In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie's journey exemplifies the struggles African American women faced in exchange for their personal happiness and desires in the 20th century for find their true identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayAfrican Americans faced racism; First, women faced sexism. African American women were limited by male dominance or by parents who believed in male dominance values. African American women married by their guardian or by parental choice because of these values; in particular, their parents often wished to marry them off to men of high social status in the hope of social advancement. In this context, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, portrays the character of Janie as she goes through a series of events including some marriages which lead her to finally realize and accept the independent and expressive person she realizes she is at the end of the novel . The nanny, Janie's grandmother, was the only guardian Janie ever had. He holds Janie up and wishes her the best. Nanny's hopes for Janie are influenced by the fact that Nanny was a former slave and gave birth to Leafy, Janie's mother, who was then raped by her white teacher at the age of 17. Leafy became an alcoholic and abandoned Janie when she was young. The nanny wanted Janie to have a peaceful and prosperous life compared to Leafy's or her own life. As a result, the nanny tried to find an acceptable man for Janie against her will by completely ignoring her wishes after seeing Janie kiss Johnny Taylor. Nanny vows to marry her niece off to a rich man who can provide for Janie and take her away from the life Nanny and Leafy had. The nanny saw Johnny Taylor as someone who used Janie for his own personal pleasures and then left her just as Nanny and Leafy had been used by the men in their lives. Nanny says, “Tain't Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, darling, it's protection. Ah, I'm not getting old, darling. Ah, I'm done, old man... Well, the daily prayer now is to let these golden moments continue for a few more days until I see you safe in life... You have no one but me. Nor can you be alone alone. She thought having you kicked from pillar to post was bad." (Hurston 15) Nanny's tone expresses her concern for Janie's safety based on her experiences of abuse through bondage. For Nanny, it's about create a higher place in society, which he is spending his last days doing for Janie as he states, “You can't stand alone alone either.” survive without the help of a man and assigning the traditional gender roles of men as breadwinners and women as caretakers. This vision binds Janie in a marriage that traps her will to be independent and capable she never had, that is, a middle-class life with financial stability Because of the nanny's desire, Janie forcibly entered into a marriage with a respected farmer named Logan Killicks and expressed her unhappiness to the nanny: "Well, if does everything you come in for, would you have a face as long as my arm?" The nanny said. “Because you told me that Ah, I love him, and, and Ah, no. Maybe if someone told me how, Ah would do it. Janie repliedThe nanny replied: “You come with a head full of stupidity on a busy day. Hey, you have a support to lean on all your bawn days, and a great protection, and everyone has you.