Love in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston...

Love is different for each and every person. For some, it comes easy and happens early in life. For others, such as Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, it happened much later in life after two unsuccessful marriages. Janie’s grandmother, Nanny raised Janie to be attracted to financial security and physical protection instead of seeking love. Nanny continually emphasized that love was something that was bound to happen after those needs were met; even though Nanny never married. Janie formulates her ideal of love while sitting under a pear tree as a teenager; one that fulfilled her intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and physically. She was then informed that she was to have an arranged marriage to an older†¦show more content†¦However, she quickly learns that Logan, finds her useless, â€Å"spoilt rotten† and compares her to his old wife, who did manual labor for him without many complaints (26). Not only does Janie find Logan unat tractive, but she does not even find him intellectually or emotionally stimulating, as he never shows her affection (24). Attempting to gain some perspective on how to liven up her marriage, Janie seeks out the advice of her Nanny, an unmarried former slave. Janie claims that she â€Å"wants to want him sometimes† (23), but her efforts are in vain. Due to the conditions Nanny was raised in, Nanny told her granddaughter that love was bound to happen eventually because Logan was financially stable. Nanny did not understand Janie’s wishes of love; she was on a basic level of understanding. While Janie obeyed Nanny’s wish of her to stay with Logan for almost a year, when Janie knew the marriage was headed nowhere except disaster, she runs off with a man named Joe Sparks who she had correspondence with for almost a year. Janie concluded from her time with Logan â€Å"that marriage did not make love† (25). Janie’s view on love did not change with her rel ationship with Logan. In fact, it was because of the horrendous outcomes of the marriage that Janie decided to chase after her ideal relationship withShow MoreRelatedThe Meaning of Love and Loss in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston1435 Words   |  6 PagesTheir Eyes Were Watching God is a novel about a woman and the trials and tribulations that she goes through while trying to find the true meaning of love and loss. In the novel Janie struggles to find someone that honestly loves her and she has to deal with the lost she felt when the she realized that the love that she received is forever lost. Some major themes in the novel would be work, sexuality, freedom and love. All of these themes are important in understanding the novel. 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