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Juarez 1
Megan Juarez
Nov. 7, 2012
To Live, Love, and Grow
A woman living “between her hat and her heels” must live a very confined lifestyle (p.
76). In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of a character named
Janie Mae Crawford who was confined to the measurements of her own body. Hurston uses her
anthropological experience to portray how life was like for an African American woman in the
early twentieth century. Janie, the novel’s protagonist, is a middle-aged African American
woman who loses herself between what she wants and what her peers want of her. At a young
age, Janie is married to her first husband, Logan, which was arranged by her grandmother. The
marriage leads to separation due to Janie’s frustration with how controlling her husband
becomes. Bored in the kitchen, Janie runs off with another man, Joe, who spoils her with fancy
clothes and honors her with the title of the mayors wife. Still, he shelters her off from the world
which makes her more stir-crazy than she was before. When Joe dies, Janie is freed to love and
live as she pleases. A man named Tea Cake enters her life at the nick of time, and saves Janie
from the fenced off life she had been living in for so long. Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake
plays as the most significant in her life because unlike Logan and Joe, Tea Cake encouraged
Janie to live and love freely which ultimately helped her grow as her own person.
Hurston begins the novel with Janie returning home alone to Eatonville, Florida, after a
very long absence. Out of concern, her friend Pheoby sits by Janie’s side as she decides to finally
open up about her life. She begins by revealing that she, and her mother, was a child of rape. Her
mother had abandoned her and in lieu of this, her grandmother, Nanny, raised Janie as her own.
Juarez 2
Janie’s grandmother was a very important part of her life because she was the only one to help
guide and protect Janie. Growing up as a slave, Nanny develops a very strict view on their
society and imposes her opinions on Janie. She feels it is very important that Janie marries at a
young age to a dependable man so that Janie does not have to support herself because it is hard
for a woman to be independent. It is when Nanny sees Janie kissing Johnny Taylor, a “trashy”
boy from their same town, that Nanny feels it is time that Janie recognizes what she is doing with
her life. Hurston describes this as “the end of her childhood” (p. 12).
This is the time that Nanny tells Janie she is a woman, and she cannot be wasting her
time with men who will not support her. Although Janie reveals the kiss was nothing of serious
intentions, Nanny informs her that she must marry Logan Killicks. Logan Killicks is the safest
choice for Janie because he is an average man who has financial stability and a good reputation.
Nanny is concerned because she is growing old and she will not be able to take care of Janie
forever. Despite Janie’s protests and lack of feelings for Logan, Nanny forces her to marry him
and Janie abides to the marriage out of respect for her grandmother. Nanny reassured Janie that
she would grow to love Logan. However, a few months after their wedding, Janie confides to
Nanny, “‘Cause you told me Ah mus gointer lover him, and, and Ah don’t. Maybe if somebody
was to tell me how, Ah could do it” (p. 23). Janie tried to love him like she was told to, but she
could never bring herself to do it. Eventually, Logan feels that he gives everything to Janie and
she is not appreciative of it. He recognizes her lack of feelings for him and becomes bitter about
it. When telling her to clean up the manure, Janie responds, “You don’t need mah help out dere,
Logan. Youse in yo’ place and Ah’m in mine” (p.31). She did not care to help Logan and would
rather keep to herself in the kitchen. While mourning her grandmothers death, Janie decides to
Juarez 3
leave Logan despite how hurt he might be. Janie realizes that she cannot learn to love someone,
which is a lesson that she recognizes once Joe Starks comes to town.
Janie meets Joe as he is passing through their town. They have an instant attraction,
therefore he stays around a little longer and they secretly meet up with each other on multiple
occasions. Janie’s attraction for Joe quickly turns into love, and he returns the same feelings. Joe
tells Janie, “if you think Am aims to tole you off and make a dog outa you, youse wrong. Ah
wants to make a wife outa you” (p. 29). Joe brings her to a town that he thought was prosperous
but actually turned out to be somewhat of a letdown. The town is rundown and does not even
have its own mayor, therefore Joe takes it upon himself to help rebuild the town. Joe starts new
projects, such as putting in the first street light, but his most major project was the building of a
new store. Janie was ordered to manage this store everyday. While with Logan, she was expected
to take care of the household chores and now that she is with Joe, she is still expected to fulfill
certain responsibilities that do not allow her to branch out and live freely. Joe was fulfilling his
own American Dream by being the mayor and gaining more wealth. Janie helped fulfill this
dream of his by standing aside him as his trophy wife. She was the prettiest woman in town and
it did not help that her long, thick black hair was admired by all the men. Joe had seen how the
men often looked at her and demanded Janie to wear her hair up when working in the store,
which was everyday. Joe kept Janie on a tight leash. He stated aloud that Janie is, “uh woman
and her place is in de home,” (p. 43). It is not until Joe becomes sick and is on his death bed that
Janie finally speaks out about how he’s tucked her away for only his advantage. As sad as it was
for the town, Janie feels a relief when she lets her hair down after Joe dies. First, she was owned
by the hands of Logan Hillicks, then strangled by the hands of Joe Starks, and was finally left to
rest with her own self.
Juarez 4
After Joe dies, Janie still runs the store everyday. It is in the store where she meets her
soon to be third husband, Tea Cake. Although he is significantly younger than her, they fall in
love with each other and move to the Everglades. Tea Cake differs so greatly from Logan and
Joe for a variety of reasons. His young age allows him to be more in touch with his feelings. He
flatly tells Janie how he feels for her and how she makes him feel. Most importantly, he shows
that he cares how he makes Janie feel. Logan and Joe never stopped to consider how their actions
were effecting Janie. Even when they did notice she was unhappy, they did not do anything to
change that. Tea Cake loves Janie so much that he will do anything to make her happy. He works
hard and even risks physical fights when gambling to bring home money to support her.
Alongside with supporting her emotionally and financially, he encourages Janie to live more
freely. When they first meet, he teaches her how to play checkers, a game Joe thought Janie to be
too naive for. Tea Cake also takes Janie on spontaneous fishing trips and flaunts her around
town. He consistently shows his love and appreciation for Janie. When their town was hit by a
hurricane, Tea Cake carries Janie on his shoulders as he swims to find a safer place for her. He
even threatens his own life when saving Janie from a dog which bit his cheek while defending
Janie. Little did they know that this dog’s bite would leave its revenge in Tea Cakes health, for it
was a mad dog and he acquired a disease from it. Tea Cake turned just as crazy as the mad dog
that bit him and pointed a pistol towards Janie. Out of defense, she held her rifle straight back at
him. Their guns “rang out almost together,” and Janie had killed her one true love. Hurston
describes the incident as “the meanest moment of eternity” (p.184).
Janie did not want to kill Tea Cake. She did, however, know that there was no other way
to rid this mad dog out of his body. Tea Cake’s death is so devastating for Janie because he is the
first man she truly loved. Earlier in the novel, Tea Cake feels bad for bringing Janie into the mess
Juarez 5
of the hurricane. She reassures him, “But you come ‘long and mad somethin’ outa me. So ah’m
thankful fuh anything we come through together” (p. 167). The conditions they lived under
together were no matter for Janie, as long as they were together. Tea Cake gave Janie the
freedom to be herself. She was able to love and to be loved without being pressured or
influenced by any outside factors. Her first marriage was arranged and her feelings were not
considered by anyone else taking part. Although Logan could financially support her, he could
not support her being her own person. Just like Joe, he kept her in a specific corner to fulfill his
expectations instead of freeing her to the world they lived in. Joe counted on her to be an
accessory to his success. He achieved wealth, a steady career, and the beautiful wife. He did not,
however, achieve true love. Instead of loving Janie, he used her, and she got tired of being used.
All Tea Cake wanted from Janie was her love, and she gave that to him because he let her love
him. She was not forced to be with Tea Cake. He welcomed her with open arms and she fell
gracefully.
Janie was not able to grow as her own person while with Logan and Joe because of how
controlling they were. Tea Cake was the release that Janie needed in her life. It was Tea Cake
who convinced Janie that she is a beautiful person. He showed her that love has no boundaries
and by doing so she was able to understand how she can love not only another but herself. With
Tea Cake, Janie was able to explore what she was prohibited to explore before. From learning to
play a simple game of checkers to swimming through the waters of a hurricane, Janie finally
learned how to live outside of a shell. When Joe dies, Janie promises herself that she will wear
her hair down and experience the world at her leisure, and Tea Cake helped her in doing that. In
the ending, Hurston describes the peace Janie feels that she has accomplished. Janie “pulled in
Juarez 6
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” (p. 193).
Juarez 6
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” (p. 193).