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The Curious Case of Janie


In “Their Eyes Are Watching God” by Zora Hurston, the main character, Janie, leaves readers with ambivalent feelings towards her. Everyone can agree that she is an independent woman as she does what her heart tells her. That could, however, present herself as an arrogant character. For example, Logan is the ideal husband for Janie according to her grandma. Janie would marry Logan, but then leaves him when she meets Jody. For some readers, this act by Janie is considered a betrayal. Logan never mistreated her or hurt her, but because Janie has an unrealistic idea of love, she thinks she would be better off with Jody. However, if you look at this from another perspective, you might find Janie to be the victim in all of this. Did she really wanted to marry Logan in the first place? No, her grandmother forced her into this marriage. Therefore, when she finds Jody, who fits her idea of love, it’s understandable why she left Logan. All of this happens after her grandmother’s death, so Jaine might not feel so obligated to her grandmother to stay with Logan. 

I initially didn't like Janie. She came off as a naive arrogant character, who has this crazy idea of love. As the story progressed, I started understanding Janie situation. She leaves Logan because their love is not true, but she finds it in Jody. She does remain loyal to Jody until he starts mistreating her. Even now, when is "dating" Tea Cake, I don't blame her. She is a widow and has the right to move on. 

That is my take on Janie. What do you guys think? Leave your opinions in the comments. 


Comments

  1. Minji ChoiOctober 18, 2019 at 10:01 AM

    I wasn't sure how to feel about Janie in the beginning. I didn't necessarily think that she's arrogant but I did think that she was a bit naive. However, as the story progressed, I began to sympathize with her situation as you said. I realized that she basically didn't get a choice in most things in her life and that led to her feeling trapped.

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  2. Nabeel BashirOctober 18, 2019 at 11:52 AM

    Very insightful post! Originally, I found Janie to be very annoying and ungrateful. I found myself to be on Nanny's side, mentally scolding Janie on how lucky she was to not have to go through all the things her ancestors did. But, similar to you, I began to slowly sympathize with her as I learned more about her.

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  3. Geoffrey DingOctober 19, 2019 at 12:35 PM

    Yes, I also felt the same about Janie too. I thought that Janie looked at life with a very hopeful way, looking to experience a movie like love story. Thus, when Janie started to complain a lot, I found her to be very ungrateful. Yet, I realized that Janie is actually very trapped in her life. It wasn't that she was looking for the great love life but just something that she has a choice in and experience for herself.

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  4. IsabelaOctober 20, 2019 at 11:19 AM

    I really did not see Janie as an arrogant person at all. I mean I am 16, and I, along with plenty of other 16 year old girls I know, speak in the way that she did about men. We idealize love, and what it could mean. Now I am not saying that this means that she is like us, but from my perspective, I just saw her as a strong woman in a generally bad situation.

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  5. NiiicoOctober 20, 2019 at 4:27 PM

    I don't really feel like she was arrogant. We, as readers, look at her situation from above and can criticize all she does, but I feel like she did many things out of just wanting love? I find what she did a little misguided, but she's really just a teenager and we all know how many dumb decisions we can do.

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  6. Eric RothOctober 20, 2019 at 8:57 PM

    I kind of agreed with her leaving Logan and moving on from Jody. I mean, her vision of love is very idealistic with the pear and all that, but what's wrong with chasing your goals? She never really loved Logan and if she wouldn't have left, she would have lived the rest of her life in misery. She even gave loving Logan a shot, but found she just couldn't do it, a sign she should move on. She just did what she thought would make her life better, not a terrible thing to do. Yes, she did leave Logan on his own, but he'll move on too (probably get married to another young girl idk). I never really held her in resentment and admired her doing what she thought would better her life

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