Thier Eyes Thesis

Because Janie starts to follow her transcendentalist values, she is able to make decisions that truly make her happy because the same things that may make other female members of the Eatonville community happy are not the same things that make Janie happy.

Thier Eyes Quote #4

In Chapter seven, Janie finally gets sick of the way Joe verbally abuses her. Every chance Joe gets, he is always trying to point out how old Janie is getting when in reality, Janie is still somewhat young and still beautiful and Joe is the one getting fat and old. He’s insecure with himself so he tries to divert the attention to Janie. Joe has a huge ego and prides himself on the belief that every other man is jealous of his beautiful wife and his social status. One day Janie get fed up and reacts to one of Joe’s comments by pointing out how Joe’s fat and aging body. She cuts him down from his pedestal in front of a bunch of Joe’s friends and shatters his ego. This is a huge turning point in the relationship between Joe and Janie.

Thier Eyes Quote #3

There is a key turning point in Janie’s journey to self-reliance in chapter 4. The event that set this change in motion was the death of Janie’s grandmother. With the woman who had done all of the thinking for you gone, Janie was left to think for herself. The beginning of chapter four shows how unfair and dysfunctional Janie and Logan’s marriage. Then Joe Starks comes along and offers Janie a life of luxury. Janie decides to leave Logan, who symbolizes a life of abuse and unfairness/ unhappiness, and marry Joe Starks who will give Janie money and social status.