In the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford begins her life living in West Florida with her Nanny. Janie goes through her life, searching for what could be her true love. Nanny believes Janie needs protection in her life, because she was also a very attractive woman in her younger age, and she knew what could happen. The first man Janie married was set up by Nanny. His name was Logan Killicks who was an old, unattractive, and ordinary man. Nanny believed that marrying Killicks would be the safety net to Janie’s life. But when Killicks threatens to kill Janie, she runs off with Joe Starks, who was charming and handsome.
Joe was the second to be married to Janie and the ended up moving to Eatonville together to try and start a new life but that entailed building a town from scratch. Joe started to become a town favorite and is eventually named Mayor. As the town grew increasingly, Janie started to feel distance between Joe and their relationship fell apart. Joe eventually died, leaving Janie independent.
Following Joe’s death, Janie fell in love with a man named Tea Cake. He was the true love Janie had been searching for. They moved to the Everglades to find work, and eventually are married. But when a hurricane hits the Everglades, things take a turn for the worse. Janie is attacked by a dog, and Tea Cake goes to save her but is bit and gets rabies. The symptoms that followed Tea Cake put Janie’s life in danger when he tried to kill her. Janie ends up taking Tea Cake’s life and is put on trial.
During the trial, the black men who were Tea Cake’s close friends, come to condemn Janie. But the white women from the ‘Glades come to support Janie. The all-white jury ends up freeing Janie and she returns to Eatonville to tell her life story to her best friend, Phoeby.
By Alexander Lapierre
Their Eyes Were Watching God 