Janie

Janie, Oh Janie.
Throughout the novel 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' we see Janie as a character who seeks her own independence. She wants to achieve her goal of getting her true love. Although other factors tend to complicate her will to actually go toward her own goal. Take for example Granny, the lady that managed to take care of Janie for as long as she can remember, having a weak past in poverty she ALWAYS gives Janie the advice that she should look for someone to keep her at a stable balance with her needs maintained. Something that is evidently important, but not wanted by Janie. Janie just truly wants someone to make her feel as if the pear tree is to bloom, because of the love felt. The thing is that Janie decides to go on with the goals Granny made for her. She marries Logan who suits her properly, but ends up getting divorced because of the lack of feelings for him. Then she moves on to Joe who gave her sparks and allowed for her to feel loved, but after a while she tires of him always trying to achieve his proper goal of being someone important. After the death of Joe, also known as Jody, Janie feels free and relieved of all the things she had to put up with when Joe was alive. I can see where this falls because Joe never really gave Janie the freedom and confidence she deserved. He kept her under a shadow, prohibiting her from doing certain things. Take for example when the townspeople wanted Janie to make a speech, but Joe decided to lower her value by saying that she had no idea how to make a speech and that it was not a right placement for the mayor's wife. That deteriorated Janie's self confidence resulting in a flaw that she did not like coming from her husband. I can see where Janie was so annoyed and filled-up with the way Joe acted that it was too much for her to put up with, resulting in her faking that she was upset at the funeral when in reality she was not. Now I can see how Tea Cake plays  a major role, because he succeeds to go into her heart by allowing love to get in-between both of their souls. She feels for him what she hasn't felt for another and she manages to always want him back, for Tea Cake has not disrespected her or devalue her worth. It all relates back to her own ambition, of getting to be with someone who she truly loves and cares for, rather than having someone to maintain her but give her no feelings. I think she's a very big picture for this novel because of the fact that even through the bumps in her love life, she manages to go through and live on with her goal in mind: LOVE which is something that her heart is longing for. She is painted to be a strong woman who wants her own independence, but also wants a man to truly love her for her and not only maintain her. Since that is honestly not her full happiness.