How did Janie Crawford become a strong woman? Imagine how significant a woman’s life changed after she went through three marriages. In most cases, she would learn many valuable lessons from each marriage. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston succeeded in creating the heroine as well as the protagonist in Janie Crawford. Having married to three different men who each had distinct perspectives, Janie learned more about different aspects of love, hopes, freedom, and eventually found the path to her identity. Janie Crawford truly broke typical gender boundaries, for some of her words and actions proved to society that she was a strong woman. Throughout her first marriage, Janie showed the readers her great endurance. At the
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Sooner or later, she would stand up for herself. One day, a customer named Steve Mixon wanted some chewing tobacco; however, Janie made a clumsy mistake while cutting it. Joe cut it again and insulted her tremendously. Having suffered more psychological abuse than she could handle, Janie finally retaliated against him for the first time. She told Joe that he was nothing but big voice. “He was no fist fighter. His bulk was not even imposing as men go” (Hurston 47). Furthermore, she humiliated him severely in front of the people in the store by saying that: “When you pull down yo’ britches, you look lak de change uh life” (Hurston 79). In other words, when Joe pulled his pants down, there was nothing there. Needless to say, his manliness along with his reputation vanished shamefully. After this confrontation, his health deteriorated quickly. Eventually, a doctor from Orlando told Janie that Joe was going to die and it was just a matter of time. Consequently, she decided to meet him one last time to talk about his major problem before it was too late. When she came into his room, she told him that he had been so busy listening to himself that he had never listened to her. Although Joe begged her to stop criticizing him, Janie kept talking as if she never talked to anybody in her life. Joe couldn’t take it anymore, so he breathed his last painful breath and died …show more content…
Tea Cake trained her to shoot skillfully. As a result, Janie became an extraordinary hunter, and she was able to shoot better than him. Janie didn’t know that her little hobby would save her life someday. As time passed, Tea Cake overcame the terrible hurricane, but unfortunately he was bitten by a rabid dog. As a consequence, his health deteriorated quickly. The rabies weakened his mind and poisoned him with hallucinatory, paranoid thoughts. Tea Cake believed that Janie betrayed him, so he was ready to kill her. However, Janie was certainly a wise woman. Once she knew his malevolent intention, she rushed to check his pistol if it was loaded and noticed it was. She then twisted the cylinder to make sure the pistol wouldn’t fire on the first three shots. When Tea Cake went home, he grabbed his pistol and fired at her. However, the first three shots were all empty. Janie grabbed the rifle immediately, and they both fired at each other simultaneously. The rifle was somewhat faster, so Tea Cake fell to the ground (Hurston 184). Ironically, according to the journal “Janie’s Tea Cake: Sinner, Saint, or Merely Mortal?”, Yvonne Mesa-El Ashmawi points out that Tea Cake could be considered a hero and a villain as well: “Finally, the man who teaches Janie to shoot – in self-defense – is the same man Janie will shoot when he attacks her” (3). Although Janie loved Tea Cake deeply, she loved herself more. Her love for him
Sooner or later, she would stand up for herself. One day, a customer named Steve Mixon wanted some chewing tobacco; however, Janie made a clumsy mistake while cutting it. Joe cut it again and insulted her tremendously. Having suffered more psychological abuse than she could handle, Janie finally retaliated against him for the first time. She told Joe that he was nothing but big voice. “He was no fist fighter. His bulk was not even imposing as men go” (Hurston 47). Furthermore, she humiliated him severely in front of the people in the store by saying that: “When you pull down yo’ britches, you look lak de change uh life” (Hurston 79). In other words, when Joe pulled his pants down, there was nothing there. Needless to say, his manliness along with his reputation vanished shamefully. After this confrontation, his health deteriorated quickly. Eventually, a doctor from Orlando told Janie that Joe was going to die and it was just a matter of time. Consequently, she decided to meet him one last time to talk about his major problem before it was too late. When she came into his room, she told him that he had been so busy listening to himself that he had never listened to her. Although Joe begged her to stop criticizing him, Janie kept talking as if she never talked to anybody in her life. Joe couldn’t take it anymore, so he breathed his last painful breath and died …show more content…
Tea Cake trained her to shoot skillfully. As a result, Janie became an extraordinary hunter, and she was able to shoot better than him. Janie didn’t know that her little hobby would save her life someday. As time passed, Tea Cake overcame the terrible hurricane, but unfortunately he was bitten by a rabid dog. As a consequence, his health deteriorated quickly. The rabies weakened his mind and poisoned him with hallucinatory, paranoid thoughts. Tea Cake believed that Janie betrayed him, so he was ready to kill her. However, Janie was certainly a wise woman. Once she knew his malevolent intention, she rushed to check his pistol if it was loaded and noticed it was. She then twisted the cylinder to make sure the pistol wouldn’t fire on the first three shots. When Tea Cake went home, he grabbed his pistol and fired at her. However, the first three shots were all empty. Janie grabbed the rifle immediately, and they both fired at each other simultaneously. The rifle was somewhat faster, so Tea Cake fell to the ground (Hurston 184). Ironically, according to the journal “Janie’s Tea Cake: Sinner, Saint, or Merely Mortal?”, Yvonne Mesa-El Ashmawi points out that Tea Cake could be considered a hero and a villain as well: “Finally, the man who teaches Janie to shoot – in self-defense – is the same man Janie will shoot when he attacks her” (3). Although Janie loved Tea Cake deeply, she loved herself more. Her love for him