Janie and Jody, Conflict and Freedoom Their Eyes Were...

Janie and Jody, Conflict and Freedom: Their Eyes Were Watching God In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist, Janie, and her husband for a respectable portion of her life, Jody Starks, seek courtship for entirely different reasons. Janie pursues sexual and emotional fulfillment as she journeys to the horizon and to a place of limitless possibility, while the male domineering Jody Starks seeks only after power, control, and a good place in society. These dramatic differences in ideals of love are the source of conflict between Janie and Jody and utterly shift Janie’s understanding of freedom and what it means to be free. Their different outlooks also lead to their downfall as a couple,†¦show more content†¦On the surface, it seems as though he is helping the fallen people of the town rise as a community, but just below the surface is the malicious aspiration to rise himself. Jody wants to rise to a position of authority so that he can demand things of others, just as he did in the establishment of the Eatonville. Furthermore, Jody’s controlling nature escalates to a point where Janie is affected. When Jody is named mayor of Eatonville, one of the men who helped build the store asks Janie to give a speech on behalf of her husband. Jody tells Janie that wives should not make speeches and prevents her making the speech. This scene marks Janie’s awareness of Jody’s desire to be in control, and it also marks the conflict between the two of them and what each of them wants out of the relationship. To allow Janie to speak would be to allow her to assert her identity in her own words. It would allow her to be heard and it would give her a sense of freedom. Jody cannot have this as it would interfere with his dominance. In order for Jody to assert his power, he must demean Janie. While Janie is not in agreement, in fact his opinion angers her; she remains silent in the hopes that she can still reach her horizon with him. Jody’s domineering nature continues to escalate and affect Janie and her dream of reaching â€Å"the horizon.† Jody purchases a street lamp for the town with his money and