Thanks to the backstory in the following chapter, we can kind of learn why she is the way she is. From her childhood days of pondering love and marriage under a pear tree, we can tell that her promiscuity is in a way no surprise. As mentioned in class, her admiration of the bees pollinating the majestic blossoms leads her to think of love as an ideal. "So this was a marriage!" she thinks dazedly. Monogamy is probably not her main focus--rather, she strives to find the perfect relationship. If she is unsatisfied, it is sure she'll move on. From what we've seen so far, she certainly takes this to heart in her relationships. When Logan Killicks isn't up to her standards, she doesn't even think twice about deserting him in pursuit of something better. However, we soon see that her rushed marriage with that something better, a wealthy entrepreneur by the name of Jack Starks, proves equally disappointing.
While on one hand I feel for her, that the men she has married aren't the men of her dreams, we also have to remember that she rushes into love with extremely high standards, and isn't really preparing herself for a let down. This lets me to wonder if she will ever find her perfect man. She is definitely pretty enough to win any man over, but considering she jumps on the first one available, I'm guessing the likelihood of her landing a dream man is limited. Her excessively high standards also factor in to that, as by that definition no man will ever be the "perfect" man. In her mind, there is always something better out there, and, like the bees of the pear tree, she will move on. At the beginning of the book we learn about Tea Cake, who seems like yet another promising partner, but their relationship is also over by the time she returns to town.
Additionally, we don't know how many men she's had by the time she turns 40 (and is once again single and ready to mingle). The pear tree ideal is really a curse, then, as she sees reality as more of an ideality. She has already turned 40, and considering life in the early 20th century is limited, I believe she's setting her standards a little too high. Personally, I wonder if she will ever get married and and live happily ever after, or if her history of disappointments will keep her from finding true love.
Given that by the end of the book, which in this case starts at the beginning, Janie is still pretty much alone (Tea Cake's relation to her doesn't sound extremely significant), I think it's pretty safe to say that you're right: Janie's expectations of the perfect man will probably never be realized. I think that the comparison you made to Janie being like a bee, floating from flower to flower, is a very accurate one. From what we've read so far, I feel like Janie is the type of person who would do best on her own and I'm hoping that, through the course of the novel, she'll realize that she doesn't need a man to be happy.
ReplyDeleteAt the time of writing this post, you obviously hadn’t read as far as we have now, but I think it’s become pretty clear that her relationship with Starks is an abusive one. While her standards for men are incredibly idealistic, even impossible to meet, I feel that at this point these standards just serve as hopes for her to hold onto so she can get through each day. That being said, she does dump Killicks rather quickly and I too doubt her chances of finding that perfect man. I think it’s particularly interesting that in the beginning, after her disillusionments, she still retains such an idealistic view of true love.
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ReplyDeleteI agree, Janie has unrealistic (and aggravatingly transient) expectations for her future, especially for the time period she was in. In a way, though, she feels refreshingly modern. We have to remember that she was 17 at the time of her first marriage, as old or even younger than we are now. Could you imagine being asked (or commanded) to marry a made 30 years your senior, with whom you have absolutely no spark, for the sake of financial stability? I asked myself this question, and realized that I sympathize with Janie for her ridiculous situation, even though it was common at the time.
ReplyDeleteYes, my view is coming from a place of privilege. I get to marry and love who I want, live in leisure, etc. Compared to her peers, Janie comes from privilege as well. While that might mean that Janie is a bit spoiled, I don't think it discredits her dreams. After all, haven't you been told from childhood to reach for the stars? That's progress!
In summary, I do think that Janie's view of love is a bit realistic, but I don't think it's unreasonable.
One of the things we see in Janie's relationship with Joe is that marriage *doesn't* necessarily equal "happily ever after"--in contrast to the Jane Austen model, wherein marriage represents the culmination of the plot, Hurston takes it as a point of departure (literally!). Joe seems exotic and promises adventure and "horizon" when he first comes strolling down the road, but how quickly this excitement turns to confinement and routine. But a woman in Janie's time and place doesn't have a whole lot of options aside from marriage, in terms of her social mobility, and so she's left with this restlessness and no way to satisfy it.
ReplyDeleteBut Joe represented compromise of her ideals from the start--she acknowledges that he isn't necessarily "blossoms and pollen" but that he represents change, and from the vantage of Logan's slop-pile, change looks pretty good.