Character Analysis Of Janie In Their Eyes Were Watching God

All-Natural
In a society defined by artificial hierarchies and man-made laws, Janie, in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, struggles to identify the true God amidst many impersonators. Janie first discovers her God in the pear tree blossoming in her backyard. She learns of the bliss of nature; a nature unburdened with societal hierarchies and without a script from which to read. The pear tree is the first glimpse of the all natural, raw God that Janie embraces. Her disregard for societal norms becomes evident in the fact that Janie thought that “[she] wuz just like the rest” (9) of her master’s children and did not realize, until later in her life, that her skin tone was different. Nanny first tries to circumvent this God by arranging

Nanny has the best of intentions for Janie, but Nanny inadvertently kills Janie’s spirit by trying to control Janie’s marriages. Janie, who has already begun to discover God and love in the “kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world” (Hurston 11), is not satisfied with the loveless marriage in which she was placed without her consent. Nanny, in her life and in this action, adheres to the rules of the world she grew up in. A world where “de [black] woman is de mule uh de world” (14) and everyone adheres to strict societal hierarchies. But the most obvious and prominent impersonator of God is Joe Starks. After her first loveless marriage into which she was forced by Nanny, Jody seems like the ultimate escape from a boring and harsh relationship with Logan Killicks. Because of his insecurities, though,, Joe attempts to constrain Janie and her feminine power. When Janie is offered the chance to make a speech, Joe, repressing Janie’s will, says “mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’... She’s uh woman and her place is in de home” (43). Jody kills Janie’s free will and prevents her from living life like she dreamed under her pear tree. Jody does everything in his power, from restraining her hair to making her wear uncomfortable dresses, to limit her