Janie Mae Crawford
Janie was half black and half white. Her mother, who was black, was raped by a white man which resulted in the birth of Janie. Janie's family was known for unmarried women; Janie's grandmother was also raped and out of the situation she had Janie's mother, Leafy. Janies's goal was not to be the first woman married in her family but to find true love. Janie ended up marrying three times and from all of these relationships she learned a lesson.
Teacake
Teacake was Janie's third husband and one true love. Teacake was twelve years younger than Janie but they believe that age is just a number. Janie immediately falls in love with Teacake because of his outgoing
personality, his respectfulness, and his kind heart. Teacake was much different that Janie's two previous husbands, Logan and Jody, in the since of respect. He treated Janie like his equal, whereas Logan and Jody treated her as an object, like a trophy. By Teacake treating her right, Janie loves being married to him and charishes their love.
personality, his respectfulness, and his kind heart. Teacake was much different that Janie's two previous husbands, Logan and Jody, in the since of respect. He treated Janie like his equal, whereas Logan and Jody treated her as an object, like a trophy. By Teacake treating her right, Janie loves being married to him and charishes their love.
Joe Starks
Joe, often referred to as Jody, was Janie's second husband. Jody is an accomplished business man and entrepreneur from Georgia. Jody moved to Eatonville on a business endever where he met Janie. Joe was very pompus and prideful in his sense of power and "manliness". He believed that he had the right to rule over Janie because he was an authority figure in other parts of his life. Janie was miserable when it came to her marrige to Joe because he had no respect for her and didn't show his love for her at all.
Logan Killicks
Logan was Janie's first husband. Janie didn't love Logan but she had great hope that the longer they were married the stronger her affection for him would grow. A big reason why Janie didn't immediately like Joe was because of his looks. Logan was known as an ugly or a very unattractive old man, whereas Janie was a beautiful young lady. Another thing that Janie wasn't so fond of was that Joe wasn't good at showing his emotions. Joe was very reserved and to himself but he made known that he felt that men could dominate women and treat them as objects.
Nanny
Nanny was Janie's grandmother and the only parent figure that Janie ever had. Nanny loved Janie more than anything and tried to make decisions based on what was best for Janie. All of the decisions that Nanny made for Janie were meant to be for the best interest of Janie but it didn't always turn out that way. For example Nanny told Janie to marry her first husband, Logan Killicks, because he was wealthy and would treat her as his idol. In Nanny's eyes being married to a wealthy man and being his idol was a life long dream but she didn't take into consideration what Janie wanted when it came to marrige. All in all Nanny was a great grandmother and guide throughout Janie's life.
Pheoby Watson
Pheoby Watson was Janie's bestfriend and sticks by her through thick and thin. In the book Janie is narrating her life story to Pheoby. Pheoby is a great and loyal friend to Janie. She was there for Janie to listen to her problems and console her through hards times such as her first two marriges. Pheobe also defended Janie throughout the whole book when towns people or her former husbands would make false accusations about her. Also Pheoby takes a tole on us as readers to see Janie's point of view and to see her in a better light.