What Janie Learns From Each Marriage

        Janie Crawford is married three times to three different men, all before the age of 50. Her first

marriage is to a farmer named Logan Killicks. Logan expects Janie to work hard and help out on the

farm. Her second marriage is to a soon-to-be mayor named Joe Starks. Joe Starks expects Janie to

work in the store and act as an ornament to his career. After Joe dies, Janie marries her third husband

named Tea Cake. Tea Cake lets Janie be who she wants to be. From each of these marriages, Janie

learned an important lesson.

        When Janie is only sixteen, her grandmother basically forces her to marry a much older man

named Logan Killicks. Janie believes that once she is married, love will come soon afterward. Janie

soon realizes that she cannot learn to love someone, and she will never love Logan. Janie believes

that once she realized marriage does not make love, she becomes a woman. Her marriage to Logan

forces Janie to grow up and forget her childhood dreams. From this marriage, Janie realizes she wants

to love her husband and she cannot expect love to come from marriage.

        Janie runs away from Logan and marries Joe Starks, who soon becomes the mayor of Eatonville.

At first, Janie believes that she loves Joe and that this marriage is different than her first. As Joe gains

more popularity and power, he essentially forgets about Janie and her feelings. He begins to expect

Janie to work in the store for him and never do anything for herself. He begins to degrade Janie and

even hits her. Janie begins to hate Joe and cannot stand him. Janie eventually stands up to him,

realizing that she deserves more. From this marriage, Janie learns that a wife should be respected by

her husband. Love and disrespect do not go hand-in-hand.

        After Joe Starks dies, Janie marries a much younger man named Tea Cake. Despite her friend's

warning, Janie leaves Eatonville with Tea Cake to begin their life together. Even though Janie has a

few moments of jealousy, she is very happy with Tea Cake. Tea Cake lets her do things that make her

happy and always cares about her feelings. Tea Cake looks at Janie as his true partner, not just

someone he married because he had to. From her short marriage to Tea Cake, Janie learns that true

love exists and this is what she deserves to have.

My Thoughts on Janie

        Janie is my favorite character so far. I think she is the most relatable and easiest to understand. She appears to be a very strong woman for her time. It seems like she wants to be more independent than her time will "allow". Also, I think it is easy to be sympathetic for Janie because of her marriage troubles that we've seen so far. 

        Since the book started with Janie as a 16 year old girl upset with her grandmother's wishes for her, it is easy as a teenage girl to relate to her. Even though our parents aren't trying to marry us off, we sill have different expectations for our future than our parents might. It is easy to understand why Janie feels like she does, making her a fun character to read about. 

        At the time that this book takes place, women are expected to tend to the one and do whatever their husband wishes. This does not appear to be the way Janie wants to live. First, she leaves her first husband because of the way he orders her around and expects her to do what he wants. When Joe offers her a better life, she runs away with him. As time passes, she strongly dislikes the way Joe controls her and doesn't allow her to truly take part in the town. Janie wants more for her life than what is really available to her. 

        Janie spends the majority of her adult life feeling stuck in two marriages where she is unhappy. Logan wants her to help out on his farm, which Janie feels is not appropriate for her to do. She thought that eventually she would learn to love Logan, but she realizes that she never will. When she first runs off with Joe, I think she loves him at the beginning but eventually comes to resent him. The more popularity and power that Joe gains, the more protective and controlling he becomes over Janie, which she doesn't like. Years of this behavior leads to Janie feeling pretty much freed after her husband's death 

        I like Janie a lot more than other characters because she is the first female main character we have seen so far. It's a lot easier to relate to her and her story is very interesting to read. It is easy to feel bad for Janie because of all of her troubles in marriage we see.