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In the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, we learn that failed relationships are just as important to character development as thriving ones. Zora Neale Hurston unfolds the story of a young black woman struggling with finding herself due to a lifetime of being told that she isn’t good enough. Within every relationship, Janie gains a new piece of herself. This leads to her developing into a strong, independent, and confident woman.
In Janie’s first marriage, She marries Logan Killicks. Not because she loves him, but because she wants to please her grandmother. From her time in a relationship with Logan, she learns the importance of actually loving someone before committing to a long-term relationship. Logan is old, ugly, and disgusting. All of which she is the complete opposite of. Janie Complains one night to her grandmother because she’s not able to receive any affection from Logan. She brings herself to tears thinking about spending another night with him “Ah’d rather be shot than to turn over in de bed whilst he is in dere”. Janie suffered from the mental imprisonment of an affectionless marriage. She tried so desperately to convince herself that one day she'd grow to love him. Eventually leaving him to find new love
Soon after Janie meets a new man, Jody Starks. Jody promises Janie that he’ll treat her better than her last husband, and rushes to marry her. Little did she know that her new relationship would be far more tarnishing than her last. Jody can be described as a narcissist. He had a similar upcoming to what Janie had, being that he grew up around white people. Due to his upbringing, Jody is more wealthy than the average African American around him. He carries himself to be better than everyone else and wants Janie to live up to his standards. Jody didn’t allow Janie to talk to the poorer black men because “He didn’t want her talking after such trashy people”. He wanted her to be submissive and do whatever it was that he demanded. He even brought it upon himself to ask her not to show off her hair in an attempt to hide her beauty from other men. As years passed, Jody aged and his insecurities about getting older began to show. Janie being significantly younger than him, attempted to bring down her pride by berating her with insults about her age. He wanted her to believe that she wouldn’t be able to find anyone better than him, “Nobody in heat looking for no wife outta ya, as old as you are”. Janie grew tired of all of the slander from Jody and decided to stand up for herself. Janie insulted his manhood in front of a congregation of men, which surprised him because she had never stood up for herself before. Enraged and embarrassed by it all, Jody hits Janie and takes her home. Later on, Jody grew ill and died. After his death, Janie started to embrace her old age, and appreciate her single life far more than she would have if she had never experienced the unhappiness of his companionship.
In Janie’s final relationship, she meets Tea Cake. This time Janie is the oldest in the relationship. “Ah’m older than Tea Cake, yes. But he done showed me where it’s de thought dat makes de difference in ages”. Despite their age difference, Janie and Tea Cake got along pretty well. Tea Cake was much more emotionally involved with Janie, something which she had never experienced before in a partner. This time Janie can find herself being the Jealous one. When Tea Cake would talk to other women, she would find herself trying to lure him away from them. She learned what it felt like to have control. One day Janie lets her Jealousy get the the best of her to the point where she accuses Tea Cake of cheating. Janie runs over to attack him, yelling “Ah b’lieve you been messing around”. Denying the accusations, Tea Cake restrains her to get her to calm down. This occurrence showed how Janie started to project some of the abusive behavior that she had experienced in the past, onto Tea Cake. Amidst all of the cheating allegations, Tea Cake had been attacked by a rabid dog. The sickness from the attack had drastically changed his persona. Tea Cake had become more aggressive towards Janie, and the tables had turned. Janie was being accused of cheating because of her inability to sleep in the same bed with him due to the doctor's orders. All of a sudden he lashes out at her and tries to kill her. Out of self-defense, Janie defends herself, ultimately killing her husband. Janie’s ability to kill Tea Cake symbolizes her newly gained Independence and ability to stand up for herself.
Hurston ends her story with Janie being single and content after all of the trouble she’s been through. Strongly suggest that sometimes you have to go through darkness to get to the light. Seeing that within every breakup, Janie grew from the pain. Which lead to her discovery of self-reliance, determination, and dependence. All of which she may have not found if she had not been through unsuccessful relationships.
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