Their Eyes Were
Watching God continues when Janie decides to run off with Joe Starks, a
handsome man that catches her attention when Logan goes off to buy a mule for
her to work. Joe, who asks Janie to call him Jodie, tells her that a beautiful
girl like her shouldn’t be working and tries to convince her to escape with him
to the new town being built by blacks. After a fight with Logan, Janie decides
to go meet Jodie and they immediately get married. When they get to Eatonville,
Jodie is disappointed to see that the town only consists of a few little houses
and that there is no mayor. There they meet Lee Coker and Amos Hicks, two
residents of Eatonville who make an attempt to attract Janie but they fail.
Jodie decides to buy 200 more acres for Eatonville as well as to build a store
and a post office and he soon becomes the mayor. He buys the first streetlamp
for the town, which becomes a source of pride and unfortunately he starts
pushing Janie away. Jodie becomes the authority of Eatonville and no one dares
to challenge him, not even Janie when he obligates her to put her hair up. 
Other than that, Jodie prohibits Janie to talk with the
townspeople because she is “superior” since she is the mayor’s wife. Janie and
Jodie start their first big argument because she tells him that he is not fun
to be with; he tells her that he is being responsible. Here Sam Watson (Pheoby’s
husband) and Lige Moss are introduced as they discuss on Joe’s porch; Janie
stops to listen to their talk but she is sent back to work. Hezekiah Potts, the store assistant, is also
mentioned. Jodie and Janie continue to fight over time and Jodie hits Janie for
the first time after 7 years of being together, but she has no other choice
than to remain silent. As time goes by, Janie keeps everything inside and refuses
to fight back. Jodie is growing old and looks worse everyday but he keeps on
tormenting Janie with his words and mocks her, until one day Janie stands up to
him. Ashamed of Janie’s response, Jodie moves to another room in the house and
never treats Janie the same way again. His kidneys stop working and he will die
soon so Janie decides to talk to him one last time; she tells him that he never
let her show her real emotions. Jodie dies and Janie is free from the tyranny
of her husband.
Love, or lack of love, is a recurring theme in this book,
since Janie is always in search of it but can’t really find it. Somewhere along
chapter 6, Janie starts to realize that leaving her prior husband for Joe might
have been a mistake. Janie had fallen in love with Jodie because he had
promised her “the world” but instead, she ends up getting more mistreatment
than ever. Jodie and Janie’s marriage starts to fall apart; he forces her to
work in the store and doesn’t even let her talk with the townspeople. He shows
no affection towards her and she learns to remain silent whenever he orders her
–even though it is unfair: “No matter what Jodie did, she said nothing,” (76).
Janie realizes that, although she had been married to him for half of her life,
love lacks in their relationship and Joe eventually starts hitting her.
Courage, a minor symbol in the story is present when Janie finally stands up to
Joe because she is tired of his mocks towards women and herself: “ …Talkin’
‘bout me lookin’ old! When you pull down yo britches, you look lak de change uh
life,” (79).
Death is the most important theme in these chapters because
when Jodie gets really sick, Janie realizes that death doesn’t stop or wait for
anyone and she is scared. “So Janie began to think of Death… What need has Death
for cover, and what winds can blow against him? He stands in his high house
that overlooks the world. Stands watchful and motionless all day with his sword
drawn back, waiting for the messenger to bid him come. Been standing there
before there was a where or a when or a then,” (84). Janie knows that she might
be far from dying but she is growing old and that is inevitable. She sort of
feels sorry foe Jodie’s condition and regrets not having treated him better.
Both of them are scared of what Death might bring but they know that there is
no way to fight it. When Jodie dies, Janie goes to the mirror and lets her hair
fall, which represents freedom. “The young girl was gone but a handsome woman
had taken her place. She tore of the kerchief from her head and let down her
plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there,” (87). Janie was
finally free to do what she wanted.
Since Jodie has died, I really look forward to figuring out
what Janie will do next. I am waiting for the moment when she finally meets Tea
Cake, since she said in the first chapter that he was her only real love.
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