Janie (Their Eyes Were Watching God)

“She thought awhile and decided that her conscious life had commenced at Nanny’s gate. On a late afternoon Nanny had called her to come inside the house because she had spied Janie letting Johnny Taylor kiss her over the gatepost.” (Pg. 10)

Janie herself says that this was the moment her life began to take place. She was sixteen and blooming, this was when she became conscious of her sexuality. In this moment in the story we see Janie’s difference with her grandmother, who wanted her married right away before she turned out to make the mistakes she had made. Janie wants to experiment, but her grandmother realized that she was getting old and Janie would have to start taking care of herself soon (or be taken care of by Logan Killicks).

“So Janie waited a bloom time, a green time and an orange time. But when the pollen again gilded the sun and sifted down on the world she began to stand around the gate and expect things… She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.” (Pg.25)

This is the second stage in Janie’s growing up. She realized that she could not love Logan like she wished. That love does not come after marriage. This is when she begins to separate herself a bit from Logan. There is no romance between them from here on out, or before this for that matter, but at this time Janie is aware of it. Logan begins to treat her differently, making her work; this drives Janie farther and farther away. At the gate, Janie meets Joe.

“Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good.” (Pg. 32)

Janie decides to leave Logan, she decides that she doesn’t want that for herself, to not live and experience, and to never fall in love. Janie leaves to meet Joe, who makes her feel more important and wanted, she is ready for a new chapter in her life.

“She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was. It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered. But looking at it she saw that it never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams…She had no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man, neither any glistening young fruit where the petals used to be. She found that she had a host of thoughts she had never expressed to him…Things packed up and put away in parts of her heart where he could never find them. She was saving up feelings for some man she had never seen…” (Pg.72)

Janie was Joe’s trophy wife, he would not let her speak and made her work in the store. She always had to be dressed nicely and keep everything in order. Right before this “2nd epiphany” that Janie has, he slapped her for a badly cooked dinner. This “epiphany” is the second time that Janie realizes that she is not in love, that she is not happy or experienced enough. She has “feelings for a man she had never seen,” this means that Janie realizes that she will not be with Jody forever. She stands up for herself in for the first time in page 75.

“The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair…” (Pg.87)

Jody died and Janie felt a sort of relief. She lets her hair down to symbolize her freedom. From this point on, I believe Janie becomes more of an independent woman, thinking for herself, running her own business and just living life the way she wants to, but first she must play the role of widow. There are many men that seek Janie’s affection, but she finds interest in none of them.

“Tea Cake love me in blue, so Ah wears it. Jody ain’t never in his life picked out no color for me. De world picked out black and white for mournin’, Joe didn’t. So Ah wasn’t wearin’ it for him. Ah was wearin’ it for de rest of y’all.” (Pg.113)

I think Janie is fed up at this point. They are telling her Tea Cake, a man she met in her store, will take advantage of her. What they didn’t know is that he was actually working hard to earn Janie’s affection and asked nothing from her but love. Janie is standing up for her relationship. After this, she leaves to join Tea Cake and get married.

“So the very next morning Janie got ready to pick beans along with Tea Cake. There was a suppressed murmur when she picked up a basket and went to work…” (Pg.133)

This is an important moment in the book because until this point, it was a “deal-breaker” (as we called it in class) for Janie to do hard labor. She CHOSE to work; this shows her growth as a person and in her relationship with Tea Cake. She was becoming independent in a way, earning her own.

“Ah couldn’t love nobody but yuh. And in de second place, Ah jus’uh ole woman dat nobody don’t want but you.” (Pg.180) “No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep. Janie held his head tightly to her breast and wept and thanked him wordlessly for giving her the chance for loving service” (Pg.184)

Janie has been through so much with Tea Cake, especially the hurricane, that I think she has come to realize that she is old. She loves him and wants to care for him, knowing that he will probably die of rabies. I picked this quote because even though Janie said she hated her grandmother and mother, she is in a way “mothering” Tea Cake, even if it is through a romantic relationship. When Tea Cake dies, she realizes that he was her one true love, the one she dreamed of when she was 16.

“The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.” (Pg.193)

I believe this quote is significant, because it marks the end in Janie’s growth. She brought everything she learned to her “horizon”, the person within her. She is already evolved and she will always be happy.