Love vs. Independance

As we progress through Their Eyes Were Watching God, we encounter unique situations providing insight about Janie as a character. In Janie's first romantic moment, we see her freedom being immediately taken away after being married to Logan. At first glance, it makes sense given Nanny's background to secure Janie's future by marrying her to a wealthy land-owning farmer like Logan. However, it is more important to realize that Janie's sexual awakening leads directly to her sacrificing independence. On the other hand, Janie's relationship with Logan is a stark contrast to the pear tree scene. After being married off to Logan, one could argue that Janie sacrificed both love and independence. However, we see Janie leaving Logan on her own free will in order to secure a relationship with another man. Given that this story takes place in the 1890s, I think this is an extremely bold and independent move for a mixed woman in the south, proving that Janie is truly independent at this moment in time. As we learn later, this act of independence leads to Janie sacrificing her independence YET AGAIN, in order to become Joe's trophy wife. Unbeknownst to Janie, she fell in love with "Jody" which puts her right back where she started and takes away most of the power she felt after leaving Logan. Now that we have been introduced to Tea Cake, I am very interested to see if this will empower or enslave Janie. It seems that Tea Cake treats her as more of a person than her previous lovers, but we saw similar circumstances with Joe after they first met. I think we will see this idea of Love vs. Independence later in the story, and I can't wait to see how Janie develops as a character after each experience.

Comments

  1. Lauren L.October 19, 2019 at 6:50 AM

    Janie's marriages with Killicks and Starks were almost codependent, they both sought her out almost as an object and affirmation to their idea of masculinity and her silence enabled them. Tea Cake not only gives Janie space to be independent, he wants to learn more about her because he genuinely cares, this is the first step to a healthy relationship and I also am really excited to see where their love takes them and hear Janie's full story.

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  2. Nabeel BashirOctober 19, 2019 at 8:41 PM

    When I originally read this sequence of events, I became annoyed at Janie for doing the things you mentioned. Yes, she is very bold for leaving her insufficient relationship with Logan, but I first saw it as ungrateful of her. As I read, this changed of course, but I find it interesting how Janie's independence sparks different reactions among readers.

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  3. Eric RothOctober 20, 2019 at 8:26 PM

    In the title, it says "Love vs. Independence." but i don't think the two should be at odds. For example, Tea Cake is offering her a relationship which has both freedom and love in it, at least at the moment. Previously in the narrative, she has had neither. Even when she ran away from Logan, she wasn't truely independent as she was running away TO Jody in hope of a life away from Logan. She just went from being dependent on one person to another. That is the reason I am personally excited about Janie's relationship with Tea Cake and I wonder if their idyllic relationship will last.

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    Replies
    1. Jenna LeeOctober 20, 2019 at 8:29 PM

      I agree that the point being made here isn't that she has to choose one and sacrifice the other, it seems more that in her two relationships before she had neither love nor independence, but with Tea Cake it seems that she can have both. Rather than being at odds, they are more hand-in-hand.

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  4. JoshuaOctober 20, 2019 at 9:42 PM

    When she's with Tea Cake, she seems to love him, and he lets her maintain her independence by treating her as her own person who can do things like play checkers. He seems to care for her, and has put a lot more effort than her other suitors have to win her over. I feel bad for Janie, and at this point I hope things work out with Tea Cake.

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  5. Emi L.October 20, 2019 at 10:29 PM

    yeah i wonder where this is going with tea cake. Love is such a minefield, so much opportunity for corruption and abuse. I really hope it doesn't go down that route with tea cake--maybe they'll get lucky! I wonder how much blame we should really put on the men--is it all their fault they turned out like that? Society's pretty screwed up and it messes people up.

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