The pear tree gave Janie self-awareness. It was Janie's "get-a-way" spot to gather her complex thoughts. Critic Robert Gaspar, states "Hurston creates an almost palpable sense of atmosphere in the early stages of the novel" (Gaspar). At age sixteen, Janie laid beneath the pear tree when, "the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-caly

Joe "Jody" Starks wooed Janie. He pulled her from her dull marriage to Logan Killicks. He touched her with his words of kindness. He promised her happiness. "De day you puts yo' hand in mine, Ah wouldn't let de sun go down on us single. You ain't never knowed what it was to be treated lak a lady and Ah wants to be de one tuh show yuh." (29). He wanted her to feel special, and be treated like she was somebody. Starks offers and wants her to have comfort in life, when he says to her,

Janie's marriage to Logan Killicks was the first stage in her development as a woman. In her marriage to Logan, she found out that the marriage was not what she wanted. Logan was only good for one thing, protection. In Janie's eyes, "The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree" (14). Janie was disgusted by her husband's appearance, "Ah hates de way his head is so long one way and so flat on de sides and dat pone uh fat back uh his neck...his belly is too big too, now, and his toe-nails look lak mule foots" (24). Janie wanted love, happiness, comfort and enjoyment in her marriage. She didn't want her first marriage to be like a prison sentence. "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under the pear tree and think..." (24). She hoped that her forced marriage with Logan would end her loneliness and desire for love.

In that dialogue, Janie starts to achieve her voice by threatening to leave Killicks. Possibly, since Killicks never expressed himself effectively in an emotional way, perhaps, Janie was unable to express herself to anyone except her Nanny. Killicks tells her to do things but doesn't ask her. He believes Janie "ain't got no particular place. It's wherever Ah need yuh..." (31). She didn't want to be there, where there was no warmth. Janie soon realized that she was living in Nanny's dreams rather than her own. During this marriage, neither of them were able to express their emotional feelings toward each other, this caused Janie to turn to Joe "Jody" Starks.

ain't gointuh hush. Naw, you gointuh listen tuh me one time befo' you die...Listen, Jody, you ain't de Jody ah run off down de road wid. 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." (86)

Some common words found in the essay are:
Logan Killicks, Gaspar Hurston, Watching God, Neale Hurston, Tea Cake, Janie Jody, Tea Cake's, Clair Crabtree, Janie Janie, Tony Janie, tea cake, pear tree, logan killicks, marriage logan, jody starks, janie's life, joe jody, joe jody starks, tea cake's, wid uh, marriage logan killicks, head rag, eyes watching god, woods tea cake, vergible woods tea,
Approximate Word count = 2392
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)