In human life, people are bound to be different in one way or the other. People achieve different kinds of success, and even naturally, people are created differently, with some being talented, beautiful, and smart while the rest of the population is ordinary. In many instances, ordinary people will be envious of other people whom they perceive to be better. Ironically, jealousy ravages the entire population such that even relatives and great friends will be jealous of each other. In Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a perfect example of how people can be envious of another person. .
Janie was born to a white school teacher and a black woman. Her mom runs away when Janie is still a little girl, leaving the grandmother to raise her. In her young age and lack of exposure, Janie thinks she is a white girl and "the same as everyone else." At school, the other black kids are jealous of her appearance. Janie is light skinned, and she wears the Washburn's children clothes that are nicer than the clothes of other black kids. Janie also lived in a white background with her grandmother, which made the other black kids more envious of her. One of the girls, Mayrella, would get pissed off every time she looked at Janie. Janie was good-looking, with long hair and used to wear nice clothes from the Washburn's. Mayrella was envious of her looks and her hair, and would pick on her every time. She would even enlist other girls to pick up on Janie, and taunt her about her dad. Janie was a very beautiful girl. Her long hair and body features made her attractive to pessimists, optimists, and everybody else. The writer describes their reaction, "the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume; then her pugnacious breasts trying to bore holes in her shirt" (Hurston, 15). Women became jealous of her; they believed that Janie could take away their husbands, or that she made the competition for nice men too unfair by being so pretty.
