Love And Determination In Janie's The Face On The Milk Carton

Improved Essays
The Truth Janie never gives up on what she believes in and her family stands by her through it all and supports her with love. Janie did not let what anyone say get in the way of what she thought was right. Love and determination is apparent three times in the book The Face on The Milk Carton. The first time determination is illustrated is when Janie kept searching for answers and did not give up on finding out her past or else she would have never found out the truth. The second time determination is apparent in the movie is when Janie did not let what anyone say get to her or make her think differently about what she believed in. The last and final time love and determination is apparent is when Janie did not give up on her parents after …show more content…
She continued to push and push for answers until she got them. The first time Janie showed determination was when her friend Charlotte said Janie was crazy for thinking it was her on the milk carton. Janie dismissed what charlotte said and did not let it go. During the book Janie had several flashbacks relating to her past which gave her an even better reason to keep looking for answers. Janie believed that there was an explanation for everything so she asked questions and tried putting all the pieces together in hopes of finding out what the flashbacks meant. Janie not knowing anything about her past thought she deserved answers and confronted her mom and said, “ I want to know why there aren 't any photographs of me until I’m …show more content…
When Janie mentioned to her friend that she thought it was her on the milk carton, her friend did not take her seriously and blew it off. Janie disagreed and did not let what her friend had to say get to her and make her change her mind. The second time she did not let what people say change her mind or make her think differently was when her parents would make up lies and excuses about her past to try to cover up the truth. Although it was her parents she sensed that something was not right and would sneak around to try and figure out what was true and what was not. Lastly when Pete told Janie that “ These so called kidnappings are really just divorces, where one parent takes the child away and does not tell the other parent where FKGK gone.” (Cooney 16) she dismissed what he was to say and continued searching for answers. Even when the people around her doubted her or thought she was wrong she continued to look for answers. Even after her best friend said “ I know you 're sick of school, but claiming to be kidnapped is going a little too far Janie.” (Cooney 11) she kept looking. This shows that Janie is smart enough to not let anyone get in the way of something important to her and does not let what other people have to say affect her. She stands strong and fights for what she believes in, no matter what people say. Jamie teaches the readers that if

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Janie’s journey throughout the story is that of independence and seeking of oneself, which is shaped and formed through the relationships she has over the course of the novel. To start,…

    • 1242 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This was something that was lacking in the Johnsons’ home until now. That’s what happened in the novel The Face on the Milk Carton. Janie went through a series of emotions and trials that caused her to rely on her memory and assumption. She went through multiple stages of defense mechanism, and got to analysis a bit of the person who took her from her true family.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Though Janie may be at times passive, in private she is often strong, confident, and willful. Janie is in control over her body; she has strong opinions and tells them. Harris misses all of these more subtle declarations in favor of a seemingly straightforward argument. Janie is an incredibly complex and layered character, a fact which Harris does not fully appreciate. She is not on a “feminist quest,” she simply lives her life.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The typical human dreams on a nightly basis; they may not be able to recall them, but dreaming occurs multiple times during the stages of sleep. The typical human also has dreams that they do not have to fall asleep to imagine; these are their aspirations and goals. In the novels Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the dreams of Jay Gatsby and Janie Crawford differ in the way that Gatsby sacrifices himself in an attempt to fulfill his dream of winning Daisy back, whereas Janie develops a strong sense of her identity while searching for her horizon. Additionally, Gatsby is transformed by his dreams while Janie transforms her dreams. Furthermore, Gatsby’s dreams were not fulfilled, but Janie’s dreams were.…

    • 1387 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first time she is fully able to make a long term decision on her own is when she chooses to go back to her hometown, Eatonville. Although throughout her rollercoaster of a journey Janie was not able to find the love she so longed for, she was finally able to find what she did not even know she needed; herself. When Janie returns back to her hometown, she is dressed in overalls and is comfortable, with her long hair down around her. Even as the others around her commented and murmured as she walked by, Janie continued to walk with her head held high, paying no mind to the whispers of criticism floating behind her. Each man that Janie encountered throughout her journey helped shape her into a strong, confident woman.…

    • 1322 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    True Love

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages

    After her husband, Jody becomes the mayor, Janie’s life takes a turn for the worst because her relationship with Jody becomes dysfunctional. This is because Jody does not treat her a person, he forces her to work in the store he creates, but she can hardly speak her mind because he does not want her to; she does not have control of herself. This conflict persists through their years of marriage, and Janie still cannot choose what she says, “She had learned how to talk some and leave some … Sometimes she stuck out into the future, imagining her life different than what it was… come and gone with the sun”(76).…

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, all Janie wanted to do was explore, have fun, and be her true young self. From when she was 15, she got shipped off with a man she didn’t want to be with. Left him for another guy in a new town. Then yet again left him for another man that takes her somewhere else. Every marriage, Janie was searching and pursuing for her true happiness.…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    We also recognize that Janie’s willingness to even provide the exterior life demanded by others is slowly coming to an end. This becomes apparent during a conversation between Janie and Phoeby regarding the attitude Janie should be displaying as a mourning wife. In response to Phoeby telling her she should act more upset in front of the townspeople, Janie says: Let 'em say whut dey wants tuh, Phoeby. To my thinking mourning oughtn 't tuh last no longer than grief" (93). Thus during the transition between Joe and her next husband, Janie emerges as a new woman, ready to dictate which life she lives.…

    • 1919 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Furthermore this newly found voice leads Janie to break cultural norms. During her marriage to Killicks Janie realized she does not want to be a farmer’s wife, and eventually begins expressing those feelings. When Janie says, “Supposing Ah was to run off and leave yuh sometine”, and actually leaves, it shows the reader that her voice is gaining power and independence. Janie has chosen to listen to herself. She has taken action of her own life and this is the beginning of Janie not being a pawn in her marriage to Killicks.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston wrote this great book about a girl changing into a young women. Oprah changed it all she made the book seem like a love story but this could never be. In the movie Janie was seen as a strong young women but in the book she was just a young lady who listens everything that she was told to do. All of Janie’s marriages caused a dramatic change in her life, Oprah changed the main relationship in the movie. This book would reflect some young lady and make her feel like “Janie” and they might compare their life to a pear tree.…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Janie is found at the end of the book in exactly the same place she is found at its outset: in Eatonville, on her porch, with her best friend Pheoby. After giving her life story to Pheoby, Janie gives the most important moral lesson of the entire novel. Janie says that there are, “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (192). Janie says nothing more for the entirety of the book, letting these last words reverberate.…

    • 1563 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston revolves around one woman, Janie, on her journey to self-discovery. Janie loses herself amidst the chaos that is society and must struggle through difficult circumstances and through many long years before she finds what she is looking for. Janie is not only searching for herself, she is on that universal quest all people must make in order to understand life. She says, “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves”(Hurston 192).…

    • 2245 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she uses a lot of symbolism and references to nature through the story of the main character, Janie, in her lifetime. The use of tree symbolism is the most common in the first half of Hurston’s novel starting with how “Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches” (8) In the beginning of the book, we understand that Janie has just been on a journey full of wonderful and terrible things. When Janie arrives home from her journey, her friend Pheoby goes to Janie’s house and Janie begins telling her life story to her friend whom she hasn’t seen in a long time.…

    • 1055 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She wanted to be somebody. Without the mistakes along the way Janie would have never married who she married and learn from her mistakes to push forward who be who she was in the novel. The reason why Janie goals and visions was different from her peers was she carefree, she…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    From Janie’s experience with Logan Killicks as well as Nanny’s advice, Janie was able to discover what she truly wanted from a marriage. Marriage did not create love so Janie learned she wanted to marry someone she loved. Although Joe Starks was a loving husband at first, he began insulting Janie for her diminishing looks although he was ironically growing old too. Due to the insults during their marriage, Janie found her voice and learned to speak up for herself. After Joe passed away, the marriage with Tea Cake is what allowed Janie to completely discover her identity.…

    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays