Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie Character Analysis

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Autonomy can be described as having freedom and independence. Throughout the novel, Janie learns to have self-assurance without the support or love of anyone. However, some may describe Janie as a woman that needs a man in her life to make her happy. Considering all her obstacles, she always proved that statement wrong within all three of her relationships. Janie's first relationship was with a man named Logan. It was an arranged marriage that occurred simply because her nanny wanted some security for her when she had passed on. Janie listened to her nana and went into this relationship with high hopes and expectations, because from her knowledge marriage made love. She was soon disappointed when it was nothing like what she had believed, as quoted “Janie’s first dream was dead so she became a women”(25). Even …show more content…

He was a lad with big dreams to build a prosperous all black community. Janie admired his character and way of thinking. While Jody did give Janie more materialistic things than she could have hoped, her thoughts and opinions were always held back since Jody saw her more as a trophy wife, than an equal. At around 20 years into the marriage, Janie finally realized that Jody was nothing of what she had thought, “just something she had grabbed up to drape her dreams”(72). It is clear to state that Janie once again found her way back to where she is able to know what she wants. Although, the situation did not go as swiftly the way she had planned, she found it in herself to know that Jody was not someone that needed to be in her life, but someone that was just placed in the way. His death gave Janie a freedom that she had never known, but had always yearned for. A symbolic action of this was when Janie burned all of her head rags and wore her hair in a long braid(89). The head rags were a cage, and Janie was the bird who was now liberated to live life the way she wanted, with no ties or responsibilities to