Innumerable famous novels such as the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling exemplify that the most realistic and intriguing characters have many layers to their personalities and do not always act in the way that is expected of them. Zora Neale Hurston also develops a complex character, Joe Starks, who seems to be confident and powerful, but actually struggles with his self-image. Joe attempts to eliminate his negative emotions such as jealousy by exerting power over the people around him such as Janie and the townspeople. This causes many complications in Joe’s relationship with Janie. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston describes how having negative emotions hidden underneath a powerful façade can cause conflicts in a relationship through Joe Starks who is confident yet insecure, which results in a strained relationship with his wife, Janie.
Joe Starks usually presents himself as a confident and competent man to the people of Eatonville since he is their mayor. Because of Joe’s strong presence, the people of the town respect him and his wife Janie. Joe takes charge of the town as soon as he arrives and establishes himself as the leader. Within his first day in Eatonville, Joe buys more land for the town and promises to establish a post office. This causes the townspeople to respect his leadership. One even says that he “ain’t never seen no sich a colored man before” (Hurston 38). Joe brings positive developments to the town, and he is a unique man. No one else has been able to accomplish the things that Joe has in his brief time there. Joe has always been ambitious and yearns to be respected. Even when he first met Janie, he always discussed his dreams for a successful future in the newly developing town. Joe seems like a motivated and concentrated man that would do anything to accomplish his goals.
Although Joe Starks has a commanding and powerful demeanor, in reality, he seems to be highly insecure. He is scared that he will lose his beautiful wife to another man, so he forces her to wear a head rag around the townspeople. However, “Joe never told Janie how jealous he was” (Hurston 55), so Janie does not know about these negative feelings that Joes hides within himself. Also, as Joe starts aging, he becomes less confident in himself because he is losing his youth and masculinity. However, instead of addressing this issue and discussing it with Janie, Joe makes her a target of ridicule and insults her in order to avert attention from himself. He constantly tells Janie that she is not young and beautiful anymore, but she remains confident in her looks. However, Joe loses his confidence as his physical health deteriorates.
Joe’s inability to express his true emotions to Janie causes many conflicts in their relationship. Joe tries to control Janie by isolating her from the rest of the town and not allowing her to express her opinion in front of the townspeople. This makes Janie feel insignificant since Joe never lets her voice be heard in the town. As Joe’s insecurities become more prominent as he starts aging, he starts treating Janie more harshly in front of the town to prove that he still has power and is not weak. Eventually, Joe’s controlling behavior becomes too much for Janie to deal with, and she finally lashes out and stands up for herself. Joe is absolutely devastated when this happens and feels like “there was nothing to do in life anymore” (Hurston 80). Joe has always hid behind his mask of power and masculinity. However, when Janie argues with him in front of the town, his mask is shattered and he is left vulnerable. This conflict between the couple is a major turning point for Joe, because it causes him to finally reveal his vulnerability. He feels weak and useless because he has lost his control over Janie. After this incident, Joe and Janie are hostile towards each other until their relationship ends due to Joe’s death. However, the couple could have had a loving and comfortable relationship if Joe had been more expressive about his insecurities instead of treating Janie as an object to prove his masculinity and confidence.
A major theme of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is conflict in a marriage. Hurston effectively conveys this theme by portraying Janie who is in a relationship that starts off as a loving partnership, but progresses into a controlling one. Through Joe’s character complexity and the conflicts caused by it, Hurston proves that communication is essential for a healthy relationship. The main reason that their marriage was not successful was because Joe tried to control Janie instead of treating her as an equal and expressing his insecurities to her. If Joe had been more honest about his emotions, Janie would have understood how he was feeling instead of allowing the resentment to build up inside her, causing her to finally lash out and humiliate Joe in public.
