Their Eyes Were Watching God

Essay 5

        Janie was married a total of three times, and all of her husbands have a significance that tie in with what situation she is facing. Like many characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God, names represent demeanor and personality. Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Vergible Woods, all three men that impacted the course of Janie’s life in a negative way or in a good way. In the end, all that is known is that Janie is happy with all the decisions she has made throughout her lifetime as a freed slave.

        Logan Killicks, Janie’s first husband, is an old hard working man that really doesn’t understand Janie from the beginning. Hurston uses name significance to demonstrate the conflicting personalities of Janie Crawford and Logan Killicks. When Janie is but sixteen years old, Nanny, her grandmother, pressures her into marrying Logan. According to the dictionary, another word for killicks is an anchor, especially one made of a stone in a wooden frame. Logan is harsh, callous, and unaffectionate and is contradictory to what Janie longs for in a man. This makes Logan exactly what his name means to Janie because she is not free to be who she is and evolve as a young lady. Logan is also much older than Janie and as an older man there is not much time for other things other than work; he is essentially anchored to his work and the farm that they live on and is content with staying there forever. Janie is more adventurous and doesn’t want to be tied down. Logan also threatens to “kill” Janie which essentially ends the marriage and she meets a more adventurous man named Jody Starks.

        When Logan goes away, Janie runs off with another man named Jody Starks. Jody is a bit different than Logan, in a sense, that he has a different outlook on life. Jody is younger, charming, confident, and wants to be a big name in the town they run off too together. He brings money, charisma, and a young bride to a developing town. In the beginning, Jody is everything Janie has been longing it for it seems. Once Jody is elected mayor of Eatonville, things began to change for Janie and her marriage. Joe's immense self-confidence leads to control, a lust of power. One sure object of his control is Janie. He tells her the role to play in the marriage, and it is one of service to Jody. Any idea of consulting her about his business affairs is far from his mind. As the years go on, he finds it easier to belittle Janie and tear her down. He tells Janie she is not smart enough to play checkers and makes her wear her beautiful hair up. In the end we begin to realize that Joe did not marry Janie for love, but as a trophy wife. Power, position, and property rule over Jody Starks. Janie’s happiness with Jody was short lived, in a sense it was a stark of happiness but slowly loses passion and love.

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