Close Reading - Nanny

As life continues for Janie her idea of love proceeds to change. After the episode with Johnny Taylor, Janie is physically and mentally abused by her grandmother. Janie's grandmother, Nanny, wants Janie to be with a man like Logan Killicks who can offer her land and protection. A man who will treat Janie correctly in which she will not have to conform to the tiresome and degrading ways of the black woman. Janie thinks about her life with Logan, "The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree" (14.) Afterwards Nanny explains her distress towards Janie due to her love and care for her granddaughter. Nanny does not want to see Janie become like all of the other black women, "de mule uh de world" (14). During this moment Nanny sprinkles Janie's "pear tree" with "water". The water symbolizes the knowledge and opinions that Nanny wishes to seep into the roots of Janie.The reason for Nanny's inspirational "watering" is to help Janie to prosper and grow. She does not want her granddaughter to become like the black women of the world, including Janie's mother. Nanny's intentions are loving but ultimately paves the way for Janie's idea of love in a negative light by deciding who she has to marry. In this close reading of Nanny we the strict and powerful side of her but also the great amount of love she has for her granddaughter. She is looking out for her granddaughter just in a more strict and demanding way. Nanny attempts to give Janie as much life advice as she can before she passes away. For Nanny, this is an act of love from her to Janie. -Taylor

Movie Comparison - Nanny

In the movie Zelly and Me, a young orphan girl moves in with her strict grandmother where she is prevented to live the life she chooses to live. Her grandmother is quite strict and powerful, because she does not want her granddaughter to end up like her mother; much like Nanny with Janie. The relation between the film, Zelly and Me, and the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, are the two grandmothers’ approach to raising their granddaughters. In both the film and book we find that both grandmothers have the upper hand in how their granddaughters will act. The grandmothers love their granddaughters so much that they do not want to see them hurt. For this reason the grandmothers take a strict and powerful approach due to the past of their daughters essentially reoccurring through their daughters who are now orphans. They do not want to see their daughters making the same mistake as their mothers did. -Taylor

Sinner, Saint, or Merely Mortal?

In the article "Janie's Tea cake: Sinner, Saint, or Merely Mortal?" by Yvonne Ashmawi she makes two claims of how the reader of "their eyes were watching god" could take a stance on Tea Cake. One stance is that he was a Saint if this was a quest novel and in the end Jaine found what she was looking for. On the other hand Tea cake can be taken as a sinner, mostly because he lives a irresponsible lifestyle, he lives on the muck and he hits Jaine. Depending on how the reader want to perceive the book will change there view on Tea cake.

Photograph - Tree

Although this is not a pear tree, it represents the two different images that Janie and Nanny essentially want Janie's pear tree to look like. Janie wants her pear tree to be bright, full of life, and love with a feeling of a particular freedom. Nanny wants Janie to experience things the way "they ought to be." Nanny believes in choosing the man for Janie to be married to, so she does not screw anything up like her mother did. Nanny sees Janie's life as black and white. No life of color or true happiness, so not only does Janie not screw anything up but so she also does not get hurt. Nanny's intentions can be caring and kind, but she also comes across as controlling and full of power. The two see Janie's pear tree to be quite different and both are determined to have it their way. -Taylor

Scholarly Article - Nanny

The scholarly article I examined was the story Janie told of the mule. Janie tells Phoeby about the day a mule was ridden by a man all the way from West Florida to Eatonville. Janie instantly takes a liking to the poor animal that the men bait, mock, and mistreat. Janie immediately speaks up, "They oughta be shamed uh theyselves! Teasin' dat poor brute beast lak they is! Done been worked tuh death; done had his dispostition ruint wid mistreatment, and now they got tuh finish devilin' 'im tuh death" (Hurston, 56). The mule is treated by the men just as the African American women are. The men see the mule as useless, but Janie can see the similarities in herself with the mule and that is why she stands up for the animal. In Julie Haurykiewicz's article "From mules to muliebrity: speech and silence in Their Eyes Were Watching God", she discusses the symbolism Hurston uses to represent the mule as Janie and the rest of African American women. In the beginning of the novel Nanny calls the African American women "de mule uh de world" (14). Haurykiewicz says, "Nanny's sermon, through its connection between mules and silenced females, raises the question of whether the black woman can ever speak, can ever give voice to her ideas and emotions in a meaningful way." In Janie's relationship with Joe this is all true. He never allows Janie to speak let alone express her thoughts and ideas in a purposeful way due to being unequally treated. The scholarly article matches well with the symbolism of the mule and how it represents the African American woman during this era. The article continues to go in depth with the role of the African American woman continuing to represent “de mule uh de world.” -Taylor

Janie's Patience for Logan

This is a representation of the patients Janie had with Logan waiting for marriage to help her find love. As the seasons pass by, she notices not change in her status and starts thinking for herself. She noticed marriage does not make love so Nanny was wrong about what she was doing. Her dream of finding her first love was not coming true.

Picture Representing Logan and Janie's Marriage

This picture is a representation of the relationship Logan and Janie had after being married. Logan stopped pampering her as days passed and started to order her around. She was becoming more of a servant than wife. Janie does rebel against Logan’s demands by verbally attacking him. She refuses to do his work and that is what this picture is representing. Logan is the cowboy and Janie is the mule. The mule refuses to move while the cowboy forces her to get up.

Janie- Picture- Jenna

Janie's life started off with her grandmother, Nanny. Nanny helped her from the beginning with boys and marriages. She is the only parents she's ever known. Nanny adores Janie and raises her to be the best she is able to be. Nanny tries to force her into a marriage that she know won't be right. Nanny had all these hopes for her because of her past experiences. Nanny wasn't married but was dominated by a man, this happened through the whole family. This explains why Nanny wants Janie to be married and a real wife.

This picture has Nanny holding onto Janie's arm as they walk. Janie's ideal love goes back to a blossom tree. You are able to see the blossom tree in the background. This picture shows happiness and looks like they are helping each other, they lean to each other.

Song Representing Logan and Janie

A song I found that is similar to the behavior of Logan with Janie throughout the book would be Almost Easy by Avenged Sevenfold. This song is closely related to Logan because the instrumental part shows aggressiveness and the lyrics talks about an idea of insanity. Janie was forced to marry Logan, but she was unable to love him. One part of the lyrics says “I feel insane every single time I’m asked to compromise ‘cause I’m afraid and stuck in my ways and that’s the way it stays.” When Janie had the courage to express how she felt about their marriage, she mentioned she would leave with Jody if he keeps treating her as his servant and insulting her. Logan reacts by insulting and belittling her. He will not change who he is and Janie leaves him. The compromise did not work for Logan. The song expressed a man not being able to change, but wants the woman to not leave. I believe this is how Logan and Janie’s final moment together was.

Hurricane

The hurricane is a symbol of change in the book. It causes Tea Cake to be bitten and then he gets rabbis and eventually Janie has to shoot him because of it. The hurricane is very violent just like the death of Tea Cake. It is the end of the Tea Cake Janie knows because he starts to deteriorate after the storm due to the rabbis. 

close reading - Jody

Close reading - When Jaine first says " Jody, Maybe Ah ain't been such uh good wife tug you, but Jody-" she feels that she had let him down as a wife and instead of accepting her apology he says (85). "Dat's 'cause you ain't got de right feel in' for nobody. You ought have some sympathy 'bout yo'self. You ain't no hog (85)." What he is saying is that she never cared for anyone and even thought she is trying to explain that she was trying to apologize to him, he refuses to accept it and continues to try and control what she does until he dies.

Janie- Song- Jenna

I picked the song I won’t give Up by Jason Mraz to explain Janie throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God. I chose this song because it is a song based off of love. It starts by saying loving someone needs strong determination and commitment. Without determination and commitment, it is impossible the love can last long or forever. Loving and living with someone who is different than yourself comes with obstacles. Janie runs into trouble with her grandma, Nanny. Nanny wants to force her into a marriage that she knows won’t be right. In order to deal with problems dealing with differences, strong determination and commitment are needed for loving the person.

           

            Janie’s old grandmother has Janie targeting for men of all ages. She experiences three different marriages, all of which teach her about different aspects of love and she never gives up. Janie doesn’t care about being the first wife in her family, but she is caring about finding true love. Nanny is forced into a marriage with an older man she cannot love. Janie learns that marriage does not necessarily include love and puts the future into her hands.

           

            Janie gives herself to Joe Starks, a man she believes she loves. Joe makes her be quiet, not associate herself with locals, hide her long beautiful hair, and rules her. Joe keeps her all to himself and isolated from others. Joe becomes sick and she is not able to keep herself resting. She does everything in honor of him but feels she won freedom at his death.

           

            Janie meets another guy named Tea Cake. He is much younger than her and he does not seem worthy at first. He wins Janie’s heart by showing his fun-loving and characteristics that her past husbands did not have. She is able to enjoy being with those around her and be social in this small poor rural area. They have a strong marriage because of their communication with each other; they talk out their troubles and talk about their love for eachother.

            There were so many times where Janie could have given up but she kept herself positive and looking around for others. She had her mind set on what she wanted and was not trying to settle for anything less. Janie really values herself and ends up happy with her freedom. 

Janie- Close Reading- Jenna

The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree but Janie didn’t know how to tell Nanny that. She merely hunched over and pouted at the floor (14). 

Janie has an ideal of love and it is all she is wanting. She experienced this under the pear tree in her sixteen years old eyes. It was very romanticized and Logan is not satisfying her. She doesn't like the idea of marrying an ugly old man for no other reason than to please her grandma, Nanny. She didn't want to get anything but her ideal vision of love. 

Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon. He spoke for change and chance (29). 

Janie is nervous about giving herself to Joe too quickly because she is not sure he has the ideal love she is looking for. Joe is a far more romantic than Logan though. He doesn't remind her of the ideal love of the pear tree's and blooming trees but he does have the "far horizon" that she wants.

"De way you looked at me when Ah said whut Ah did. Yo’ face skeered me so bad till mah whiskers drawed up."

"Ah ain’t got no business bein’ mad at nothin’ you do and say. You got it all wrong. Ah ain’t mad atall."

"Ah know it and dat’s why puts de shamery on me. You’se jus’ disgusted wid me. Yo’ face jus’ left here and went off somewhere else. Naw, you ain’t mad wid me. AH be glad if was, ‘cause then Ah might do somethin’ tuh please yuh. But lak it is – "(104). 

Tea Cake is very open with Janie and she loves it. He admits his fears and says she will do anything to make her happy. Tea Cake will listen to Janie and pays close attention to her facial expressions. Joe never did this to Janie, he never cared enough. 

Janie- Picture- Jenna

This is a picture of Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie's hair represents her freedom because of her long dark wavy hair. When she is wearing her hair up, she feels hidden and not free. She will wear it in a long braid or up tightly.

Janie- Article - Jenna

In this article Caroline makes a comparison between the different African American types. She talks about the upper class women, women who flirt with one another’s husbands, and to the middle class. Carr and Caroline is a couple. Caroline is not sure what she wants so once she knows he is falling for Carr she stops visiting him. Carr becomes upset because Caroline has a flirtatious independence and he realizes he is in love with her too. They make it up by kissing and acting like nothing happened. This reminds me of Janie because she never truly knew what she wanted and kept going along with her different men. 

Picture for Janie and Tea Cake

This gun represents the end of Janie and Tea Cake's marriage. After Tea Cake gets bitten by the rabid dog things start to go down hill from there. Nobody understands why Janie takes the 3 bullets in the gun and makes it so Tea Cake can shoot at her 3 times before bullets actually come out because if he is gonna shoot at her she will need to do something. What she should have done was just unload it completely but I think she was still trusting that Tea Cake wouldn't hurt her and she didn't know the severity of his condtion.

Jody's control over Janie

This photo represents the kind of relationship Jody and Janie had. Jody was always controlling how Janie would act to help preserve his image.

Close Read Janie and Tea Cake

Close Read of a Passage.

In Janie’s two previous marriages the men have been very controlling of her. They only let her do the things they saw fit for her to do. But then comes along a man named Tea Cake. He is different than all the other ones because he treats her as an equal right away. Hurston writes “Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (96). This shows how Tea Cake is different from the rest of the men that have been in her life. Tea Cake puts her on his level from the very beginning and she loves that about him. Janie also has feelings for him right away unlike she did for Logan and Jody. By Tea Cake putting Janie on his level from the start he is allowing her to be free in their relationship whereas Jody and Logan put her into a cage and Janie didn’t like that and was unable to grow in the relationship. Tea Cake’s and Janie’s relationship was her ultimate form of freedom in any of her relationships and she still has that freedom even after Tea Cake died.

song for janie and tea cake

This song is about not giving up on the love that they have and they will fight for their love to stay together. It also talks about having to learn and grow in the relationship when there are bad times. This song is a lot like Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship. They are madly in love but they have to learn together and make it through tough times. Tea Cake steals 200 dollars from Janie but he didn’t tell her. They go through more struggles with the hurricane. The song says “I won’t give up even if the skies get rough”. That is the perfect example of the hurricane. Tea Cake almost dies saving Janie from that dog but he did it because he loves her and won’t stop loving her until he dies. Even after Tea Cake dies Janie doesn’t give up on him. She knows that he will always be with her until she stops thinking about him.

Janie and Tea Cake

When the viewer starts watching this scene they see that Janie gets jealous when she sees another women flirting with Tea Cake. The viewer also sees that Amus wants to try and marry Janie. When Tea Cake calls her over to play checkers nobody thinks she will come but she comes right away and that surprises everyone. Amus starts to try and teach her but she isn’t really paying attention. Tea Cake and Janie exchange looks at each other and this shows a different type of relationships than Janie has had before. Tea Cake and Janie can communicate just through looks it seems like and Janie stuns everyone when she takes Tea Cakes coke and drinks it without asking. Janie shows everyone her interest in Tea Cake by doing that and shows the freedom that she has to take his things without asking which is completely different than what she had before.

Song for Jody

This song is a good representation for Jody because it feels like something you would hear playing behind a dictator. While the story progresss Jody becomes more controlling of Janie, just like a dictator.

Tangled - Mother Knows Best

(Text) Although the title is “Mother Knows Best”, this song represents Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, quite well. In this Disney favorite, Rapunzel wants to go outside and experience the world she has been trapped from. Her “mother” keeps Rapunzel locked up in order to keep her safe from the world for her own benefit. She does not want her to experience life outside the tower for fear that she will find out who she really is (a princess). In Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God, Nanny represents the mother in the song. Nanny is keeping Janie from living a life where she can make her own choices and experience life with mistakes and learn from them. Nanny warns Janie of all the bad men in the world, “He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to womenfolks” (Hurston 14). She then declares that she must marry Logan Killicks in order to avoid any mistakes in Janie’s life. Nanny does not want Janie to end up with a man who treats her as a slave, so Nanny takes it upon herself to order Janie’s life around her own wishes. In the song the mother sings, “Look at you, as fragile as a flower. Still a little sapling, just a sprout…That's right, to keep you safe and sound, dear.” This part of the song reminded me of Janie’s pear tree which represents Janie’s heart or soul. Janie’s pear tree is young and starting to blossom just as Rapunzel is “fragile as a flower” and “still a little sapling, just a sprout.” Yes, both girls are fragile, naïve, and young, so Nanny and Rapunzel’s mother think take control over the two girls in order to protect them as much as they can. Nanny does so by telling Janie who she must marry, while Rapunzel’s mother keeps her locked up in the tower. -Taylor

Video of Jody

When Janie and Jody first meet, the viewer can  see that they have a immediate connection. The viewer also see that Janie is being much more controlling then Jody, this would leave the viewer to believe this is how the entire relationship would be, but later one Jody becomes more controlling of Janies life, he tries to change who she is and and this eventually leads to the destruction of their relationship.

Points of intrest: 14:00-First meeting, 31:20-will not let Jaine speak, 32:00-Jody becomes jealous, 35:00-makes her wear something to cover her head, 43:00-Jody dies

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