This novel was written in 1937, which means that this was written at a time where women, especially young women, had no say in their lives. They were told what to do by the elders in their family, in Janie’s case this is Nanny but in many cases it was the father or eldest brother in the family. Therefore, when Nanny caught Janie having her first kiss with Johnny Taylor, a local boy who did not come from money, she decided that it was time for Janie to be married off. She insisted that Janie marry a man named Logan Killicks who was a middle aged, wealthy, and a farmer. Janie was only 16 when Nanny decided it was time for her to marry this man and didn’t want to do this, but Nanny insisted that she marry him because she needed a man and his money