CHARACTER LIST

 

JANIE

A mulatto woman with luxurious hair and a bombshell figure even in her later years, Janie is the protagonist of Their Eyes Were Watching God. She marries three times. Her first marriage is arranged by her Nanny to Logan Killicks, an older, financially stable man. She leaves him for Jody Starks, a visionary who helps to shape the first African-American town in Florida. When he passes away, she finally finds true love and marries Tea Cake, despite the fact that he is twelve years her junior. Janie lives a challenging life, especially when she finds a man she loves passionately, but even though she suffers, Janie is a resilient woman who holds onto her dream of the horizon.

 

 

NANNY

Nanny is Janie’s grandmother and caretaker until she arranges her marriage to Logan. An ex-slave, Nanny values financial security for Janie and makes sure to choose a man who can provide for her beloved granddaughter. She passes away shortly after Janie’s marriage.

 

 

PHEOBY

Pheoby is Janie’s best friend. Without her, this novel would not be set up the way as it is since it is a story directed towards her. When Janie returns back to Eatonville after the hurricane in the Everglades, Phoebe is one of the few who do not talk badly about Janie (they’re just jealous of the grapefruit bottom).

 

 

LOGAN KILLICKS

This man owns sixty acres of land and definitely takes pride in it. He marries Janie and treats her well for a little while until he feels like she is not doing her fair share around the farm. He becomes bossy and purchases Janie a “woman-friendly” mule. No wonder she left.

 

 

JOE "JODY" STARKS

This man is a real charmer. After only a day of knowing Janie, he asks her to run away with him, and she agrees to leave Logann. Thankfully, he keeps his promise and does not abandon her, but as his power grows as the mayor in the town of Eatonville, his power over her grows. She becomes his dainty trophy-wife, and one day, he becomes jealous of her. Years later, he becomes sick and his kidneys fail.

 

 

VERGIBLE "TEACAKE" WOODS

Although Tea Cake is a poor man from Eatonville, he scores a winner when he courts and eventually marries Janie. He treats her as his equal, unlike her former partners. They go fishing, they cook together, and they play games together. Though he is known to make poor decisions (for example, he takes Janie’s emergency fund the morning after their marriage and spends it frivolously on the town), he loves her fiercely and even figuratively “takes a bullet” (in the form of a rabid dog’s bite) for Janie in the Everglades during a massive hurricane. Unfortunately, this bite is the ultimate cause of his death. He becomes rabid, a shell of his former self, and he even tries to kill Janie. However, his lover shoots him in self-defense.