Their Eyes Are Watching God Essay, Research Paper

Their Eyes Were Watching God: Janie Speaks Her Ideas

In life to discover our self-identity a person must show others what

one thinks or feels and speak his or her mind. Sometimes their opinions may be

silenced or even ignored. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main

character Janie would sometimes speak her ideas and they would often make a

difference. The author, Zora Neale Hurston, gives Janie many chances to speak

and she shows the reader outcomes. When dealing with all of the different

people Jaine faced, she would find a way to speak her ideas, receive a response,

and through this exchange she developed her sense of self-worth.

When Janie found a way to speak her ideas, they would have an impact on

everyone. Though, Janie did not always speak her ideas. She would often do

something that made an impression on someone. The first real action Janie took

was to leave her husband, Logan Killicks. By doing this, she has shown the

community that a person can not always be happy with material things when she

or he is not in love. Janie says, “Ah want things sweet wid mah marriage lak

when you sit under a pear tree and think.” She shows her grandma that she is

not happy with her

Janie’s next husband, Joe Starks was very nice to her and gave her

everything she wanted. When it came to Janie wanting to talk or speak her mind,

he would not let her, and that made her feel like she was less of a person than

he. Until one day, towards the end of their long marriage, when Jody made a

very mean comment about Janie’s body. She came back with, “When you pull down

yo’ britches, you look lak de change uh life.” After these words came out,

Jody hit her. These harsh words could never be forgiven. At the end of their

marriage, before Jody died she finally told him her feelings. “….And now you

got tuh die tuh find out dat you got tuh pacify somebody besides yo’self if you

wants any love and any sympathy in dis world. You ain’t tired to pacify nobody

but yo’self. Too busy listening tuh yo’own big voice,” said Janie.

Her final and most loved husband was Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods. She could

talk most openly with him. Once, she accused Tea Cake of having a liking for

Nukie. He quickly reassured her that he didn’t, and there was nothing to be

worried about. After Tea Cake’s death, Janie was too upset to wear mourning

clothes. She instead wore her normal outfit, overalls and boots. This shows

that her love for Tea Cake was so strong that she could not think about anything

or anyone but him.

Janie received many responses from her family and friends, when she

expressed herself. When she was young her grandma hit her for saying that she

was not interested in Mr. Killicks, and because she was kissing another boy

under the pear tree. At the cost of Jody’s embarrassment, Janie got smacked.

There were times when the whole town would not understand her actions,and she

would have to some how explain herself to the community.

Through speaking her mind to her different husbands, she was able to see

who really loved her and was interested in her opinions and ideas. Janie would

speak her ideas and, receive a response and through this exchange she developed

her sense of self-worth. When she spoke her mind, the people in the town were

able to reflect upon what she was saying. Her impact made people see her as

more than a simple house wife. Furthermore, when Tea Cake let her participate

in the work, it made her feel like she was worth something more than just a

wife. Tea Cake had given Janie the self-worth that she needed. He had given

her the confidence to pull the whole world onto her shoulders and she found

great happiness in his memories. She learned a lot through Tea Cake’s love and

she was very happy being with him. Janie’s marriage with Tea Cake was finally

like “sitting under a pear tree to just think.”