Character Analysis Of Janie In Their Eyes Were Watching God By Hurston

These emotions are then paralleled in the objectification and victimization that Janie receives once returning to the neighborhood after having left with Tea Cake. The community attacked Janie and had it not been for her happiness, Janie would have listened to the mocking. Contrary to Joe and Logan, Tea Cake demonstrated to Janie that his relationship with her would not be the same and would not let her be treated badly either. “Somebody wanted her to play [checkers]. Somebody thought it natural for her to play.

He “[invites] Janie to be…herself” and he “does not limit her to a particular role” (Domina 315). As a result, there are no expectations for Janie to fulfill. She has no need to conform to a certain type of behavior or appearance, which allows her to finally reconcile the differences between internal and external versions of herself. Professor Deborah Clarke describes Janie’s time with Tea Cake as an opportunity for Janie to flourish and learn how to “formulate a self which is not predicated upon oppression” (Clarke 607). Because Tea Cake does not impose societal expectations upon Janie, she is able to navigate a relationship in which her innermost self that she has kept hidden can now rise to the surface.

Often in literature, the author sets the main character on a physical journey to divert attention away from the main character’s spiritual journey. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie, goes on a physical journey that not only challenges her sense of self, but also is vital in her life-long spiritual journey to personal liberation and self-empowerment. Janie’s relationships mark Janie’s migration toward fulfilling Hurston’s purpose of the piece: Janie becoming empowered and finds personal liberation. Hurston proves Janie’s physical journey plays a central role as Janie completes her spiritual quest to personal liberation and self-empowerment.

“Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves.” (Hurston 226) The book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is told from Janie’s point of view and she is telling her story to her friend Pheoby. She grows throughout three marriages and the hardships she faces. She learns what she wants from life and how to become an independent individual. Throughout the story of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie is on a quest for self-fulfillment and individuality. This is shown through the changes she endures in her relationships and can cause the readers to take control of their own lives.

From the beginning, Janie’s happiness is abundantly clear in her relationship with Tea Cake. Although she is now a woman in her forties, Janie acts very youthful and unrestricted with him. She wears “new dresses and...comb[s] her hair a different way nearly every day (111)”. Tea Cake allows for Janie to be herself, in stark contrast to misogynistic Joe who constrained her individuality daily. Janie reports that “Tea Cake love[s] me in blue, so Ah wears it (113)”.

She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 96). Checkers was an activity Janie’s prior onerous husband, Joe, had not let her participate in, therefore by using Teacake as a foil character to Joe the reader incorrectly assumes that he will be the one to free Janie, as their relationship is based on equality. However, it soon becomes apparent of his trickster ways. The first being Teacake’s use of Janie’s hidden money without her knowledge leading to his disappearance. Without any knowledge of what was going on Janie assumed that Teacake must have taken her money and left. Yet, the reader later discovers he used the money to go out to dinner, go to party, buy a guitar, etc. all without Janie’s knowledge (Hurston 124). Despite Teacake eventually winning her money back his conniving behavior, inherent to tricksters, is used to manipulate Janie into falling in love with him even though his faults cause her to stress and risk loss for his benefit. She become dependent on his love for her happiness as Hurston states, “But it was always going to be dark to Janie if Tea Cake didn’t soon come back” (Hurston

This is not because she did anything wrong, but rather because a neighbor’s brother showed interest in her. Tea Cake was not, truly, free of the misogynistic stereotypes of women, and the event showed deep down the possessiveness he felt for her. “Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession” (147). Again, Janie is in a marriage where her husband thinks of her as a property. Tea Cake’s character brought much hope for a lifestyle in which Janie could be independent and powerful, participate in conversation and checkers, and be respected on an equal level. Ultimately, Tea Cake was still possessive, and in many ways was not in fact free of the suppressing beliefs of society as a whole. His character is evident of how deep rooted the beliefs were. Tea Cake passed away, but Janie carried on, returned to Eatonville, once again showcasing her

One day while she is in the shop, a man walks in and starts talking and joking with Janie. She finds out his name is Tea Cake and starts to flirt with him. After he sits around and talks to her after a while, he starts to teach Janie how to play checkers. While they are playing Tea Cake makes a move and they are saying” Ah got uh right tuh take it. You left it right in mah way.” “Yeah, but Ah wuz lookin; off when you went and stuck yo’ men right up next tuh mine. No fair”(96). This little act of playfulness shows that Tea Cake wants Janie to be involved in other things besides running a store. Janie then goes to Jacksonville to be with Tea Cake and marry him. They meet there and get married, but Janie doesn’t tell Tea Cake that she hid two hundred dollars in her dress in case he didn’t have the money to pay for things that night. Then, the next morning Janie wakes up to see that Tea Cake and the two hundred dollars are gone. She is worried but not about the money but that she had trusted a man that just wanted her for a quick hit and then leave. But Tea Cake came back and explains what happened. When he gets back he says “Ah see whut it is. You doubted me ‘bout de money. Thought Ah had done took it and gone. Ah don’t blame yuh but it wasn’t lak you think. De girl baby ain’t born and her mama is dead, dat can git me tuh spend our money on her”(121). Tea Cake proves that he really does love Janie and won’t leave her. He also show later how he will do what he says he’s going to do, like when he says he’s going to win Janie’s money back and he does. This shows that Tea Cake truly loves Janie and wants to be with her no matter where they

Throughout the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist, Janie, goes through many trials and difficulties in her life to find the one thing she wants most, freedom. Two impactful areas of her life would have to be her silent voice and her cloistered hair. In the novel, Janie is shown to be very silent at times, she doesn’t really speak, and keeps everything to herself because of the chains that held her down. Her hair was another chain that held her down, whenever she put it up, it was as if she was being kept away and her freedom is gone. Both her silent voice and cloistered hair involve Janie’s character being oppressed and held back. A significant moment in the story was when Janie took off her kerchief and letting down her hair in chapter 8 of the novel. Since her hair was down, Janie could finally be free and be herself. Her hair reflects her beauty, confidence, and freedom.

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

Zora Neale Hurston was known for expressing the facets of African-American culture in her books, but her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God has elements of gender studies as well. Throughout the book, Janie’s life experiences serve as a metaphor for the historical struggle of both women and Black Americans to achieve equal rights, and various symbols throughout the book are significant in this context. Janie’s hair, in particular, is the clearest example of a symbol that represents her power and individuality. Two of the most important instances in which Hurston uses Janie’s hair as a symbol are when Janie’s hair serves as a symbol of Jody Stark’s oppression and when Janie’s hair represents her ability to have greater power than others due to its Caucasian nature.

The world of Janie Crawford in Their Eyes Were Watching God was one of oppression and disappointment. She left the world of her suffocating grandmother to live with a man whom she did not love, and in fact did not even know. She then left him to marry another man who offered her wealth in terms of material possessions but left her in utter spiritual poverty. After her second husband's death, she claims responsibility and control of her own life, and through her shared love with her new husband, Teacake, she is able to overcome her status of oppression. Zora Neale Hurston artfully and effectively shows this victory over oppression throughout the book through her use of

    In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford is the heroine. She helps women to deal with their own problems by dealing with hers. She deals with personal relationships as well as searches for self-awareness. Janie Crawford is more than a heroine, however, she is a woman who has overcome the restrictions placed on her by the oppressive forces and people in her life.

Throughout the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, we saw that Janie, the main character, changes in many ways. Janie goes through many difficult situations in life and goes through heartbreaks. She changes as a character because she is affected as a person mainly by the three relationships shes has. She was forced to a marriage with an old farmer, Logan Killicks. Janie then met a man by the name of Joe Starks but insisted on calling him Jody. She then met a young boy named Tea Cake who was quite young for her but she did not mind. As we see Janie go through the different relationships with the three different men, she changes in many ways and they are either positive or negative.

For example, As Janie is seen kissing a boy named Johnny Taylor, under a pear tree, which her grandmother sees and jumps to conclusions. Jumping to conclusions causes Janie to not figure out the world for herself. She does not get the chance to lean and see reality. In the case of Janie’s mother Leafy being severely hurt physically and mentally in a relationship, Nanny believes it is time Janie stops messing around and get married. Marriage in this story, and in Nanny’s mind, was a way of having protection.