"Their Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of a middle-aged black women named Janie Crawford who lives in Eatonville, Florida. Janie tries to find her identity and her own independence through three different marriages that she had. Her journey to finding herself was not an easy task as she tries to tackle the stereotypes of being an African-American women. Zora Hurston gives us a great description of being a women and how we are portrayed to be in the world and also being a black women too. It all starts out with her grandmother who tries to mold her into something she does not want.
Janie's grandmother tries to make her marry by telling her that a man can provide her security and social status for her life. This is where she meets Logan Killicks, a man who she does not love but she will marry because her grandmother tells her that she will eventually grow to love him. As times goes by she realize that she still does not love him. Logan becomes less romantic and wants her to work manual labor because he feels that she is spoiled. As this marriage dies out she meets another man named who is a very handsome and good-looking man and who is also ambitious, this man is Joe Sparks. He gives her high hopes and dreams, something she didn't get with Logan. They then marry where she becomes the wife of a mayor. Janie realizes the type of women Joe wants her to be. Joe never wanted her to speak, this is where she realizes that this is not the marriage she thought she had, which to her becomes another pattern of falling marriages. She never was able to speak her mind and he would make her wear a head rag because he gets jealous seeing other man looking at her long beautiful hair. Janie being a naive women believed that their marriage still can work. Janie was still trying to find what love really is and how she should be treated as a woman. As their relationship progressed things get worst, Joe's valued material things more than he does Janie and he keeps her isolated from the social world.