"Mouf kissin' is on uh equal and dat's natural but when dey got to bow down tuh love, dey soon straightens up." -p. 23
Throughout Janie’s life, the protagonist of Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, a yearning to grasp her purpose of living and sense of self is evident. Approaching her grandmother Nanny after a misconception about love and marriage, Janie tells her grandmother about the emptiness within her household though violence and overall sadness does not ensue. Nanny then tells Janie her opinion; a quote which is important throughout the book not only as the reflection of the theme, but also the set-up for the tone.
Hurston utilizes Janie's life as a metaphor for the hardships of women, but not just any women, but black women- the lowest of the low. Janie is the symbol for the black woman with her strength to not settle for less regardless of the choices that are put before her by other people. Janie uses love as a source of freedom, viewing equality as the utmost prize. The quote speaks of Janie's search for self, but also foreshadows her marriages. With her marriages:Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake, the way Hurston uses literal meaning (Killicks and Starks treating Janie like a princess, but treating her badly later on) connects to the quote. Incidentally, or rather purposefully, Tea Cake is the only one that literally kisses Janie in the novel thus giving meaning that Janie will be treated equally in their marriage. Tea Cake provides Janie with the one thing she needs most: the option to let herself free.
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