Their Eyes Were Watching God: The Evolution of Janie

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the protagonist Janie, goes through several phases throughout the duration of the novel. She changes from a young woman who is naïve and submissive to a woman who stands up for herself. Author Wendy J McRedie says that “Janie’s voice becomes the self actualizing voice of authority” (McCredie, 25). Janie goes from a submissive woman, both to the community and to her husband Jody, to a woman who doesn’t allow anyone but herself to influence her decision.
At the beginning of the novel, when Janie meets and marries Jody Starks, it is quite obvious that she is very submissive to her husband and lets him control her. One example of this submissive behavior comes early in the novel when Jody is named mayor and the town wants Janie to speak at a town meeting. Instead of letting Janie speak Jody interrupts and says “Mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin,. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place in de home” (Hurston, 43) This passage shows that Jodie is submissive to her husband and he has quite a bit of control over her life. The first half of the novel can be described as Janie desiring to have a voice in a world controlled by her husband who forces her to stifle her thoughts (McCredie, 27).
However, when Jody becomes sick Janie begins to change, she becomes braver and begins to speak out. Janie’s growth as a character and as a independent woman, begins to happen as Jody becomes ill and Janie realizes that she is able to escape from under the control of her husband. This can be seen as Jody lies on his death bed and Janie comes into see him, she tells him “You ain’t de Jody ah run off down de road wid. You’se whut’s left after he died. Ah run off tuh keep house wid you in uh wonderful way. But you wan’t satisfied wid me de way Ah was. Naw! Mah own mind had tuh be squeezed and crowded out tuh make room for your in mine” (Hurston 86). This shows that Janie is progressing as an individual and its no longer tolerant of having a man dominate her life.
Janie’s evolution and change as a character can be seen even further when she meets Tea Cake. After spending years with Jody, an abusive man, Janie is scarred and makes a decision to not allow herself to be dominated by him like she was with Jody. For example, after Tea Cake disappears and upsets Janie she responds by saying “Tea Cake, if you ever go off from me and have a good time lak dat and then come back heah tellin’ ,e how nice Ah is, Ah specks tuh kill yuh dead.” This is evidence that Janie is no longer going to let the men in her life walk all over her.
As the book continues Janie’s growth becomes more evident as she is able to fall in love with Tea Cake and they have a healthy loving relationship. However, the ending of the book is quite controversial. When Tea Cake gets rabies and tries to attack Janie she is forced to s hoot him. Some have interpreted this as being another act where a man attempts to stifle Janie, but I see it as the opposite, I see it as Janie finally growing enough to the point where she can firmly stand her ground against a man, even though it’s one she loves. The attack and shooting is not a message of dominance but the ending of a tragic romance. Author Jennifer Jordan writes “Tea Cake…falls in love with a lady, dedicates himself to making her happy, and sacrifices his life fighting the dragon” (Jordan)
This I ultimately shows how Janie’s growth has turned the tables, she has gone from a woman who was totally submissive to an oppressive husband to a woman who has a man she loves die for her.

Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale, Their Eyes Were Watching God. 1937. Harper Collins Publishers, 10 East 53r Street, New York, NY.
Jordan, Jennifer, “Feminist Fantasies: Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” 1988. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, Vol. 7, No. 1. Published by University of Tulsa.
McCredie. Wendy J., “Authority and Authorization in Their Eyes Were Watching God.” 1982. Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 16, No. 1. Published by St. Louis University.