What is the measure of a life? This question has plagued philosophers for thousands of years. Everyone has their own answer, which helps each and every person work towards something. One prevalent answer that many people give is that a measure of a life is a measure of love and respect that person earn from those around them. This want to make impact on other people's lives is usually due to a predominant fear that many people have. A fear greater than death itself: Being forgotten. But for Janie, the main character of Their Eyes Were Watching God, She learns to overcome this fear. Instead, she is driven by her quest for happiness to interact with those around. Throughout her extensive life, Janie came into contact with a variety of character. Those she liked, she affected positively. Those she didn’t, she affected negatively. Janie affected people's lives differently depending her feelings toward them proving that members of a community can change a person depending what they think about them One life that Janie affected early on was that of her Grandmother. Nanny held great authority over her Granddaughter, and this was the main reason why Janie got married at such a young ag. Nanny wanted to see that her closest blood relation was safe in the care of another. Because Janie loved and respected her ‘Nanny’, she was willing to head into a marriage with Logan Killick, a rich yet boring old man. This let her Grandmother die with peace in her mind and heart. But what if Janie had decided to follow her heart and disobey her grandmother? A reasonable theory is that she would have been scoffed and gossiped about, and her Grandmother would have been unable to die in peace. Janie affected her Grandmother’s life in a positive way because she loved her, but what about Logan Killicks of whom she has no love for? Following her marriage to Logan Killacks, Janie begins to become unhappy with her monotonous existence. Her husband begins to order her around to do jobs she doesn’t want such as cutting wood. His reasoning for this is that “Mah fast wife never bothered me 'bout choppin' no wood nohow. She'd grab dat ax and sling chips lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten."(Hurston, 26) Because of this, Janie regularly talks back against her elderly husband’s commands. This attitude that Janie shows makes her husband feel frustrated. This escalates to feelings of anger, and eventually sadness when Janie leaves him for Joe. Although the text doesn’t go into depth about how Logan felt following this betrayal, it can be assumed that he would have been fairly upset by this betrayal, mainly due to the fact there’s a very substantial chance that he will be unable to find another bride. By being an aggressive instigator, Logan became the first victim in Janie’s quest for happiness. Following this unsuccessful union, Janie marries Joe Starks and enters the next chapter of her life. Janie meet Jody while he was on his way to all black town being built in southern Florida. His charm
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He was everything that Jody had lacked. Despite this, Janie entered this relationship cautiously. This was due to the failure of her last two marriages. She was also once again afraid of what her community might say about this relationship, seeing as how she around 10 years older than her suitor. Eventually, Janie's quest for happiness got the better of her, and she married Tea Cake. In this marriage, Tea Cake treated Janie more like an equal, although he still did do awful things such as beating her. The difference here was that Janie’s love for Tea Cake was greater than the physical pain she had to endure. Another difference in this relationship was that Tea Cake loved Janie back. In her past relationships with Logan and Jody, they really only played the part of husband without to much genuine feeling. Tea Cake loved Janie so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself for her when he got but by a rabid dog. This can be looked at as being similar to how Janie sacrificed her own happiness for her grandmother by marrying
He was everything that Jody had lacked. Despite this, Janie entered this relationship cautiously. This was due to the failure of her last two marriages. She was also once again afraid of what her community might say about this relationship, seeing as how she around 10 years older than her suitor. Eventually, Janie's quest for happiness got the better of her, and she married Tea Cake. In this marriage, Tea Cake treated Janie more like an equal, although he still did do awful things such as beating her. The difference here was that Janie’s love for Tea Cake was greater than the physical pain she had to endure. Another difference in this relationship was that Tea Cake loved Janie back. In her past relationships with Logan and Jody, they really only played the part of husband without to much genuine feeling. Tea Cake loved Janie so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself for her when he got but by a rabid dog. This can be looked at as being similar to how Janie sacrificed her own happiness for her grandmother by marrying