In Zora Neale Hurston's, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," the main character and protagonist of the novel, Janie Mae Crawford, struggles throughout her journey of finding true love, happiness and her own identity. Janie pursues three marriages with three different men in attempt to follow her dreams of mutual love and freedom. Along her path, she meets Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Vergible Woods. The novel shows how her relationships with each of the men have helped Janie find herself and develop a sense of her own identity.
In the beginning of the novel, Janie is first married off to Logan Killicks by her grandmother, Nanny. She forces Janie to quickly marry Logan and tells her that marrying him will give her protection. She mentions to Janie that she does not have much time left and prays to see the day when she sees Janie is safe (Hurston 15). Because of her past as a slave, she believes that Janie should be married to a financially stable man like Logan who will give her wealth and keep her safe. Even though Janie does not love Logan Killicks, she still marries him believing her grandmother's idea that love comes along with marriage. When Janie realizes she will never have feelings for Logan she confronts Nanny. Janie expresses to her grandmother, "Cause you told me Ah mus going to love him, and, and Ah don't. Maybe if somebody was to tell me how, Ah could do it " (Hurston 23). Janie now understands that love is not linked to marriage and a man like Logan, who she does not love, is not the kind of person she wants to be with. Logan was not her ideal image of how love should be so when Janie stumbles into another smooth-talking man named Jody Starks, she takes the opportunity to leave Logan behind and elope.
As the story progresses, Janie is soon known as the wife of Jody Starks, Eatonville's town Mayor. During this time she is made to work in a store by her controlling husband.
