Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis

649 Words3 Pages

In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford has two marriages, one that she is forced into by her grandmother, and the other her own choice. Both marriages end up showing that Janie is unable to have a husband so far that suits her,maven if she chooses them for herself. This would imply to most people that she's a poor judge in character, but being fair, one of the marriages she couldn't get out of, and the other had the groom charm her into going with him. Both husbands end up eventually making her fairly unhappy in different ways. Logan Killicks, Janie's first husband, is a self proclaimed hard working man who despises what he perceives as laziness. He takes Janie in because he feels he could make something …show more content…

He's a very compelling and charming person, and feels himself above people, and is fairly jealous, as to be seen when he is mayor of Eatonville and his interaction with Janie. Throughout multiple meetings, Starks ends up confessing that he wants to marry Janie himself, and sparks Janie to eventually abandon Logan Killicks to him where they get to a coach with a destination to Green Cove Springs, and end up at what is now called Eatonville, after the man who bought the land for the people there. He decides to buy up some land and start a shop and a post office, starting off the chain of events that eventually, as previously mentioned, leads to him becoming the mayor of Eatonville through popular vote. His interactions with Janie are fairly proportional to her appearances in chapters 5 and 6, that is to say, very little and put out of the way. He's very controlling of Janie,melting her what to do all the time, wanting her to take care of the shop and stay at home and not interact with the people, even though he himself does not go with his own dictations. He even makes her tie her hair up in a rag because of one of the townsfolk touching her hair. Starks feels he needs to put Janie on some sort of pedestal, to become a leader, without interacting with the people he intends for her to lead. An example of this behavior is when he decides to hold a funeral for a dead mule.