Kyra Woodley
June 3, 2013
English 2nd hr

Healing Through Hurt

Janie’s relationships of the past clearly mold her into the woman she becomes which creates the overall meaning of the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Janie undergoes many unfortunate events, but she is also a woman who never gives up. Despite her experiences with Logan Killicks whom she did not love, the death of husband she did love, and the act of self-defense that saved her life although killed a portion of her, she finds peace.

Janie was not always content with her life. It was with her first experience with the pear tree that she began to think of marriage as romance and she starts looking for happiness. She experiments by kissing Johnny Taylor which results in her Nannie forcing her to marry well off Logan Killicks. Janie learns very early that love and marriage are not the same after being forced to marry Logan by her grandmother who tells Janie that she will learn to love him. Nannie is wrong. Janie does not learn to love Mr. Killicks who is more than twice her age. Although, after Nannie’s death Janie contemplates leaving Logan and tells him and after meeting Jody “Joe” Starks she decides to leave him and go after her own desires.

Moreover, Joe Starks whom Janie marries has a romantic flair with Janie and treats her well or so she thought. That is until he tries to make himself a “Big voice” becoming Mayor of Eatonville that he begins pushing Janie aside by not allowing her to speak for herself, made her to dress in certain clothing being the Mayor’s wife, and required her to tie up her long hair because of jealousy. Joe also reminds her of how old she is and makes her feel little often. Eventually she does the same to him except he cannot handle the embarrassment and starts targeting her physically. Ironically Joe’s actions catch up with him and he is struck with an illness that kills him. Even though Janie does attend Joe’s funeral her mind is elsewhere and she begins to feel free