Their Eyes Were Watching God

Johnny Taylor is not as important as some of the characters on this map. At the beginning of this book, Nanny catches Janie and Johnny kissing, that is when Nanny tells Janie she needs to be married so she can be "in her place"

Sam Watson is only mentioned a few times in this book, he is Pheoby's husband and a friend of Jody Starks.

Pheoby is Janie's best friend, she is not talked about a lot in this book, but she is still important. Janie and Pheoby always talk about Janie's conflicts and always make sure she isn't doing something that will hurt her and her future.

Mrs. Turner is an African American that is racist women towards her own skin tone. She loves Janie because of the complexion of her skin, she believes that she should leave Tea cake for her brother.

Mrs. Turner and her son are not really discussed any more in the book after Chapter 17.

Motor Boat is also mentioned in the book a few times, but what we know is that he is a friend of Tea Cakes.

Nunkie is also not as important in this book, but in Chapter 15 Janie catches Nunkie constantly flirting with Tea Cake and Janie grows jealous of this occurrence.

Towards the end of the book, a storm was coming, Janie, Tea Cake, and a few other characters stayed back waiting for the White people to leave instead of listening to the animals and Indians.

In Chapter 17, the storm comes in. While Janie and Tea Cake are trying to make it to safe ground, Janie gets swept up by the wind and into the water, a cow just so happens to be swimming by unfortunately there is a dog sitting on the back that has rabies and is about to strike Janie and Tea Cake jumps in to save her, in the process Tea Cake gets bitten in the cheek by this "mad dog".

Chapter 18-20 Tea Cake is slowly deteriorating, Janie quickly notices and calls the doctor, he tells her that he has rabies and its dangerous for her to be living with him because he can kill her. Janie decides to stay with him to try and help him, Chapter 19 Tea Cake's mind is gone and he tries killing Janie with a pistol, Janie had prepared for this and pulls out the rifle and shoots him quickly, she runs over to catch him, he bites her but as far as we know she doesn't rabies.

Chapter 19-20 Janie is in a court hearing deciding if she shot Tea Cake out of defense or it was a premeditated murder.

Hair represents her independence and defiance of the community. Her hair in a sense threatens Jody because it is a symbol of masculine power, finally her hair is a symbol for whiteness because it is straight and Janie has other Caucasian characteristics, this is why Mrs. Turner worships her since it contributes to the white male power that she holds.

Janie chases after the thought of this pear tree because of the perfect moment in nature, full of erotic energy, passionate interaction, and blissful harmony.

The horizon represents the far off mystery of the natural world that Janie wants to connect with. At the end of this novel, Janie had finally achieved this harmony with nature that she longed for since the beginning of the book.

The hurricane is a demonstration of the destructive fury of nature. The horizon and Pear tree represent beauty and tranquility, while this shows chaos, the characters question if God cares about them and how they are able to live in such a destructive world.

Logan Killicks is an African American around the age of late 50s early 60s. Nanny knows Logan and wants Janie to marry this character because he owns a lot of land. This character is Janie's first husband in the novel, Janie leaves Logan because of his appearance, she doesn't love him, and she wants someone to love.

Nanny is Janie's Grandmother, Nanny constantly tells Janie that she needs to find love with someone with a lot of land because African Americans didn't own much wealth in the era of this book. Nanny was owned by a slave owner, but she had left because she didn't want her and her children owned by White people.

Jody is a stylish young man around his 30s in this book. Jody is seen walking down the street near Janie's house, he is on his way to a new town that is just for colored folks. Janie notices him and gets his attention, Jody tells Janie that she deserves a man that loves her and doesn't make her do any field work. Jody tells her that he will be waiting for her in the mourning, Janie leaves Logan and Marries Jody the next day.

What Janie doesn't know about Jody is that he is a possessive man and treats Janie different then the day they met. One example of this is in Chapter 6 when Jody tells Janie to tie up her hair, this is symbolic in the story because her hair represents her power and unconventional identity. Jody dies Janie lets her hair out of the rag, symbolizing that she is now free.

"Ah knowed you wasn't gointuh lissen tuh me. You changes everything but nothin' don't change you-not even death. But Ah ain't goin' outa here and Ah ain't gointuh hush. Naw, you gointuh listen tuh me one time befo' you die. Have yo' way all yo' life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let yo'self heah 'bout it. Listen, Jody, you ain't de Jody ah run off down de wid me. You'se whut's left after he died. Ah run off tuh keep house wid you in uh wonderful way. But you wasn't satisfied wid me de way Ah was. Naw! Mah own mind had tuh be squeezed and crowded out tuh make room for yours in me." Janie says this to Jody before he dies of kidney failure.