Behind every man, there’s a great woman, was first used in the 1940’s and shortly after it was adopted as a slogan for a feminist movement in the 1960’s/1970’s. Now, it makes a powerful statement that recognizes the rights and value opinions of all women. In Zora N. Hurston’s novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” the reader encounters the different relationships that the main character Janie had.
Despite that the story focuses on her relationships, her journey is not based on discovering men but finding herself, especially during the period of Jody’s death and Tea Cake’s meeting. Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake did not only made her feel free but also helped achieve the empowerment of her entire self, but without a doubt, her total accomplishment was not only because him, but also to her surroundings and herself.
To understand better Janie’s self-realization journey, we first have to understand Hurston’s use of language on the novel. She starts the chapter with a beautiful well-phrased fragment: “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others, they 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.
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That is the life of men.” Her authorial lyrical voice tone differs from the southern/colloquial voice that she gives Janie when she first talks: “Aw, pretty good, Ah’m tryin’ to soak some uh de tiredness and de dirt outa mah feet.” At first, the author makes it seem that her tone is leveled in a higher position than the characters but on the contrary, she enhances the different voices of every kind. Poetic or simply ordinary, it should be admired.
According to Henry Louis Gates, is a way of acknowledging what characters think and how they express themselves. Besides from the tone, the novel portrays a couple of different genres; Bildungsroman (novel dealing with one person’s formative years of spiritual education) and most importantly romance. In her first relationship, she was young and was forced to marry Logan Killicks, the relationship itself was boring and ugly, “Ah’d ruther be shot wid tacks than tuh turn over in de bed and stir up de air whilst he is in dere. He don’t even never mention nothin’ pretty.”
She decides to run away from her unhappy relationship with Jody Starks, who at first promised joy but with fame and power, he mistreats and discriminates Janie’s opinions, “You gettin’ too moufy, Janie, “Starks told her. “Go fetch me de checker-board and de checkers. Sam Watson, you’se mah fish.” With Jody, there’s also the metaphorical gesture that he is capable of freeing a mule but never frees his wife. Janie’s journey towards love, begins in her third relationship with Tea Cake, who offers Janie a lot of what she had been missing from her earlier marriages: enjoyment.
Tea Cake plays a vital role on Janie’s life. His passion for checkers and music, not only led Janie to like his charisma but also experienced the feeling of affection. From teaching her how to drive and held a gun to make her laugh and play songs on his guitar, he helps Janie find her voice and celebrate her individuality, Janie expressed her joy with Pheoby: “Ah ain’t grievin’ so why do Ah hafta mourn? Tea Cake love me in blue, so Ah wears it. Jody ain’t never in his life picked out no color for me.”
However, Tea Cake wasn’t the only one who let Janie flourish. Her friend and even neighbors helped her gain confidence and reinforce what she’s already discovered about herself, self-worth and independence. After Tea Cake’s fatal death, Janie returns to Eatonville happy, because as she tells Pheoby, she’s been to the horizon and back, declaring that she has finally achieved her own selfhood, “So Ah’m back home agin and Ah’m satisfied tuh be heah. Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons. Dis house ain’t so absent of things lak it used tuh be befo’ Tea Cake come along. It’s full uh thoughts, ’specially dat bedroom.”
From the beginning to the end, Janie eventually comes into her own voice and her own authority, aside from her companions, she does not get it from their wealth or power, but instead she learns on her experiences and love to figure out who she is.
