Soon after her marriage to Logan, Janie quickly discovered that “marriage did not make love,” and essentially, she did not want to be with her husband (Hurston 25). So, not even a year into their marriage, Janie meets a new man, Joe Starks, with whom she runs away with. This event along with the statement Nanny made earlier, “You just wants to hug and kiss and feel around with first one man and then another, huh?” (Hurston 13) foreshadows that Janie will most likely meet different men and never stay committed to one relationship. Janie’s lack of parents as a guide for how she should live a respectable, married life will cause her to stay on the run. Even though Nanny tried her hardest to teach her, Janie is still influenced by the world's increasing liberties for women and her lack of guidance. She will never settle down and stay married. The very beginning of the novel even shows that Janie does not get married to Tea Cake, and she is a disgrace to the neighborhood because of it.
This theme within the novel connects to the song “Off to the Races” By Lana Del Rey. The song describes a girl who has a “flat broke down life” who is with a man who gives her “gold coins,” and “chases her all over town” (Del Rey). Joe Starks persuades Janie to escape her bothersome husband to live a novel life with him. He “buys her the best things” (Hurston 34) and together they went to new towns. Janie also raises “hell all over town” (Del Rey) with her lack of marriage. She is the topic of gossip among many of the women. The title of the song also specifically relates to Janie because “off to the races” means starting anew, which is what she decides to do. Essentially, this song portrays a girl who has a messy life and is confident about it, so she continues to live happily with whoever her mate is; this girl represents Janie.
Your title drew me in, but I must say that I was not expecting what you wrote! When you said of to the races I had in mind skin color for some reason unknown, however I ended up liking your title even more than I thought I would. I had not noticed that foreshadowing from earlier in the novel, I thought Nanny was just jumping to unfair conclusions. Janie is going around with different men- in a sense- and, as is known from the very beginning, she is not done jumping around just yet. She is racing to see if maybe love does exist because although she says that she no longer believes it does, she's unconsciously still in pursuit.
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