is left feeling unfulfilled and stifled. As Janie reflects on her marriage to Jody, she remarks, "She was old before her time. She sat in the house and watched the sun go down" (Hurston 89).
(p. 23) Joe was constantly controlling Janie, whether it was by making her cover her hair, or by not letting her spend time with the rest of the town. All the while, Janie struggles to gain her independence, so that she can find the one thing that she really wants in life, which is love. One scene from the book that shows Janie becoming more independent is when she stands up to Joe in front of the porch sitters. By doing this, Janie shows everyone that she doesn’t need Joe, and that she has a limit to how many times she will bow before him.
She does not really know what love is or where it comes from. So, she takes a very innocent view on it. Janie believes, “She would love Logan after they were married” (21). After marrying Logan, Janie does
Janie never loved Logan from the start she also later realized that marriage
I don’t think Joe treats Janie fairly at all. As soon as they got married he started treating her like a possession. She expected to do what she’s told and not say a word. Joe believes that Janie is above all women so he doesn’t allow her to participate in conversations at the store because he doesn’t want the other guys looking at her. I think when Joe and Janie first met there were feelings there.
Thomas Lewis Dr. Frye AP Literature 09 February 2023 Their Eyes Were Watching God In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston presents contrasting views on the idea of love, metaphors about love, and characters that challenge Janie’s idealism in order to show the flaws in Jaine’s view of love by having her deal with different types of men inside marriages that express her idea at varying degrees, ultimately illustrating that the idea of love is confusing and is built on concepts made by the world and others that can influence one’s life. Hurston begins by presenting multiple contrasting views on the idea of love to demonstrate how Jaine's idealism of love is shaped by influences. Such as her belief that both sides of a relationship
Janie has many encounters with men where she felt love but she couldn’t maintain them. Her first husband held no love but rather only respect for Janie. The first husband was a gateway to her second lover, Jody. Jody loved Janie and she to him but as time progressed his ambitions destroyed what they had previously cherished.
She found love, happiness and most important of all, she found herself. Logan Killicks is the first man Janie marries and this marriage wasn’t what she wanted or needed as a woman. Logan was sweet to Janie at first, but eventually, he
In Janie’s early life, she tolerated the choices that her grandma had made for her and accepted the path that was chosen for her. This is present when Janie agrees to marry Logan Killicks, despite his crustiness and lack of connection towards