The Images of Black Men in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

The characters Logan Killicks, Jody (Joe) Starks, and Tea Cake have their own perspective towards Janie and the story explains why these men ever got involved with her in the first place. Janie, the main protagonist, goes through three major periods in her life that corresponds to her three different marriages. Logan Killicks, Janie’s first husband, is physically unattractive and in the relationship he has with Janie, he is shown as controlling. He wants a domestic helper rather than a lover or partner. So, he tries to force her to help him with the hard labor of the farm. Jody (Joe) Starks is physically attractive, but his ideal of a model woman makes him controlling in his relationship with Janie. He wants the image of his perfect wife to reinforce his powerful position in town. He asks Janie to run the store but forbids her from participating in the substantial social that occurs on the store’s front porch. Tea Cake is physically attractive and free spirited, which enables him to have equality in relationship with Janie. However, at first there was controlling through jealousy in their relationship because Tea Cake sees her as an object to be possessed. But because of Tea Cake’s open mindedness he is able to change and make adjustments. Logan Killicks, Jody (Joe) Starks, and Tea Cake, can be all tied together by their similarities, but in most cases they are very different. Through the characters Logan Killick, Jody (Joe) Starks, and Tea Cake, Hurston portrays the image of black men in the novel as being men who are similar by wanting control over their women, but in most cases they are very different.

Logan Killicks is Janie’s first husband. He is old and ugly which is in contrast to Janie’s youthful beauty. Janie resents him for his uneven face and for lacking the manners to wash his feet before coming to bed. In this case the reader could see Janie representing beauty and Logan representing everything ugly there is when it comes to all of