Janie's Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Leo Rosten once said, "Money can't buy happiness." Janie from Zora Neale Hurston's, Their Eyes Were Watching God, would agree with this famous quote. Janie's first husband is financially stable and her second husband is powerful; but it is with her third marriage where she finally experiences happiness and receives

Janie’s Courageous Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God Through her use of southern black language Zora Neale Hurston illustrates how to live and learn from life’s experiences. Janie, the main character in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a woman who defies what people expect of her and lives her life searching to become a better person. Not easily satisfied with material gain, Janie quickly jumps into a search to find true happiness and love in life. She finally achieves what she has searched for with her third marriage.

            Janie's first husband was a poor old soul named Logan Killicks.  He was an ugly, dirty farmer whose prime concern for Janie was that she do her share of the work in order to keep the farm up and running.  Janie was simply another pair of hands to do some work.

Janie, the main character, marries three times throughout the novel. Her marriages do not contain unconditional love and because of this, do not last. Her first husband, Joe Starks, belittles Janie as a person including her intellect. "Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves." (119). Joe shows his dominance over Janie by being the breadwinner in the relationship. Janie’s next marriage is with a man named Joe Starks. He tries to show his dominance over Janie by controlling her. “Janie! "Come help me move dis manure pile befo’ de sun gits hot. You don’t take a bit of interest in dis place. ‘Tain’t no use in foolin’ round in dat kitchen all day long…" (42). Joe belittles the

In Janie’s marriage with Logan, Janie came to a couple of realizations and she learned the goals she wanted to achieve out of life. In her first marriage, the man she was with was everything that Nanny Crawford wanted him to be. Logan Killicks was a farmer

Janie had three different marriages with three different men: Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Tea Cake. These three marriages were very different from each other, each spouse having a different personality. Janie learns from each relationship and she develops her sense of independance.

When Janie was a young girl, she was raised by her Nanny. Nanny had seen much in her life, and wanted only the best for Janie. In Nanny’s eyes, this involved marrying up and becoming wealthy enough to live comfortably (Hurston, 114). Marriage, to Nanny, wasn’t about love so much as it was about stability (Hurston, 13). This explains why, when she caught Janie kissing Johnny Taylor, she pushed Janie into marrying Logan. “Although she [protested], Janie finally submits to her grandmother and marries Logan Killicks” (Myth

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

However he is not used to having a wife. So when he Marries Janie, he continues to go to his old ways. Janie however does not appreciate this and says that “... his toenails look lak mule foots”(Hurston 41). Yet again, Janie is showing her unsatisfying love for Logan Killicks. To her, Mr. Killicks is just a stinky old man. She really does not love him. After all, she was forced to marry Logan Killicks by her grandma. So how can it be true love? After a few months, Janie wanted a change. She could no longer stay with Logan Killicks. So the first opportunity she had, she left. When Janie leaves she says that “The Morning road air was like a new dress”(Hurston 51). When she left Logan Killicks, she had started a new part of her life. Since it was a whole other marriage, it really had felt different. She was no longer working and could not believe it. She was going to be on the upbeat. But was her choice really the best for her? I can not tell. Janie gets whatever she wants, however she still does not find true love. So maybe it was not worth it. We just have to wait and see. At first, marrying Joe Starks had seemed like the right thing to do. However, as he was building Eatonville, their love began to grow distant. Instead, money started to take over. The mere fact that Joe Starks had so much power had gotten into his head. However power hungry he was, he was also very protective. He did not like when Janie hung out with

To begin with, Janie’s first marriage is to Logan Killicks. She meets him through her grandmother and is basically forced to marry him. In the novel, Janie complains to her grandmother “Cause you [Grandmother] told me Ah mus gointer love him,and, and Ah don’t” (Their Eyes were Watching God 23). This quote demonstrates how Janie feels throughout her marriage to Logan. He treats her like a labor mule and complains that she is too lazy to do anything. From her first marriage, she learns that she has to be with a man she

Many people believe in marrying for love and they spend most of their life searching for it. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Nora Zeal Hurston, Janie Crawford goes through three marriages, and as a result, she learns who she wants to be and how to

In the first marriage Janie was a 16-year-old girl who was forced into marriage with a man in his 50’s. She lives with Logan on his potato farm, where Logan is very set in his ways and does not care what Janie has to say or think. Being that Janie is only 16years old she allows her outer personality to submit to whatever Logan wants even though her inner self, her true self is miserable. She believed that because they were married that just being married would bring love. So she continues to submit to Logan’s

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

Janie’s Growth in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has allowed us to better understand the restraints that women in society had to deal with in a male dominated society. Her marriage with Logan Killicks consisted of dull, daily routines.  Wedding herself to Joe Starks brought her closer to others, than to herself.  In her final marriage to Vergible Woods, also known as Tea Cake, she finally learned how to live her life on her own.  In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie suffered through many difficult situations that eventually enabled her to grow into an independent person.

Janie’s first marriage to Logan Killicks was an arranged marriage by her Grandmother Nanny. One day Nanny caught Janie kissing the neighborhood riff raff Johnny Taylor, and Nanny becomes convinced that Janie has entered her womanhood, and needs to marry.