The way the author characterizes the main characters in Zora Neale Hurston‘s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried shows how people in any situation find friendship and love. Many of the characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God are defined by their thoughts and opinions on women, especially Janie’s three husbands. Logan and Jody don’t consider women to be thinking or feeling humans, and both of these men think they have the right to hurt a woman who they think is misbehaving. Tea cake, however, values Janie’s personality and company. He also feels the duty of being a husband- protect her from danger, etc. This makes it easy for Janie to fall for Tea cake and his qualities rather than Logan and Jody
They took up what others could no longer bear. Often they carried each other, the wounded or weak” (14). The brotherhood among men is shared by all. They are referred to collectively rather than individually. They carry each other whether it is physically or emotionally. Not only do the brothers rely on each other for entertainment and support, but more importantly their lives. The men trust each other to make no mistakes because one mistake could cause someone to lose their life. “You know you’re about to die. And it’s not movie and you aren’t a hero and all you can do is whimper and wait. This, now was something they shared. I felt close him” (201). Both of the men share the fear of death. The constant fear that their life might end at any moment. They must count on each other to survive. This trust of the soldiers in each other with their lives created the friendship and bond that helped them survive each day in Vietnam. When your life depends on someone else and that is the only person you see for months, friendships can easily form. Even though both novels portray a different story, they both give off the same meaning of how important love and friendship is to people. Death occurs frequently throughout each novel. Each having a lasting effect on the main character. Janie must deal with death of her second husband and must overcome it. Luckily she meets Tea Cake to help her. The more devastating death was the death of her true love Tea Cake. “Now