Janie’s first husband, Logan Killucks, was a fair and gentle man. Janie’s Grandmother raised her and tried to instill the belief that Janie needed a man, and why not marry a man with such admirable traits. Her grandmother did this because she was very close to death and would not be around to take care of her anymore. So Nanny sets Janie up with this prominent black man, and soon they are married. Logan spoke in rhymes to her hoping to woo her over. Janie takes care of the house and Logan tends to the fields. Logan married Janie without even knowing her, or giving himself time to get a vague understanding of who she was. This means that Logan married her for other reasons than love, he married her because she is a beautiful and delicate younger woman. Janie asks, “Does marriage compel love?”(Hurston 22

Janie soon starts to lose interest in staying with Logan due to his lack of love for her. She is sitting under a tree one day while Logan is out of town and meets a man named Joe Starks as he is walking up the street. She begins to talk to him about where he is headed and where he has been, but does not really spend any quality time with him over the next couple of weeks in which they are conversing. One day Joe asks Janie to leave with him and start a new life together, and Janie leaves Logan for Joe to have another chance at finding true love. This time it seems more convincing that Joe marries Janie for the right reasons, but time will show the truth. Joe married Janie after only a couple weeks, builds a life for himself and begins to drift from Janie. Joe becomes a powerful man, becoming mayor and building a town. He is not a bad man, but loses track of what should be the most important responsibility in his life. He keeps his wife secluded from townspeople, “…I can’t see what a woman uh yo’ stability would want tuh be treasurin’ all dat grum-grease from folks…”(Hurston 54). This makes it seem as though Janie should not be talking to normal townspeople. He becomes mayor and a very powerful man in society, neglecting Janie more and more all the time. Neglecting Janie and losing interest in her as a person shows how Joe is not in love with Janie. Joe has more of a possession of her, giving him his trophy wife. He begins confining her to the store to work and restricting her from making public speeches. Joe married Janie for the same reasons Logan did, she only meant one thing to Joe, she was a tool for helping Joe build his reputation as a powerful man. Joe had no other intentions than building up his reputation

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