Their Eyes Were Watching God (Chapter 7-10)

While reading Chapters seven through ten, many emotions ran through my head. At the beginning of chapter seven, we see the defeat Janie feels. She eventually gives in to Jody’s cruelty and begins to lose her own spirit due to this. Just like in the past chapters Janie feels that she has two different sides of herself. One side where she takes Jody’s cruelty and is an obedient wife, and another side that holds her true emotions and thoughts.

When Jody’s health began deteriorating, I saw this as a sign of hope for Janie. For the most part, I was wrong. Jody’s poor health led more vicious and frequent verbal attacks. In my mind, this was only a ploy to mask his own insecurities, but at the end of chapter seven, Janie refuses to take this treatment any longer. My favorite part of tonight’s reading was when Janie stood up for herself and released the built up anger within her. This of course results in Jody lashing out and hitting her, but Janie feels a sense of liberation.

After this fight, Jody begins to avoid Janie at all costs. She embarrassed him and he hates her because of that. To me, it is ironic how he believes this upsets her and harms her while in reality it almost has the opposite effect. Janie’s true character continues to shine when she still wants to see him one last time. When they talk for the last time, I saw this as the second sign of liberation for her. The readers can almost feel the weight being lifted off Janie’s shoulders during their last argument. Though it is a sad argument it is necessary to Jody to feel the pain he has caused Janie.

When Jody dies, Janie is free. Another one of my favorite parts of tonight’s reading is when she lets her long hair down. This signifies the two different parts of Janie unifying and her true self being able to come back out. However, it was interesting to me how Janie still felt this sense of division within herself after the funeral. She feels free and calm inside but on the outside, she masks her emotions and has to seem sad and heartbroken. Even after Jody’s death, Janie is still masking her true emotions for him.

As time passes by Janie is seen as a wealthy single woman and men begin to approach her, but of course, with her newfound sense of freedom, Janie does not want to be imprisoned by another man. The encounter Janie has with Tea Cake is nice and refreshing, but I am afraid that this could end up like her past relationship with Jody and only be good for a short time. Some questions I have are: How do we think Janie really feels when Jody is dying? Is she sad? Happy? Or both? 

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Chapters 5 and 6

Chapters 5 and 6 of Their Eyes Were Watching God struck me as the most important ones thus far for many reasons, but above all else because Janie comes to the realization that her role as a woman and person is much more than what her husband, Jody Starks, thinks it should be. It becomes very apparent that the power of being the mayor of Eatonville has truly gone to his head, and he takes this out on his fellow neighbors and especially his wife Janie. His flaunting of wealth and power makes the townspeople resent him, but they do not even attempt to challenge his authority, which essentially enables him to continue to alienate them. The beautiful home that he and Janie resides in makes those around it look like servants' quarters, which is one of the many ways that he starts showing the difference between himself and the rest of the town. As Jody starts to build up the town of Eatonville the best that he can, he gains an increasing amount of control over the people and things in it as well.

After Jody Starks buys Matt Bonner's mule for five dollars so that it can rest, the whole town considers his liberation of the mule to be a noble act. This action was even compared to Abraham Lincoln's emancipation of northern slaves. However in my eyes, this seemingly pure act does not overshadow the fact that on the inside he is still a power hunger man who will do anything to assert his dominance and nobility over others.

Janie first begins to notice Jody's controlling nature when he refuses to let her give a simple speech when he is named mayor of the town. By not allowing her to speak and taking her voice away, Jody is facilitating the loss of Janie's identity and self-worth. Another way in which Jody asserts control over Janie is when he makes her put her hair up while working in the store. His reasoning for this is in all ways selfish, as he is jealous of other men getting a glimpse of her beauty. The last straw for Janie is when she is listening to and enjoying a skit about courtship, and her husband makes her stop and do a chore for him. Not only this, but he gets angry with her for "misplacing" something in the town's store, and starts insulting her intelligence and capability to complete simple tasks. These seemingly small instances accumulate over time, and lead Janie to the realization that she is extremely unhappy in this marriage, and that she must stand up for herself unless she wants anymore verbal, emotional, and or physical abuse to come her way.

By the end of this reading, it is evident that Janie has opened her eyes and is embarking on the journey to find herself and her purpose, aside from being "Mrs. Mayor" or Stark's wife. Although she was initially attracted to Jody because of his ambition, she learns that this very characteristic hinders her from having any individuality and stops her from achieving any of her dreams. Janie's outburst at the end of chapter 6 serves as a way for her to start developing her own voice, regardless of what her husband or the town thinks.

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Chapters 1-4

After reading the first four chapter of Their Eyes Were Watching God, I felt so many different emotions. I was taken aback by Nanny's dedication to raising Janie the best way that she possibly could. Nanny made so many sacrifices to ensure that her granddaughter grew up with the best possible life without either of her parents. She scraped up as much money as she could to buy a little piece of land away from the house of the white people in order to save Janie’s pride. She even took care of Janie when her own mother left her behind. Instead of thinking of herself in her dying days, Nanny organized Janie's marriage to Logan to make sure that her granddaughter would have someone to turn to after she died. I cannot help but admire her for all that she did for her Janie.

I was also heartbroken for Janie's loss of innocence and hope when she ultimately realized that marriage does not make love. It is so hard for me to imagine being set up to marry someone that I was not able to choose. I was stunned when Janie decided to run away to marry Joe and leave Logan behind, because her decision seems very selfish to me. However, it makes me wonder if Janie is running away to be with Joe, to live a life of luxury, or simply to make a change in her unsatisfying life.

In class I would love to talk about what drove Pheoby to stand up for Janie to her friends in the first chapter. Are Pheoby and Janie old friends? Or is Pheoby simply more empathetic towards her situation? I was also curious as to where Janie's husband, Sam, was. Janie says that he is gone, but what exactly does she mean by that?