Eulogy For Janie

Janie’s first husband, Logan Killicks, is a wealthy old man. In the beginning of their marriage, he treated her alright, but then he called her spoiled and expected her to work like a slave in the fields. Janie’s second husband, Joe Starks, started out poor and treated Janie with

Janie is forced to marry Logan Killicks. She is upset because her Nanny makes her, even though she does not love him. Nanny however, does not care. She only wants the best treatment for Janie, and Nanny also does not want Janie to end up like her mom. So she sends him off to a kind and old man, Logan Killicks.

Janie’s first husband is Logan Killicks, an old, unattractive man whom Janie marries while trying to appease her grandmother. Logan is a farmer with 60 acres of land and a comfortable house. Nanny believes in marrying for financial stability, not for love: “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection” (Hurston 15). Instead of following her heart and insisting on not marrying someone she doesn’t love, Janie consents due to the pressure and marries Logan. He wants to keep her firmly under his control so he forces her to work in the field with him and clean the house. In addition to physically oppressing Janie, Logan also mentally oppresses her by showing Janie no affection during their marriage. Due to

Janie’s marriage to Logan was not anything special. In the beginning Logan was acted like a good husband and would do all the work on his land, and Janie would stay in the home, cooking and cleaning. Eventually, after a couple of months of being married, this so-called honeymoon stage was over. Logan now acted as if he owned Janie and she was his slave, commanding her to do whatever he wanted, not listening to what she wanted. Janie felt constraint; she felt like she was losing her freedom to Logan, she felt like she was not Janie anymore, she was now Mrs. Logan Killicks and she was now obligated to do whatever he commanded of her. Janie was tired of being in an unhappy marriage; she did not love Logan like Nanny said she eventually would: “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman”, and she did not like the way she was being treated. One day while she was outside she saw a man walk by, she thought he was very attractive so she drew attention to herself and the man came over. After having a conversation

Janie went on a long journey to obtain womanhood. Janie grew up living with her grandma, who always wanted her to get married at a young age. Janie eventually did marry Logan Killicks when she was 18 years old. However, she hated living with him. He was described as a shallow, unlovable human being. This was when Janie became a woman because she realized that marriage does not assure love. Janie then married Jody Starks. At first, he seemed like a good person because he offered her a new life, but over time grew worse. Jody would constantly restrict what Janie could do, and would beat her for simple errors. It was not until late in their marriage that Janie finally spoke out to Jody of the way he treated her. Jody would soon die, and Janie

While his character does not die physically, Logan Killicks relationship with Janie dies two months after their wedding, contributing to her need of self-fulfillment and love. Janie’s marriage to Logan marked the death of her spoiled childhood, forcing her to mature out of her self-centered nature. During the first stages of their marriage, Logan does all of the chores around the home. Logan is aging, however, and cannot handle doing all the work. After trying to encourage Janie to work and being rebuffed, Logan exclaims “[h]eah, Ah just as good as take you out de white folks’ kitchen and set you down on yo’ royal diasticutis and you take and low-rate me!” (Hurston 31). Janie, at first offended, “…gave Logan’s speech a hard thought and placed

Janie continues to suffer Logan’s demands but envisions a better life for herself with Joe Starks; she debates whether she should leave Logan for Joe. While she contemplates this decision, Logan commands she help with the manure pile, but she refuses to do so. Logan then declares: “Ah’m too honest and hard-workin’ for anybody in yo’ family, dat’s de reason you don’t want me!”(Pg.32) She is appalled at what she hears and finally comes to a breaking point. He continually degrades her by relentlessly reminding her of her up bringing, arguing that she is trying to bring him down to her low standards. Janie realizes she has endured Logan’s degrading remarks and disrespect for long enough. She refuses to follow the path of her mother and grandmother who were repeatedly abused. Janie knows that she will never love Logan; he will not fit as her pear-tree. The next morning, she deserts her miserable marriage with Logan and continues down the road to a new adventure, where Joe Starks awaits.

So one day she meets Joe Starks and after spending some time together, Janie asks Logan what he would do if she ran away. Logan, rather than responding honestly, lies and hides his true feelings through insults. Janie learns that a marriage does not always withhold love. Love is something that must come naturally without force or thought and Janie sees that she has no such feeling towards Logan. Hence Janie runs off with Joe Starks and Logan is never heard of again.

Her vision of love does not include manual labor instead it includes rest and relaxation. The voice inside Janie’s head tells her to run off with a different man, yet she is still unable to verbalize her needs and desires. Janie’s voice, however has grown from being silent to a tiny whisper, and with that small boost of courage, Janie overcomes her fears by sharing her thoughts of leaving with Logan. This marriage gave Logan a sense of security, but he fears the “terrible ache” of loneliness (30). When Janie reveals her plan to “run off” with another man and leave Logan, she puts fear in his heart and fills him with anger (30). Finally, after Janie chooses to use her voice, a tough decision lies ahead for her to make since Janie never discovers true love and happiness through her marriage with Logan. She comes to the realization that her marriage needs to end before she becomes a grown woman. Janie “has done lived Grandma’s way” and she desires a life of her own (114). This thought propels Janie to stand up for herself and decide to leave Logan and she uses her voice to confront Logan and notify him that she is leaving. Although Logan becomes furious and curses and yells at Janie, his outburst only seals his fate and makes Janie more confident in her decision to leave. Janie breaks free of Logan, and with her new found freedom, life is “bound to do her good” (32).

Logan Killicks was Janie’s first husband with whom she did not find love. Janie married Logan because it was an arranged marriage that her grandma wanted. She only married him to make her “Nanny” happy. Within their marriage Janie wanted to be able to love Logan “but she could see no way for it to come about”

What is less recognized is the fact that Logan Killicks is also a foil to Joe Starks, and through that foreshadowing the character of Joe Starks. Logan does what he calls “spoiling” her for the better part of the year, by chopping wood for the fire and not forcing her to work, but then he grows tired of it, or as Nanny says, “He kissin’ yo’ foot and ‘tain’t in uh man tuh kiss foot long.” In fact, it really starts with this line, “Mah fust wife… she’d grab dat ax and sling chips like uh man.” The word man is essential to the understanding Logan and Janie’s marriage, and what it foreshadows in Joe and Janie’s marriage. This is where Logan stops seeing Janie as his wife, and more as a potential worker who has to share everything with him equally. His actions reveal what he truly desires in his wives, and it’s not the stereotypical demure housewife that was popular at the time. What Logan is looking for is a man with a woman’s temperament. Women were taught to follow their husband’s every command, every wish, and he want’s a worker with that kind of loyalty. Now, Janie tells him she doesn’t mean to chop the first chip, that her place was in the kitchen, and she finds a man shares those values, and gives her exactly that in Joe Starks. Joe Starks could never fathom the idea of putting woman to what he consider work for the “menfolks.” In Eatonville “menfolks,” and “womenfolks” are frequently used to further separate men and women, the foil to Logan, who wanted to combine the traits of men and women at the

Logan simply amplifies the negative effect Nanny has on Janie. Rather than showing affection or love towards Janie, as a husband should, Logan is constantly passing judgment on Janie, and mistreating her. He accuses Janie of having an entitled attitude, and says to Janie, “You think youse white folks by de way you act…Ah’m too honest and hard-workin’ for anybody in yo’ family.” (Hurston 32) Not only does Logan insult Janie and her family, but he provides no compassion towards Janie, nor encouragement for her to try to become a better person. In her relationship with Logan Killicks, Janie is constantly unappreciated and looked down upon. Rather than being offered constructive criticism, she is constantly surrounded by negativity and recognition of her faults rather than her strong points, thus preventing her from developing into a better person or finding happiness.

These sixty acres allowed to him to accumulate wealth that the average African American did not have. This wealth along with age difference also hindered his relationship with Janie heavily. Through all long relationships the partners go through change and they have to adapt to those changes. The wealth and age made Logan unable to change who he was as a person it was too late. Since he was no longer able to change it once again proves that Janie’s relationship with him was doomed from the start. Logan also tried to manipulate her into staying with him by telling no man out there will take care of her the way he did. Janie’s relationship with Logan was always a toxic one. Logan was meant to protect her and keep her safe but ironically he only drove her away. Their last argument was the final straw Janie was done and ready to leave. This failure of a marriage is what led Janie to take a chance with a new man someone who she believed would finally treat her right. In reality this choice led to a new marriage and the biggest learning experience of her life.

Logan Killicks thought he did Janie and her grandmother a favor by marrying Janie, but soon he realized Janie did not care or appreciate his “saving”. When Logan noticed that Janie did not appreciate his doings he told her, “Ah thought you would ‘preciate good treatment. Thought Ah’d take and make somethin’ outa yuh. You think youse white folks by de way you act.” (Hurston, pg.30) With that statement Janie knew this is not who she wanted to be with and this is not how she wanted to spend the rest of her life. Janie packed her clothes and ran off with a man she met one day while working in the fields.

Hey I'm back and it's like nearly 5 months since I wrote that ^^^ and guess what? IT GETS A WHOLE LOT WORSE. The boy doesn't even care about you Ellie, and it's looking like he never truly did. He doesn't care whether he's in your life or not, he could go on just fine and unscathed without you which is literally the worst situation to be in. Especially when you've devoted your entire teenage life (and a little bit before) to making him happy and letting his behaviour affect your every mood. You were used at the end of the day, just a person to spend his time with until he found better company, but during this time you fell for the bullshit and believed he actually cared about you and was actually desperate to have you in his life when in fact