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Their Eyes Were Watching God Summary

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Book summary Their Eyes Were Watching God is written by Zora Neal Hurston an African American woman in 1937. This story is about Janie Crawford, whose lifelong quest is to find true love. Janie narrates the story of her three marriages and her search for love to her friend Phoeby. When Janie is young, her grandmother arranges her marriage with a man named Logan Killicks, who becomes Janie's first husband. Janie is not content with her marriage to Logan but optimistically wishes that she would grow to love him. Unfortunately, her hopes are met by abuse by Logan, whom she feels treats her as a child and as an animal to work in his fields. One day Janie meets an ambitious man named Jody Starks, who courts her and ultimately encourages her to run away from Logan. Janie …show more content…

Janie finally feels that she might be happy for the first time in a long time. However, Joe, like Logan, has very unyielding definitions of gender roles and expects Janie to support him and not argue with him. Janie is too outspoken for this, and she and Joe have a rocky relationship. Joe eventually dies, leaving Janie independent. After Joe dies, Janie finally has her freedom back; she is finally able to take her ugly head wrap that she had been wearing for more than 20 years. After a while, she falls in love with a much younger man named Tea Cake. Janie leaves everything behind and moves to the Everglades of Florida. Janie finally has the love that she has longed for, and she and Tea Cake are happy. When a hurricane hits rabid dog attacks Janie, and when Tea Cake tries to save her, he is bitten by the dog and contracts rabies. As a result, he begins to go mad, and he eventually tries to shoot Janie. She kills him in self-defense and is put on trial for murder. At the trial, Tea Cake's black male friends show up to condemn Janie, but a group of white women from the town shows up to defend her. The all-white jury sets her free, Janie throws an extravagant burial for Tea Cake and returns back

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