Characterization of Nanny

     Every novel has a supporting character that brings humor, wit, and truth to the plot. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, it is Nanny. Nanny has had the chance to care for a child once again with Janie, and she does not take it for granted. When Janie’s interest in boys begins to blossom, at first we assume that Nanny is filled with malice, but it is only a cloak for her disappointment. “Ah don’t want no trashy nigger, no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor usin’ yo’ body to wipe his foot on” (Hurston 13).” Janie’s grandmother only wishes the best for her granddaughter. She does not wish for Janine to turn out the same way as Leaf.
     When Nanny slaps Janine all of her aggravation is left in the sting of her action. Nanny has worked long and hard to provide an education for Janine so she can “pick from a higher bush and a sweeter berry” (Hurston 13).But with Janine trying to skew away from the path already laid out for her Nanny must give her the stone cold truth. In the day an age of this novel, ”De nigger woman is de mule uh de world” (Hurston 14).
     Fortunately, Nanny is not the villain. She gives tough love with a dash of humor. Some may call her Suga Momma with her metaphor filled speeches and jokes that do not discriminate towards her age (“Mah ole head ain’t gray enough” (Hurston 14)). She will talk to Janine about “[getting] knocked up” (Hurston 22) one second to calling her out on how good her life is the next. She is like the modern-day Joan Rivers, who was not the face of Fashion Police for nothing. And with all of those characteristics, she is able to help Janine through her years into adulthood.