Janie

      Janie Crawford is an African-American woman living in the early 1900's in southern Florida. Janie's story is told in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie's struggle for love, happiness, and personal satisfaction drive Janie through a crazy life, full of different men, different towns, and different states of mind,
       The book opens with Janie walking into Eatonville, Florida and Janie, now past forty years old, has been away for some time. Janie begins to talk to Pheoby Watson, a close friend, about her story. Janie grew up with her grandmother, after her mother was raped and became a drunk. Janie lived in a white household, and while teased for it, enjoyed her childhood very much. As a teenager, Janie was forced to marry Logan Killicks, a older man who owned a farm, because of her Grandmother's uncertainty about Janie's future. Janie quickly grew tired of Logan, and ran off with a rich man named Joe Starks, who went with her to build a new life in the all black town of Eatonville. In Eatonville Joe lived his dream, however Janie grew apart from Joe as well. After a few months alone, Janie then met a man named Tea Cake who she quickly grew fond of. Tea Cake treated her differently, and it led to Janie to think about running off with him.
       Throughout all of this, despite all the craziness, Janie has stayed true to one thing. Her pursuit of happiness. Janie spends the first half of her life unhappy, searching for love in places where all she would get are things. So she gave up on that dream and moved on, because she would never quit believed that she could do something to better her own situation. The end of Janie's story is currently unknown, however it is safe to assume she will be doing something to get happy.