In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston Janie searches for true love. The reader is given a glimpse into Janie's life with a reference to the men she has known

Deville,

Rebecca Deville

1/5/07

Hour 6

Their Eyes Were Watching God

What is love? The definition of love is defined by a warm liking or affection for a person, affectionate devotion. Love to most people is indescribable; they just know their in love. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston Janie searches for true love. The reader is given a glimpse into Janie’s life with a reference to the men she has known; Logan, who she was forced to marry, Joe, who she ran off with, and Tea Cake who she fell in love with. Janie’s three husbands are all very different, yet at the same time, alike.

Janie’s first marriage was to Logan Killicks. Janie’s grandmother forced her to marry him because he was financially stable, unlike Janie. This marriage ended up becoming a relationship based on inequality because Logan starts to use his ownership of the land to control Janie. “Janie! Logan called harshly, come help me move dis manure pile befo’ de sun gits hot…” (pg.31). Janie desperately tried to become her husband’s perfect wife. Janie was trying to make a marriage work that could not survive without love, love that Janie did not have for Logan. Logan had blown out the hope in Janie’s heart for any real love, “Familiar people and things had failed her… she knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.”(pg. 25)

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After Janie’s short marriage with Logan she ran off with Joe Starks. Joe may not have represented “…sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon. He spoke for change and chance.” (pg. 29), which is what attracted Janie to him. In a way Joe was Janie’s ticket away from Logan. As time went on Joe accomplished what he wanted to do and his days became systematic. The degrading comments between Janie and Joe only drove resentment between them. Janie grew strength and lashed back, showing that she was growing into her own person and finding her voice. Janie Knew that she had not found her love at all, “She had neither any glistening young fruit where he the petals used to be.”(pg. 72) When Joe died, Janie seemed to think of him as a dream, a distant memory. “To my thinkin’ mouring oughtn’t thuh last no longer’n grief” (pg. 93), Janie was independent and free.

Janie stayed in town wondering what she was going to do with her new found independence, and then met Tea Cake. The first thing that attracted Janie to Tea Cake was that he treated her with dignity and respect. “How about playin’ you some checkers? You looks hard to beat,” (pg. 95) no one had ever treated Janie with the amount of respect that Tea Cake had shown. Tea Cake treated Janie like a human. Janie and Tea Cake did almost everything together; they laughed, talked, fished, hunted, and spent time with friends together. Spending time together was what was missing from Janie’s previous relationships. In her previous relationships her husbands made her someone she was not and Tea Cake let her be herself. Janie finally found the bee to her bloom, “He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.” (pg. 128) Janie found the everlasting that she had longed for so long. After Tea Cake died “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and dropped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see,” (pg. 193) Janie was done changing, she found herself and was ready for peace.

Janie’s three men were all very different, yet they were all Janie’s husbands at one point in her life. Although they behaved differently in lifestyles as well in their relationships with Janie, they all shared certain similarities. Janie learned and grew with all three marriages. There were ups and downs, highs and lows but in the end Janie came out strong by having her own identity and voice.

Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neal. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York City; HaperCollins.1937.