Subjects:
In Zora Neale Hurston’s "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Janie, a southern black woman, finds herself in several bad relationships before finding true love. Throughout the novel, being a dynamic character, Janie changes her ways in between each relationship. In Hurston’s book, Janie grows from a wanderer to a martyr, before finally becoming a warrior.
Janie’s life began when her grandmother raised her in west Florida twenty years after the civil war. Her conscious life began at age sixteen when sitting under a pear tree. At first, a reader could compare Janie to an orphan, but after being forced to marry Logan Killicks, she quickly becomes a wanderer. She moves with him to his sixty acres of land, and after discovering that she doesn't love Logan, she soon abandons her hope that she will grow to love him eventually. Rather than her deteriorating marriage, Janie desires "things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think". This is perhaps her first experience of true independence, a goal shared by many wanderers. She later met Joe and finds that he is unlike most other black men. She soon flees from Killicks to pursue a relationship with Jody
. . .
A man walked into the unoccupied shop and Janie began to forgo yet another change. Not only did she grow, but she made Pheoby realize her life could be better too. When Pheoby confronts her however, she says, "Dis ain't no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. After moving to the Everglades, Tea Cake finds a job and a place for them to live. As expected of a warrior, she rids of the force by hitting Tea Cake and demanding an answer. That made Janie feel very uncomfortable, and as "A feeling of coldness and fear took hold of her. However, when the storm gets bad enough they are forced to leave. Ah ain't satisfied wid mahself no mo'" Throughout her life, Janie had to do a lot of work, but like any true warrior would expect, it came with a prosperous reward; love. She felt far away from things and lonely. While attempting to kill the dog, he is bitten on the face. Like a martyr, she searches for goodness and cares of her own. She also sees that Jody is unlike others, expressing an almost fear of conformity. The hardest thing she could have done was to kill her one love, but being a warrior, Janie was able to prevail. In the final stages of Jody’s life, her relationship is shown through Janie’s sacrificing of herself to care for Joe.
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