Grommersoft

Zora Neale Hurston, once the most famous black American woman writer and folklorist of the 1920s and 1930s, fell into obscurity by the 1950s. In the following decades the civil rights and feminist movements sparked renewed interest in black women writers, bringing back into favor this novel about an African-American woman's journey to selfdiscovery. Indeed, Janie Mae Crawford's triumph over poverty, lack of education, abusive men, and oppressive traditions foreshadows the transformation of American society as blacks and women attained more equality. 

Hurston shows Janie's evolution through relationships with her grandmother, her three husbands, and her best friend, Pheoby Watson. This journey of self-actualization and sisterhood begins with her grandmother's stories of slavery--narratives that explain the fundamental psyche of why blacks accepted the social hierarchy of white men at the top and black women at the bottom. By the novel's conclusion Janie's transformation into a strong, independent, satisfied woman is assured. She has changed in many ways--from a spirited teenager dreaming of idealized love, she became a woman burdened by marriages to emotionally abusive men; after having loved and lost her soulmate, she evolved into a more complete woman, satisfied with her lot in life. The evidence of this emotional satisfaction is in the confidences she shares with Pheoby; then the bond of sisterhood is shown when her friend declares, "Ah done growed ten feet higher from jus' listenin' tuh you, Janie. Ah ain't satisfied wid mahself no mo." 

Society in the early twentieth century offered few prospects for a poor, uneducated black girl being raised by a grandmother, a former slave. It takes many years for Janie to be satisfied with her life, having been at the mercy of others who determined her future. When Janie is sixteen, Nanny spies her kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor, and tells her "Ah don't want no trashy nigger. . .usin' yo' body to wipe his foots on." Convinced that Janie has reached womanhood, Nanny arranges a match to an older man of means, Logan Killicks, to take good care of her. Several months later Janie abandons her loveless marriage for the stylishly dressed Joe (Jody) Starks, who woos her with his dreams of being a "big voice" in an all-black town. She stays with him until his death, though he had stifled her body and spirit. 

The second half of the novel shows Janie's emancipation from Killicks's and Starks's oppressive dominance. Having gained Starks's property, Janie at last achieves financial independence. She can finally make choices about her future, but she still senses Joe's presence in the store, ready to find fault with her. Also, she feels awkward in collecting rent from tenants, because she feels like a "usurper." Others in the community reinforce the notion of male dominance that makes Janie so timid and insecure. For instance, one persistent suitor, Ike Green, tells her that women need men to manage their lives and to guard them from men who can so easily take advantage of them, like a pack of hogs when they see a full trough. Janie knows this is true. Although now the sole owner of her store, she allows her seventeen-year-old store clerk, Hezekiah, to assume Joe's position of authority. She laughs to herself at his self-important posturing yet depends upon Hezekiah to take charge. The narrative voice mocks the way men maintain their superiority over women: 

"This business of managing stores and women store-owners was trying on a man's nerves. He needed a drink of liquor now and then to keep up." 

Thus, Janie knowingly enables the teenager to usurp her own rightful authority when she does not assert herself. Instead, she uses her new-found freedom to fish and visit with her best friend. Pheoby, however, also reminds Janie of the community's restrictive standards of propriety by warning her not to let others hear her say she enjoys her independence, because folks will say Janie is not saddened by Joe's death. As she rejects one suitor after another, Janie begins to realize that she has control over her life. 

This evolving sense of power and freedom allows her to choose love, not financial means, as the basis for her next marriage. 

In her relationship with free-spirited gambler Vergible (Tea Cake) Woods, Janie flaunts her rejection of Eatonville's stifling social code. Twelve years younger, he wins Janie's heart as he plays checkers with her, takes her fishing at night, and combs her hair. 

Janie feels like a child breaking the rules by enjoying activities once forbidden by Joe. In this third marriage she finally blossoms. After Janie and Tea Cake move from Eatonville to the Everglades on Lake Okechobee, she has the freedom to be his equal in working and socializing together. 

As devoted as they are to each other, distrust threatens their relationship when Tea Cake gambles away $200 that he secretly takes from Janie before winning back $322. 

In other instances jealousy almost drives them apart. Once Tea Cake strikes Janie in a fit of anger over Mrs. Turner's meddling. 

Another time Janie accuses him of infidelity when Nunkie attempts to seduce him in the cane field. The ultimate test comes during a hurricane as they escape from the rising water, and Tea Cake saves Janie from a menacing dog. However, the rabid dog bites him, and he refuses to get medical care immediately; later, the crazed Tea Cake tries to shoot Janie. To save her life, Janie kills him in self-defense. A white jury finds her innocent on the basis of the doctor's corroborating testimony, yet Janie has lost the one person she loves most. 

Thus, Janie changes slowly from a repressed girl to a strong woman. Her evolving through three marital relationships reflects society' transformation--that is, as women gained more equal social and economic rights, they also asserted their increased independence and power. Janie's journey of selfhood reflects her pride in being black and her self-assurance as a single woman who does not need a man to take care of her.