Their Eyes Were Watching God: Relationships

Words: 977
Pages: 4
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Paige Beckley
Miss Woods
Honors English 10, 1st hour
31 May 2016
Relationships
“There is a point in every young person's life when you realize that the youth that you've progressed through and graduate to some sort of adulthood is equally as messed up as where you're going” (Malone). People do not automatically become adults by turning a certain age, but rather the experiences and life lessons they have gone through up until that point. Relationships with family, friends, and foes can contribute to how quickly people grow up and reach adulthood. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Logan Killicks, Tea Cake, and Nanny all impact Janie’s transition from childhood to adulthood. Logan Killicks, Janie’s first husband, …show more content…
After her second husband died, Janie was not looking for a new relationship; she did not want to rush into anything. However, after Tea Cake came into the store one day and chatted Janie up, she was hooked on him. She ran away with Tea Cake and got married despite other members of the town judging her. Unlike her previous husbands, Tea Cake listens to Janie and does not silence her. Tea Cake said, "De way you looked at me when Ah said whut Ah did...t is— " (Hurston 126). One of the main reasons Janie loves Tea Cake so much is because he is so open with her, conceding his fear when he sees her displeasure and stating his determination to do anything to please her. Janie loves Tea Cake despite the abuse and jealousy he puts her through; she considers him one of the best things that has ever happened to her. Tea Cake said, "But ‘sposing you wuz tuh die now….door" (Hurston 159). Janie considers Tea Cake to be her light because he reminds her of what she should have been like when she was youthful rather than what she was like when she was married to Logan. Tea Cake brought Janie’s youth back to her after she thought it had been lost. He impacted her life in mostly a positive way by letting Janie have the freedom she desperately wanted after many years of being …show more content…
After Janie married to Logan, she came to Nanny with the worry of not loving Logan. Janie says, "Well, if he do all dat whut you come in heah wid uh face long…. love" (Hurston 23). Janie still believed the idea of love is essential to a marriage, and she thought that because she still does not love Logan, something is wrong. She truly wanted to love Logan and make the marriage work, but Nanny brushed off her worries as frivolous. In Nanny’s eyes, Janie should be happy with her property and status as a married woman, and love was irrelevant to her. In the same conversation, Nanny expressed how she felt about a woman's position in a marriage. Nanny says, "Don’t tell me you done...else!" (Hurston 28). To Nanny, a woman should take pride in having her husband’s children and unmarried women should be ashamed of getting pregnant. In Nanny’s eyes, a woman’s worth was defined by their position relative to men. Nanny taught Janie how to be an adult after she was with Logan, she told her how woman should be treated as an adult and how she should proceed with the situation. She forced her into being an adult before her time, into a loveless marriage and no way of getting out.
In Their Eyes Are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Logan Killicks, Tea Cake, and Nanny all impact Janie’s transition from childhood to adulthood. People can interpret relationships in many ways and have different meanings
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