Logan Killicks The Pear Tree Quotes

When Joe “Jody” Starks appears out of nowhere, Janie feels like her dreams have finally come true. But after a while, the marriage turns out to be little more than the stint with Killicks. Starks, like Killicks, treats her as property and not as someone he actually loves. One example is how Jody makes Janie put her hair up in a wrap while working in the store, rather than leave it down. Another is when he publicly criticizes her appearance, saying she is starting to show her age, when he is clearly at least ten years older: “’ You ain’t no young courtin’ gal. You’se uh old woman, nearly fourty’” (Hurston 79). Joe feels the need to tear down Janie, in order to make himself feel more important, which was an important part of being a man during this time.

Janie's marriage to Logan Killicks was the first stage in her growth as a woman. She hoped that her obligatory marriage with Logan would

Yielding, however, to the wishes of her aged grandmother - that she seek protection and security in marriage - Janie marries Logan Killicks. The passion that Janie has dreamed of, however, is missing from this marriage, and Logan's house is "a lonesome place like a stump in the middle of the woods"(21). As her marriage slowly deteriorates and she enters the dying cycle of the tree, Janie never forgets the blossoming pear tree. "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think"(24), she exclaims. "The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree"(14), so when the classy, charming Joe Starks offers her a marriage and a better life, Janie sets off down the road with him, in another cycle of springtime bloom. The pear tree is reborn and she believes that "from now until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom" (32). Though she initially finds the passion she had longed for, Janie eventually becomes Joe's possession. He exercises arbitrary power over her, forbidding her from wearing her hair

Janie is married to two men, before she finds Tea Cake, that both suppress her individuality in their own ways. Janie's first husband, Logan Killicks, suppresses her by keeping her in a marriage that she can't fully, or at all, love the man she's married to. "Cause you told me Ah wuz gointer love him, and, and Ah don’t. Maybe if somebody was to tell me how, Ah could do it." Janie says she needs to be told how to feel about Logan in order for her to be able to love feel anything towards him at all. Janie is a mixture of the people around her because they're telling her to live and how to think. Janie can't bring herself to figure out how to do these things on her own so she ends up looking for the answers in the man she married, her grandmother, and her society. Joe Starks, Janie's second husband, keeps her from showing who she really wants to be by

Janie 's visionary scene under the blossoming pear tree aroused her sexual awakening where she seeks to find the utopia where she evolves around love.Her insularity feeling of love sets her adventurous mislead of marriages.The pear tree in the beginning of the novel provides Janie the imaginative feeling of love and path to follow, but that love decays after being forced to marry Logan Killicks, a wealthy old man, whom Janie has no love for. But Janie is assured by Nanny that her love for Logan will unfold, so Janie spontaneously marries Logan.Nanny having gone through the rough life of a slave black woman and experience the mistress of women, acknowledge the role of

Janie’s quest begins with her grandmother forcing her to marry Logan Killicks; her compliance demonstrates her need to follow what others expect of her. Although she believes "[Logan] look like some ole skullhead in de graveyard", she marries him, simply because her grandmother tells her she will love him with time (13). She compares him to a “skullhead”, literally likening him, and subsequently their relationship, to death. Although she knows she wants to find love, and that she does not love Logan, she marries him to appease her grandmother. This shows how much Janie cares about what other people think of her, and what lengths she is willing to go to keep others pleases with her.

Janie's attraction to Joe Starks' charisma quickly diminishes when his overdose of ambition and controlling personality get the best of him. Although he is a big voice in the town, Janie only sees him as a big voice. All his money and power have no effect on her when all he does is ridicule and control her. He makes it clear where Janie belongs: "Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home" (Hurston 43). This is ironic because when she is with Logan, she wants to be in the house doing her own thing, but Joe is making it sound like confinement. It's as if she has no choice in the matter and Joe intends to make his power over her known. People have different desires and sometimes when we get caught up in our success, we can end up hurting others. Joe's reply to Janie is a great example of the insensitivity that can form from the pride we can possibly inherit when we achieve success: "Ah told you in de first beginnin' dat Ah aimed tuh be uh big voice.

Instead of treating Janie like the beautiful woman that she is, he uses her as an object. Joe was a man who “treasured [Janie] as a posession” (Berridge). Joe’s demanding nature suppresses Janie’s urge to grow and develop, thus causing her journey to self-realization to take steps backward rather than forward. In Janie’s opinion, “he needs to “have [his] way all [his] life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let [him]self heah 'bout it” (Hurston 122). It is almost as if Janie loses sense of her own self-consciousness due to the fact that she becomes like a puppy being told what to do by her master. The death of Jody is actually a positive thing. Joe’s controlling nature stifles Janie’s inner voice. While married to Jody, Janie became closer to others, however, she did not become closer to herself. Being on her own again gave her another chance to embark on her journey and realize who Janie Crawford really is.

Her decision to leave Logan for Joe Starks shows her determination to achieve her dream of love; she does not want to give and take this dream for stability. Logan is extremely ignorant of Janie′s feelings. When she tries to talk with him about them he simply replies: "′Ah′m getting′ sleepy Janie. Let′s don′t talk no mo′.′" (Hurston,30) He does not realize that Janie is serious about leaving him and that she wants him to show his feelings for her. Instead, he tries to hurt her like she hurt him, by pretending not to be worried about her leaving him. Janie gets to know Joe during her marriage with Logan. Right from the beginning he treats her like a lady. This is one reason why Janie is so attracted to him.

     Logan Killicks complained to Janie that she had been “spoilt rotten” because she did not do hard labor around the house like his previous wife

Joe Starks is an admirable person. He promises Janie beautiful material things and happiness unlike Logan who only tried to control her and offered her no love. Janie is overwhelmed by this proposal and believes that Joe may be the bee that has come to fertilize her and make her happy, but she is proven wrong. After she runs away from Logan, Joe and Janie travel to a new town that is only occupied by African Americans. There, Joe becomes mayor and is well respected by all. He gains wealth and gives Janie the material things that he promised her, but forces her to work in his local store all day long. He does not allow her to attend parties or have any fun and makes negative comments about her constantly. He says,

Although Logan saw Janie as another hired hand on his farm, he knew that if he wanted to keep her he would still have to spoil her.  "Yo' Grandma and me myself done spoilt you now, and Ah reckon Ah have tuh keep on wid it" (26).  However, Logan did have Janie out plowing the fields and chopping potatoes.  When she met Joe, he said, "You behind a plow!  You ain't got no mo' business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday!  You ain't go no business cuttin' up no seed p'taters neither.  A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to si on de front porch and rock and fan yo'self and eat p'taters dat other folks plant just special

Interestingly, it seems that Janie has more power than Killicks in their relationship, in the sense that her words and actions send Killicks into fits of “resentful agony” (31) and cause Killicks to react so desperately that he ends up threatening to kill Janie with an ax, and seconds later, to cry in front of his wife (31-32). Janie leaves Killicks not on the premise that she can take care of herself, or even that she is in love with Starks, but that Starks will make her happier than will Killicks. The ending of Janie’s and Stark’s relationship, therefore, marks not Janie’s growing sense of self-sufficiency, but a small increase in self-growth in the sense that she has a clearer idea of what she is looking for in love.

Logan simply amplifies the negative effect Nanny has on Janie. Rather than showing affection or love towards Janie, as a husband should, Logan is constantly passing judgment on Janie, and mistreating her. He accuses Janie of having an entitled attitude, and says to Janie, “You think youse white folks by de way you act…Ah’m too honest and hard-workin’ for anybody in yo’ family.” (Hurston 32) Not only does Logan insult Janie and her family, but he provides no compassion towards Janie, nor encouragement for her to try to become a better person. In her relationship with Logan Killicks, Janie is constantly unappreciated and looked down upon. Rather than being offered constructive criticism, she is constantly surrounded by negativity and recognition of her faults rather than her strong points, thus preventing her from developing into a better person or finding happiness.

Janie leaves Logan to be with Joe Starks who was waiting for her. On the train ride to town, the narrator says, “he bought her the best things the butcher had” (Hurston 35). Joe is more concerned about money and power. Janie feels that he’s giving her gifts, but it’s more that he’s showing off his money. Janie is the wife of the mayor and it