In life, many people will
end up in numerous relationships until they find the one person they love and
want to spend the rest of their life with. Many of times, people think they
have found their “soulmate”, and end up getting married but later realize they don’t
belong with this person, and end their marriage. Janie has been in three
relationships in her life, searching for the right person to spend her life
with.
In our society today, it
is quite normal for couples to break up and marriages to end. Divorce rates are
higher now than ever. In the time period Janie lived in, divorce was not a
practical solution to unhappy marriages. Janie had been married to Jody Starks
for a long time, but towards the end of their relationship, Janie had had
enough of dealing with his behavior towards her and finally stood up to him one
day. Afterwards, Janie had felt guilty about the things she had said about him
and sought advice from her friend Phoeby. Phoeby tells Janie that “Its too late
fuh y’all tuh be splittin’ up and gittin’ divorce.” (Hurston, 82). Janie stays
with Jody until the day he dies, even though she was unhappy with the way he
was treating her.
The first two
relationships Janie was in, were unsuccessful for her, but when she meets Tea
Cake, her love life takes a turn for the better. Janie meeting Tea Cake is a
symbol for her gaining strength and stability in her life. In her previous
marriages, Janie was forced to suffer under female oppression. Tea Cake was the
one person Janie was with that made her feel like “she had known him all her
life.” (Hurston, 99). Janie finally felt like she had meet someone who
understood her and didn’t disrespect her and she was happy. She was becoming her
own person, and the independent woman that Nanny had hoped Janie would become.
Love is a difficult concept to understand. Marriages can end in numerous ways whether one gets annoyed with the other, domestic abuse, financial discrepancies, etc. You brought up a good point about Janie's numerous marriages. If you think about Kris Jenner, she's had 2 marriages end in divorce. Kim Kardashian West has had 3 weddings. Like mother, like daughter? Nanny did not have a present partner in her life. Neither did Leaf. So for Janie to be married numerous times it does not seem to be a surprise. Which leads me to think: is their a connection between previous generations love lives?
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought up the time period and divorce, I never thought about how rare it was for someone to divorce back then. It's so familiar in our society today, I hardly gave it a thought. Janie never divorced anyone; she ran away from Logan and was stuck with Jody until death parted them. I think once Janie followed her heart, and not what other people said, is when she was truly happy.
ReplyDelete