Janie’s Voice
by Lucy Ray
The yearning to be needed and wanted is a strong sentiment that comes and goes at will, oftentimes without any prior notice of its arrival. One cannot rehearse how it will affect them or how they will contribute to the cause of love, and the color of one’s skin has no bearing on what lies deep within the soul.
For Janie, love came knocking at her door when she least expected it, and not in the traditional way one would imagine, such as meeting a boy and falling in love with him. Her first marriage was more for the sake of her grandmother whose wish was to see her granddaughter taken care of, knowing that she would not be around much longer to look after her. A woman did not necessarily have to love the man she married because that would come later. They would learn to love each other. But for Janie, she knew there was something more to committing to marriage lying deep inside her soul and that a man and woman would share this vow if given the chance. Janie wanted to experience love, although she did not fully understand it yet.
Marrying Logan was for the convenience of everyone except Janie. It satisfied her grandmother’s dying wishes, and it pacified the curiosity of the townspeople enough to give them something to speculate about. Jody was a self-serving man who had the street- smarts to convince the people he came in contact with that he knew what was best for them. As he rose to the top of his power throne, he slowly suffocated the life in Janie that she so desperately was trying to discover.
Janie would have given him the world, but his need for power and control drove a wedge between the two, and as Jody tries to smother out any feelings of love she might have for him, Janie gains her own strength and freedom despite his actions.
As her life continues, Janie sees Jody dissolve into the selfishness that he exercised throughout the life he made with her, and Janie sees him for the greedy man he really is but it only makes her stronger. Jody repeatedly belittles Janie in front of other people and constantly makes her feel as if she is worthless. “All you got tuh do is mind me. How come you can’t do lak Ah tell yuh?” (71). Jody did not want Janie to appear smarter than he in the presence of others and he constantly found fault in everything she did. “It would be pitiful if Ah didn’t. Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves” (71).
When Janie meets Tea Cake and decides to leave with him, it is that longing and yearning in her soul that gives her the strength to persevere. When doubt comes into play after Tea Cake disappears with her money, it is only briefly, and when he returns a short time later, Janie feels the passion growing that she knew existed. Any distrust Janie felt quickly dissolves away when Tea Cake once again reminds her how much she means to him and how much he thinks about her. “Ah told yo’ before dat you got de keys tuh de kingdom. You can depend on dat” (121).
As I read this story about the lives of the characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God, I did not see the color of their skin. Except for the obvious difference in the dialogue, this could have been anyone with any skin color. The power and desire to have a voice does not have a color, nor does it discriminate.
Janie wanted to know love and to be loved. It is not always neatly wrapped up with a bow. She found her voice and her life went full circle in knowing Tea Cake. He loved her and she loved him, and in the end, it was that love that allowed her to set him free. By doing so, she too discovered the freedom to find her peace. “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (192).
by Lucy Ray
The yearning to be needed and wanted is a strong sentiment that comes and goes at will, oftentimes without any prior notice of its arrival. One cannot rehearse how it will affect them or how they will contribute to the cause of love, and the color of one’s skin has no bearing on what lies deep within the soul.
For Janie, love came knocking at her door when she least expected it, and not in the traditional way one would imagine, such as meeting a boy and falling in love with him. Her first marriage was more for the sake of her grandmother whose wish was to see her granddaughter taken care of, knowing that she would not be around much longer to look after her. A woman did not necessarily have to love the man she married because that would come later. They would learn to love each other. But for Janie, she knew there was something more to committing to marriage lying deep inside her soul and that a man and woman would share this vow if given the chance. Janie wanted to experience love, although she did not fully understand it yet.
Marrying Logan was for the convenience of everyone except Janie. It satisfied her grandmother’s dying wishes, and it pacified the curiosity of the townspeople enough to give them something to speculate about. Jody was a self-serving man who had the street- smarts to convince the people he came in contact with that he knew what was best for them. As he rose to the top of his power throne, he slowly suffocated the life in Janie that she so desperately was trying to discover.
Janie would have given him the world, but his need for power and control drove a wedge between the two, and as Jody tries to smother out any feelings of love she might have for him, Janie gains her own strength and freedom despite his actions.
As her life continues, Janie sees Jody dissolve into the selfishness that he exercised throughout the life he made with her, and Janie sees him for the greedy man he really is but it only makes her stronger. Jody repeatedly belittles Janie in front of other people and constantly makes her feel as if she is worthless. “All you got tuh do is mind me. How come you can’t do lak Ah tell yuh?” (71). Jody did not want Janie to appear smarter than he in the presence of others and he constantly found fault in everything she did. “It would be pitiful if Ah didn’t. Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves” (71).
When Janie meets Tea Cake and decides to leave with him, it is that longing and yearning in her soul that gives her the strength to persevere. When doubt comes into play after Tea Cake disappears with her money, it is only briefly, and when he returns a short time later, Janie feels the passion growing that she knew existed. Any distrust Janie felt quickly dissolves away when Tea Cake once again reminds her how much she means to him and how much he thinks about her. “Ah told yo’ before dat you got de keys tuh de kingdom. You can depend on dat” (121).
As I read this story about the lives of the characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God, I did not see the color of their skin. Except for the obvious difference in the dialogue, this could have been anyone with any skin color. The power and desire to have a voice does not have a color, nor does it discriminate.
Janie wanted to know love and to be loved. It is not always neatly wrapped up with a bow. She found her voice and her life went full circle in knowing Tea Cake. He loved her and she loved him, and in the end, it was that love that allowed her to set him free. By doing so, she too discovered the freedom to find her peace. “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (192).