IndexUnderstanding What Love IsFinal ThoughtsWorks CitedIn Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the reader sees a character's journey to understanding of love. Janie Crawford, the protagonist, deciphers through experience what love really is. Through her text, Hurston discusses love versus independence and speech versus silence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The theme of love versus independence emerges from the beginning of the novel. Janie Crawford, an attractive and dreamy little girl, then a confident woman, lives first with her grandmother, the nanny. Due to her upbringing in slavery, Nanny's view of love is distorted and focused on security, especially financially. After experiencing slavery and poverty, the nanny wants Janie to find a partner who can care for her and provide for her. Janie sees love differently when she looks at a pear tree one day. He saw “a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctuary of a flower; the thousand sister cups arch to meet the embrace of love and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from the root to the smallest branch, creamy in every flower and foaming with joy. So this was a wedding!” (Hurston 11). The tree needed the bee and the bee needed the tree. Both things in the relationship served a purpose and helped strengthen the other. Without the other, neither would thrive. Janie saw love and marriage as a bond between people who strengthen each other and bring out the best in each other. Each looked out for the other and took care of what they needed and wanted. Without the other, neither could survive. Throughout the text, the meaning of the image of the bee and pear tree is seen as Janie works her way through multiple husbands. Understanding what love is The nanny realizes the need to organize Janie's first wedding when she sees her kissing Johnny Taylor under the pear tree. tree. Afterward, “that was the end of her childhood” (12) because Nanny had her first husband, Logan Killicks, on her mind. Kissing under the pear tree, Janie felt innocent, like a child. However, she had to quickly become a woman, entering into her first marriage. The man might offer Janie money and protection, the most important qualities in a marriage according to her grandmother. Even though Janie begged her not to have to do it, Janie was obedient. She did as she was told and married Logan. Janie visits the nanny for advice, worried that she will never love Logan. The nanny says that marriage will create love. She says that Janie should appreciate Logan's wealth and status and that by living together she would learn to love him and be grateful for him. A year passes and Janie still doesn't feel love for Logan. “Now he knew that marriage did not make love” (24). Disillusioned, Janie gives up hope of loving Logan. Furthermore, her husband stops “talking to her in rhyme” (25) and tries to convince her to do manual labor, claiming that she is spoiled. Logan starts ordering her to help with the farm work, and Janie says he expects her to love him but that she never will. He believes that a loving relationship should have two people on equal levels, helping each other bring out the best in each other. Here, she moves on to her next husband, initially thinking how different he is, but, ironically, he will not truly respect her, claiming ownership over her and placing her at a lower level than him. Janie's second husband, Joe Starks, has big dreams that excite her, and Janie's hopes for love come to life again. However, the second marriage becomes the basis for the theme ofword against Hurston's silence. Joe became mayor and expected his wife to behave a certain way. He didn't want her to talk to the townspeople, have a social life, or even express herself because he wanted her to act like a mayor's wife. When Joe became mayor, Janie was called to give a speech, but Joe “spoke without giving her a chance to say anything” (41). From the beginning of the marriage, clearly, Janie was silenced. She loves hearing the stories, but Joe won't even let her sit with the community to hear them. Her husband tries to control Janie, and that control will soon end their marriage and their love. Love is not created through control. Joe believes that by silencing his wife, she will appear to be the right mayor's wife. However, he pushes Janie away by simply suppressing her individuality. She no longer had “flower openings dusting pollen on her man, nor any glittering young fruit where petals had once been” (68). The same image used at the beginning of the text applies here. The image shows how one thing, or in this case a person, needs the other to thrive and be who it is. Joe doesn't let Janie's individuality shine through. However, she is always a good wife, who keeps her feelings to herself and obeys her husband. However, one day, Janie makes a clumsy mistake while cutting a tobacco cap for a customer and Joe scolds her, insulting her. In the end Janie made herself heard and refrained from remaining silent, immediately insulting her husband: Ah, I'm not a young girl, no now, but then Ah, I'm not even an old woman. Ah, I guess I'm showing my age too. But I'm every inch a woman, and I know it. This is much more than can be said. You big bellies around here brag a lot, but all you have is your big voice. Humph! I'm talking about the fact that I look old! When you drop your underwear, you look like a person who has changed his life. (75)Janie finally finds her voice and stands up for herself. He shows his strength, breaking free from his stereotype. She is no longer controlled by someone who “loves” her and is no longer silenced. Janie's third husband, Tea Cake, is different from the others. He actually treats her as an equal, taking care of her wants and needs. Tea Cake engages her discourse, conversing with her and placing himself on an equal footing with her. Her love for him comes from his respect for her as an individual. The first time they meet, Tea Cake invites her to play checkers; some even “thought it was natural for her to play” (92). She respected him for treating her with dignity. She felt as if she "had known him all her life...she was able to talk to him right away" (94). From the beginning she felt comfortable with him. She acknowledges that she tried to live like her grandmother, but now she's ready for something new. While Jody wanted her to act pretentious and high class, Tea Cake treats her how she wants to be treated. Through the experience, she has begun to understand love more clearly and knows that Tea Cake is the right thing for her. Between Joe Starks and Tea Cake, Janie enjoyed her six-month period of freedom. He embraced his independence. At the end of the novel, Janie is alone. However, she seems content, proud of everything she has been through. She frees herself from unpleasant and unsatisfying relationships with Logan and Jody, which hinder her personal journey. Through her relationship with Tea Cake, Janie experiences true fulfillment and becomes confident in her independence. Janie views satisfying relationships as reciprocal and based on mutual respect, as demonstrated in her relationship with Tea Cake. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Considerations, 31(2), 47-61.