Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board,” (Page 1) starts Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, a story about a young girl’s experiences as she tries to find love. The novel begins by distinguishing the dreams of men and women. The dreams of men either come along naturally, or “sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.” (Page 1) Women, on the other hand, remember only what they want to remember. For them, “The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.” (Page 1) Janie is a young girl raised by her “old-fashioned” grandmother who has a fixed outlook on marriage. Her grandmother believes marriage is not for love but it is simply for protection. She accepts her limitations as a woman, having gone through slavery and having lived a difficult life. But Janie has the dreaming qualities of both men and women. She has a different vision of love, seeing it as an eternal and passionate sensation of mutual respect between the husband and the wife. Her image is like the horizon, an eternal line where the earth’s surface and the sky meet. Janie is forced into a marriage with Logan Killicks that does not display mutual respect.
She is determined to leave him and continue her journey. Her first marriage leads her into her second marriage with Jody Starks; a man who seems to respect Janie at first but in reality does not. Her relationship with Jody is “mocked to death by time,” and leads her to her last relationship with Tea Cake Woods. By the end of the novel Janie has reached the line of equality with Tea Cake. Her relationships represent her journey to the horizon with the idea of love never out of her sight. As she recalls her story, she includes all the things she wants to remember. She wants to remember the things that led her to her last and final marriage in which she found love. Janie’s first two marriages with Logan Killicks and Jody Starks are not true relationships because they do not reach the etemal line of mutuality, which leads Janie to her last relationship in which she finally realizes the true sensation of love.
Janie’s grandmother arranges Janie into a marriage with Logan Killicks as soon as Janie begins to sexually mature. Logan never approaches Janie to ask for her marriage and does not pursue her on his own. He is a grown man who owns sixty acres of land and works all day trying to please Janie. Logan and Janie are two incompatible human beings because Logan is much older than she is. There is a keen distinction between each of their outlooks on the world. Logan, being part of the first generation out of slavery, appreciates things that Janie does not (class discussion). Janie has grown up in a protective society where she did not have to work and never had to take care of herself. She is spoiled and has a completely different outlook on life. Logan does not wash his feet, which is a sign of disregard for Janie. He spoils Janie but does not display the image of love she is looking for.
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She is placed into the marriage and believes that she will learn to love him after they marry. But while the marriage carries on, Janie realizes that their relationship does not display the respect she is looking for. By the end of their relationship, there is no passionate mutuality between the two. “Janie noticed that her husband had stopped talking in rhymes to her,” (Page 26) showing Logan has given up on trying to please her. He finally confronts her,” Ah thought you would ‘preciate good treatment. Thought Ah’d take and make somethin’ outa yuh.” (Page 30) Logan gives up on his wish to make something good out of Janie. He also tells her that his first wife worked when he told her to, which appears disrespectful to Janie. While contemplating their relationship, Janie thinks, “What was she losing so much time for? A feeling of sudden newness and change came over her.” (Page 32) Her need for change causes her to run away from Logan Killicks and leads her to her second marriage with a man named Jody Starks. Logan does not even attempt to chase after Janie.
