It's pretty easy as a reader to group Janie's first two husbands Logan and Joe, but in reality they were very different, and grouping them together gives Logan in particular a bad rap. Let me start by clarifying, I have no sympathy for Logan, it's not Janie's fault she doesn't love him and she is obliged to leave. However, he was not abusive or manipulative as Jody came to be. He was merely a simple farmer, who proved incompatible with his much younger and much more adventurous wife. So while Janie was justified in leaving him, he didn't exactly do much wrong. In the case of Jody, he did a lot of things that were legitimately abusive, so ironically Janie leaves Logan for a worse man.
Jody is a minsogynst who believes Janie's only purpose should be to sit still and look pretty. He doesn't really even allow her to work inside her own store. When he claims upon first meeting her, that working the farm is no place for a woman, he didn't mean it in a misguided but chivalrous manner, he meant it in a demeaning and disrespectful way. He refers to what Janie's place as a wife should be. For example; not making speeches, and not talking on the porch with others. It becomes extremely apparent that he is a manipulative monster as opposed to Logan who just wanted some help on the farm.
I think that the key difference between these two relationships, is that while Logan and Janie were incompatible. Jody was just a terrible husband. I think this is important for understanding Janie's development as a person and the progression of the story as a whole. Hopefully, Tea Cake turns out to be a better fit than either of them. Janie deserves a successful marriage for once.
Jody is a minsogynst who believes Janie's only purpose should be to sit still and look pretty. He doesn't really even allow her to work inside her own store. When he claims upon first meeting her, that working the farm is no place for a woman, he didn't mean it in a misguided but chivalrous manner, he meant it in a demeaning and disrespectful way. He refers to what Janie's place as a wife should be. For example; not making speeches, and not talking on the porch with others. It becomes extremely apparent that he is a manipulative monster as opposed to Logan who just wanted some help on the farm.
I think that the key difference between these two relationships, is that while Logan and Janie were incompatible. Jody was just a terrible husband. I think this is important for understanding Janie's development as a person and the progression of the story as a whole. Hopefully, Tea Cake turns out to be a better fit than either of them. Janie deserves a successful marriage for once.
I agree with a lot of the points you make, but I don't think it's fair to Janie to overlook Logan's extreme nature. Janie worked hard at home doing the housework, but Logan asked for too much. Especially since she put up with his poor hygienic habits. On top of all their fights Jody threatened to kill her. If I was in her situation I wouldn't feel safe living with him. Since Janie left before the situation got worse it's hard to say of Logan really was better than Jody.
ReplyDeleteI think it is pretty clear that both of these people were not really the best of love partners. I agree that Jody was plain out abusive at many points, but I think the same can be said to Logan. If we look at Janie's account, Logan plain out threatened to kill Janie. I think it is hard to really compare the two as one relationship lasted longer than the other, but I think its easy to say that both are not ideal. But especially with Jody, I think Janie was really trapped in the relationship where with Logan she was able to escape. As you said, lets hope that the third one works out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Geoffrey about that its hard to compare the two relationships because one was so much longer than the other. I believe Logan may have been the 'better' of the two? I guess it depends on what you think is important.
DeleteJody socially constricted Janie, but Logan threatened to kill her so...
Lets hope Teacake is better than these other guys.
I think its interesting that you bring this comparison up. I think both Logan and Joe had their own problems, and I am interested to see how Tea Cake plays into this. We saw how deceptive Joe was, and how oblivious Janie was in that moment. I think this leaves the future very cloudy, as Tea Cake could be either really good or really bad.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your point that Logan was a "better" husband for Janie than Jody. It's also worth nothing that most of what Logan was expecting from Janie wasn't entirely unreasonable because it does in fact require great work to take care of a large piece of land. That said, Logan also had his flaws like threatening to kill Janie. I also am eager to see what kind relationship will form between Janie and Tea Cake.
ReplyDeleteI've got to agree that Logan was probably the better husband, compared to Jody, but I also think that Janie's decision to leave Logan makes good, or at least decent, sense when she does it. Logan has just threatened her with death, and Jody seems like he's trying to become something better. That his "better" has no actual place for another human being other than as an ornament is something that's not at all immediately apparent to Janie.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Janie's decision to leave Logan is perfectly justifiable for the circumstances. I completely forgot that Logan had threatened to kill her. Jody seems to paint a pretty picture for Janie, but I think he only acts this way to get her to come along, with no real intentions of treating her well.
DeleteI agree that Logan is a better husband than Joe, and that Logan and Janie were simply incompatible. I don't think it was okay for Janie to be forced into her marriage with Logan, but at the time in which this story takes place that was a common occurrence. I feel bad for Logan because he was expecting a loyal and obedient wife, as sexist as that may sound. He essentially just wants an assistant, and Janie turns out to be more than he can handle. Though he is aggressive, demanding, and sexist, I believe that most of these problems are rooted in the society of that time and how radical Janie was compared to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Logan is a way better husband that Joe was. Logan and Janie had different expectations for what their marriage would look like. Although, I think Logan was also overlooking how much Janie worked in the house, and acted like she did nothing all day. Joe started out really nice, so Janie liked him. But, he turned out to be a much worse choice than Logan was.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Jody is terrible, and I think you do a great job in laying out exactly how bad he is, but I think you’re going a bit soft on Logan. Yes, one of the major problems is that he and Janie are completely incompatible, but that doesn’t excuse his actions. As we see towards the end of their relationship, Logan is extreme in many ways and seems to have some type of anger management issues. He literally threatens to kill Janie. I think he and Jody end up being equally abusive by the end, just in different ways. Logan is physically and verbally abusive, while Jody is more undermining and discreet.
ReplyDeleteThe comparison of these two males is an interesting topic to bring up. You say that you feel no sympathy for Logan but I do not agree with you. Janie was supposed to be a wife that was willing to comply with his orders. Logan wants someone that can help him out just like how he is helping them out by giving them financial security. Janie just can't handle Logan and I feel bad for Logan because he was "entitled" to Janie. That sounds kind of bad but this was the standard of the time period. Logan was just the better one for Janie in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteWhile Jamie might have loved Jody, I think that Logan proves to be the better husband. Jody treats Jamie as an artifact and is only used for display. Ironically, he wants to Jamie to down dress so that other men won't be attracted to her. Logan, on the other hand, is a simple farmer, as you have mentioned. He never mistreats her and only ask for her help in exchange.
ReplyDeleteI agree. When Janie left Logan, she was justified, but when comparing him to Joe, he is still better. He is a worker and so he wants Janie to work as well while Joe just wants her as a trophy because she is pretty. He doesn't think that woman should or can work and do other things like play checkers so therefore, he is the far worse husband. So far Tea Cake is better than both of them. Hopefully, he continues to be.
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