Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie Character Analysis

Janie’s Growth as an Individual Janie, the main character in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, experienced a lot of growth of her personality and her life as a married woman. Her experiences in her life over the course of the book make her look strong and vulnerable. When she was married to Logan Killicks, she was very young and naive. In her marriage to Joe Starks, twenty years of abuse and yelling made her more strong as a person before his death. With Tea Cake, however, she was very happy. He saved her life in the hurricane of the Florida Glades, even though he eventually got rabies from the rabid dog that was onto Janie. This story makes life during the Harlem Renaissance look very harsh and segregated. However, Janie was strong …show more content…
She was very uncomfortable in marrying him too. However, her grandmother, who cared for Janie all through her childhood, was dying. She picked out Logan for her after “she spied Janie letting Johnny Taylor kiss her over the gatepost (10).” Logan was too old for Janie and it showed during their married life. As they worked on the farm, his looks were disgusting as his “belly is too big too, now, and his toenails look lak mule foots (24).” When she begs her Nanny for help, she wouldn’t, because as she was getting old, she wanted to see Janie happy with Logan. After her Nanny’s death, however, she became distraught and angry. However, when Logan was out of the house, she meets Joe Starks, who loves Janie and wants her to be happy with him. Janie agrees to marry him, but how does she leave Logan? The next morning, as Logan and Janie wake up, Janie asks Logan if she could run away. Logan gets really upset and threatens to kill her with an ax. Once Logan is out of the house, Janie leaves him and goes with Joe, and then are married before sundown. As she leaves with Joe, she hopes that her life will get better. Janie’s growth from child to young adult was difficult, as her Grandmother passes on, and her first husband is hard on her and somewhat cruel. Zora Neale Hurston uses Janie’s growth as her own problems in the Harlem Renaissance as a child. Her grandmother served as her mother as Janie and Zora were both in …show more content…
Janie wanted to help Joe, but he made her stay in the newly bought house of Eatonville, Florida and care for the house. After the town was built further, and Starks becomes mayor, he makes Janie work in the General Store. As she has little experience with how to handle products, like cutting up tobacco, Starks berates her and embarrasses her in front of everyone. Janie, however, fights back saying that “when you (Joe) git through tellin’ me how tuh cut uh plug uh tobacco, then you kin tell me whether mah behind is on straight or not (78).” With the arguing and the embarrassment in front of the whole town, Joe slaps Janie and takes her home. From there, it gets worse. Joe becomes sick and as Janie tries to help, he resists her further. When she gets the doctor, he tells her it is too late and that he will die. As she talks to Starks, she finally has enough. She tells him that “ You done lived wid me for twenty years and you don’t half know me atall. And you could have but you was so busy worshippin’ de works of yo’ own hands, and cuffin’ folks around in their minds till you didn’t see uh whole heap uh things yuh could have (86).” With that, Joe gets so worked up that he dies, leaving Janie free from the clutches of abuse. She gets on her mourning clothes and is happy to look her best. Janie now has the strength to fight back on the things she