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Character Analysis Of Janie In Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Janie, in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an example of a person on a quest. Even though they cannot come close to understanding what Janie has been through, all of the women in the town judge Janie for her looks, actions, and life choices. They believe that Janie thinks she is much better than all the rest of them. The women tell Phoebe, Janie’s best friend, “Don’t keer what it was, she could stop and say a few words with us” (Hurston 3). As Janie tells her life story to Phoebe, to satisfy the minds of the gossiping women, she seems to be reassuring herself too. By recalling all her memories and past events in her life, Janie can see all of the mistakes she has made that led her to realize the importance of her life quest, her fight for freedom, love, happiness, and self-revelation. …show more content…

Janie has been through hard times, even as a young girl. She lived with her grandmother who took care of her because her mother ran off when she was young. It is because of her grandmother, who wants to be in control of Janie’s life and wants the best for her, that Janie ends up marrying a rich man and getting a good education. However, this is not what Janie really wants. Janie is more interested in happiness and love than being rich, high class, and educated. Her grandmother wants Janie to live the life that she herself could not live. Janie’s grandmother says, “Ah been waitin’ a long time, Janie, but nothin’ Ah been through ain’t too much if you just take a stand on high ground lak Ah dreamed” (Hurston 16). This is only the beginning of Janie’s journey. By listening to her grandmother’s advice, Janie is able to realize what she truly wants out of life and continues her quest to find

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Hurston describes the transition Janie makes from being identified by others to recognizing her self worth. “The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the her handkerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (Hurston 170). The author uses the handkerchief to symbolize how people and objects have constantly covered and concealed the true beauty that Janie has never been able to embrace.

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In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist Janie, is influenced by others to change her ideals. Hurston vividly portrays Janie’s outward struggle while emphasising her inward struggle by expressing Janie’s thoughts and emotions. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening the protagonist is concisely characterized as having “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions,” as Janie does. Janie conforms outwardly to her life but questions inwardly to her marriages with Logan Killicks, her first husband, and Joe Starks, her second husband; Janie also questions her grandmother's influence on what love and marriage is.

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s happiness and self-fulfillment greatly depended on the man whom she was in a relationship with. From, the beginning of the novel, Janie never followed the path that had the utmost value to herself; She always settled for what other people thought was best for her. This made Janie never quite content with her situation and caused her happiness and self-fulfillment to be hindered by her circumstances. The horizon, a motif representing dreams, wishes, the possibility of change, and improvement of ones’ self, is the point in which Janie’s journey of self-discovery is illustrated by.

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Janie shows determination as she persists and struggles to define love on her own terms through her marriages. First, her determination shows when Janie runs away with Jody. She becomes aware that her marriage with Logan does not satisfy her goals and dreams for love, so she takes a chance and marries Jody. Hurston states, “Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south.

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Janie Crawford Killiks Starks Woods is the main character in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, where she learns what's it's like to go from marriage to marriage looking for love. In the novel, Hurston utilizes the pivotal moment when Janie realizes that marriage doesn’t always mean love to show Janie's coming of age and psychological development which is used to show that love doesn't always come first. Logan Killicks was Janie's first marriage, which was brought about after Nanny (her grandmother) decided that she need to be married after she caught Janie and a young boy kissing when she was 16. After that Janie finds herself being thrown into some random marriage with some man she barely knew, and for a reason

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Janie transforms into an independent woman who does not care about meeting the expectations of other people. As Janie walks down the street when she returns to Eatonville, some of the women of the town gossip about her. One woman asks, “What dat ole forty year ole ʼoman doin’ wid her hair swingin’ down her back lak some young gal?” (2). The Eatonville community is very confused as to why Janie has her hair down even though she is in her forties.

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Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see” (265). Hurston beautifully depicts this image of Janie’s soul emerging as a statement of her love for Tea Cake and of her vulnerability when she is with him. Likewise, at the end of the story, Janie calls on her soul to come out yet again at the moment in which she reflects upon her life with Tea Cake and in a way thanks him for allowing her to be free.

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Janie grows up shaped by the rules of the people and society. Never in her life is she free of expectations, opinions, and rumors. As a child, she is governed by her protective, often overbearing grandmother, Nanny, who did her best to give Janie her idea of the best future. When Janie angrily questioned her, Nanny defended her choices for Janie’s future, saying that she “‘can’t always be guidin’ yo’ feet from harm and danger… Don’t you set dere poutin’ wid me after all Ah done went through for you!’”

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Self-discovery is essential to a prosperous life. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie, the main character, discovers who she is through her relationships. Janie learns from each of her experiences, but the most significant are her husbands: Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake. Each of these people attempt to control her thoughts and actions, but Janie rebels against them. Janie stands up for what she believes in, and through these confrontations, she better understands herself.

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