In Their Eyes Were Watching God, there is a lot of symbolism, used especially to represent feelings, thoughts, points of view and even the own lives of the main characters. Janie's life was often related and compared to a mule's life, because she was a hard-working, oppressed and mistreated woman for much of her life.
             The first time Janie's life was related to a mule's, was when her grandmother, Nanny, explained to her: "De nigger woman is de mule uh the world so fur as Ah can see"(14). This meant Janie, as an African-American woman would have to obey everything she would be told, no matter what she thought or how she felt, because no one would really care; she would have to bear all the abuse and the insults coming especially from white men: "Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out"(14). In conclusion Nanny was just preparing her granddaughter for her future life as an African-American woman so that she would not be caught by surprise. To prevent all these mistreatments her grandmother wanted her to marry a man with the capacity to assure Janie a safe future in order for her to stop the chain of suffering in her family and be more secure (13-15).
             After Janie married the man her grandmother wanted, Logan Killicks, he began treating her demandingly, as he treated his mules, not caring for her feelings or what she had to say; the only thing he said when she tried to complain was "You done been spoilt rotten" (26), or he would just compare her to his ex-wife whom he also treated as a mule (26). Unfortunately for him, Janie was not this kind of person and decided it was better for her to look for a different way of life in which she would not be treated as a mule and she could do whatever pleased her, not what a man that did not even care about her feelings told her to do.
             One day just after she was done cleaning her house, Janie sat down in...