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Lovely People Do Stupid Things How is love to influence our lives? Love-struck people
do crazy things to express how they care for that particular person yet it is a long and
windy road to these actions. It is down this path that experience spawns and trouble and
happiness are felt. Janie Crawford of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching
God, shows the road through the steps of her three relationships. These relationships,
though not fulfilling ones, conclude in bettering Janie’s search and understanding of life.
Johnny Taylor, Janie’s first kiss and gatekeeper to her future, When Janie was sixteen,
she embarked on a sexual awakening. Johnny Taylor was a poor young man who lived in
the Florida area. Janie allowed him to kiss her over the fence. Unfortunately, Nanny saw
everything. With Nanny’s horrendous background of sinful deeds done to her, she wanted
the best for Janie. As she saw the kiss, the doors of life opened for Janie and Nanny
wasn’t going to have her make the same mistakes that she had. Yet, Nanny had been
impregnated under the circumstances of being a slave and this was not the case for Janie.
Nanny stated that “black women were the mules of the world”, but she didn't want Janie
to be a mule. She wanted to see Janie in a secure situation before she died, and Logan
Killicks could provide that. Janie did not want to marry Logan, but she did so because
Nanny told her “that she would eventually come to love him.” Ironically, Logan wanted
to force Janie into the servitude that Nanny feared. Also, he was disappointed that Janie
never returned his affection and attraction. If he could not possess her through love, he
would possess her by demanding her submission. At heart, his actions arose from the fear
that Janie would leave him. Two months after her marriage to Logan, Janie visited Nanny
to ask when she would start loving him. Nanny berated Janie for not appreciating Logan's
wealth. Although Logan pampered Janie for a year, he began complaining that she was
spoiled. That night, Logan criticized Janie for being spoiled and lazy. Janie voiced his
deepest fears when she suggested that she might leave him. Logan reminded her of her
family's reputation, hoping to hurt her feelings. Turning to these drastic of measures blew
Janie into a frenzy and she left with a smooth-talking gentleman that very next day. Janie
chose to leave Logan for Jody because he revived her dreams of love in marriage. Her
first marriage had taught her that marriage and love do not go hand in hand. However,
she still believed that love was the best motivation for marriage. Jody promised that he
would never turn Janie into a common pack mule. He promised her that she would reap
all the benefits of his work. His words eerily echo Nanny's dream of respectability and
financial security for Janie. However, Janie didn't marry Jody because of these promises.
She married him because he inspired the feelings she had experienced while sitting under
the blossoming peach tree when she was sixteen and the moment her womanhood
became crystal clear. Ironically, Janie's marriage to Jody was the very embodiment of
Nanny's dreams for her. Unlike Logan, he did not make her a pack mule. He gave her
financial security and respectability. However, the marriage was largely an unhappy
union. Janie could not be herself around Jody. Moreover, Jody still used Janie as a
garbage even though he gave her wealth and respectability. So it seems that Nanny's
worst fears and her highest hopes were realized in Janie's second marriage. It was until
one afternoon in the store that she met a lofty yet handsome young man who went,
strangely enough, by the name of Tea Cake. Tea Cake's courtship was different from that
of Logan and Jody. Janie's first marriage was more of a contract of sale between Nanny
and Logan than anything else. Janie's second marriage was an escape from the first one.
Moreover, it was based on disappointed dreams. Jody courted her by talking about
himself and his dreams. Tea Cake, on the other hand, pursued Janie with a more romantic
flair. Also, he allowed her equal footing in negotiating the terms of their relationship.
Gaining personal freedom was a two-fold process. First, she had to be free in her private
life, but she also had to free herself from restricting social attitudes. Only then could she
begin to heal the rift between her outside self and her inside self. She feels that what she
has learned from her relationship with Tea Cake cannot be conveyed through words. Selfrealization is a personal journey that can only be made through gaining life experience.
Therefore, Janie acknowledges the flaws inherent in retelling her life, but she does not
necessarily undercut the importance of having found her voice. Neither does she undercut
the benefit of sharing her story with others. She doesn't believe that her story should be
the single, authoritative guidebook to self-realization. It can, however, inspire others to
re-examine their lives.