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Mariyah Brown

Mrs. Bentley

Language Arts III

3 March 2019

Confined Love

“Never try to define love. Once defined love is confined. Once confined--It

dies”(Unknown). In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie

listens to Nanny about how to find love, but the way Nanny taught her did not work out for

Janie. Janie is living off of Nanny’s ideas of love, so when she goes to venture out to love, she

realizes that her vision of love is different from Nanny’s. Nanny’s vision of love is when a man

provides for a woman. Janie has failed relationships because she fantasized about this glamorous

and romantic relationship, but she is confined with Nanny’s ideas of love. Nanny marries Janie

off to Logan Killinks because she feels that Logan will take care of Janie. Janie runs off with

Jody Starks, after her marriage with Logan fails. Jody did not let Janie have any freedom because

he wants to control her life. According to the novel, Janie’s composition of love is romanticized

and glamorized, but her vision of love disintegrates when she is confined.

To begin, Nanny wants Janie to marry early by setting her up with Logan Killicks to Commented [1]: change the wording

marry, but Janie does not like the idea of marrying Logan. Janie does not want to get married Commented [2]: add more context of what what was
happening when the quote was being stated.
early because she feels like she is not ready. She is not ready to marry because she does not

know what she wants yet. Nanny did not want her going around with just any man. According to

Hurston, “The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree, but Janie didn’t know how

to tell Nanny that. She merely hunched over and pouted at the floor” (Hurston 14). Janie’s vision

of love disintegrates when Nanny finds love for her instead of Janie being able to find love for
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herself. Janie’s vision under the pear tree included love and a glamorous life, but Nanny’s ideas

of love did not allow Janie to love like she wanted to. Under the pear tree, Janie has a vision of

love and making love. The vision stays with her and that’s how love will be like. When Janie

believes Nanny’s ideas of love, Janie assumes that when she marries Logan, she will find love.

Janie likes the fact she would not be lonely anymore, so she thought love will come later with

Logan. Hurston states, “Yes, she would love Logan after they were married. She could see no

way for it to come about, but Nanny and the old folks had said it, so it must be so. Husbands and

wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage meant. It was just so. Janie felt glad

of the thought, for then it wouldn’t seem so destructive and mouldy. She wouldn’t be lonely

anymore” (Hurston 21). Janie is going to listen to Nanny because she has more wisdom and

Janie thinks Nanny knows what she is talking about. Janie assumes that her vision of love will

come later when she marries Logan. Janie forces herself to believe in what Nanny says to her not

only because Nanny has wisdom, but also because she has no other choice.

Moreover, Janie breaks down about Logan because he lost interest in her fast. Janie

realizes that just because she is married, it does not mean marriage will bring her love. Hurston

states, “‘He don’t even never mention nothin’ pretty.’ She began to cry. ‘Ah wants things sweet

wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think. Ah…’”( Hurston 24). Janie’s

love was beginning to deteriorate because of her marriage with Logan. Janie believes that love

will always bring her happiness and romance. When Logan starts to mistreats her and order her

to do things around the house, she realizes Logan is not making her happy at all nor is he being

romantic in anyway. Although Janie forces herself to not have an opinion on what love and

marriage is, she realizes that she does not want to be with a man that mistreats her and does not

provide for her.

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Furthermore, Jody Starks does not let Janie speak for herself, so that makes her feel not

loved. Janie was controlled by Jody, so she did not have freedom to do anything. She could not

speak for herself nor think for herself or Jody would abuse her. Hurston states, “It must have

been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that

took the bloom off of things. But anyway, she went down the road behind him that night feeling

cold”(Hurston 43). Jody controls Janie, so she has a cold feeling that represents the love of Joe

disintegrating. Janie feels the love of Jody disintegrating because he does not treat Janie like he

used to. Janie experiences failed love with Jody and Logan, so she just wants to be alone for a

little bit. She felt freedom after Jody’s death because she had nobody to control her. Janie beings

to realize her true vision of love instead of Nany’s vision of love. Janie wants to know about

love, but does not because her love was confined by Nanny, Logan, and Jody.

To conclude, Janie’s vision of love disintegrates when she is confined because she

visions love to be romantic and glamorous. Nanny wants Janie to marry early, so marries her off

to Logan Killicks. Janie does not like the fact of marrying Logan Killicks, but she goes with it

for Nanny. When Janie marries Logan, she assumes she will fall in love with Logan based on

Nanny’s ideas. Logan loses interest in Janie after they get married, which made her cry. Logan

does not show any attention to Janie, so she realized marriage does not bring love. Janie felt that

she was not getting cared for by Logan how Nanny said she should be cared for by Logan. Janie

meets Jody after marrying Logan. Janie thinks there is love between her and Jody, so she runs off

with him. Later, Jody controls Janie and did not let Janie speak or think for herself. Janie

experiences two failed relationships with Jody and Logan because she is following Nanny’s

vision of love, instead of her owns. When love is confined, the vision of love will always die

because love did not have full potential.

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Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. HarperCollins Publishers, 1937.

Allauthor, 2019, https://allauthor.com/quotes/58050/ \. Accessed 1 March 2019.