Their Eyes Were Watching God: Janie's Growth People grow and develop at different rates. The factors that strongly influence a person's development are heredity and environment. The people you meet and the experiences you have are very important in what makes a person who they are. Janie is growing as a woman with the three marriages she has. In each marriage, she learns valuable lessons, gradually cultivates better relationships, and realizes how a person should live their life. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie's marriages to Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Tea Cake are the most crucial elements in her development as a woman. Janie's marriage to Logan Killicks was the first step in her development as a woman. She hoped that her forced marriage to Logan would end her loneliness and her desire for love. Early on, the loneliness of marriage is apparent when Janie sees that her home is a “lonely place like a stump in the middle of the woods where no one has ever been” (20). This description of Logan's house is symbolic of the relationship they have. Janie eventually admits to Nanny that she still doesn't like Logan and finds nothing to like about him. "She knew now that marriage didn't make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman" (24). Janie's prayer is her final plea for change in her life. She says "Lao, you know my heart. Ah, I did the best you could do. The rest is left to you" (23). Janie's prayer is answered with her next husband, Jody Starks. It is the man who fills the voids of loneliness and love and continues his development as a woman. When they first met, Janie was convinced that Jody considered her a very special person because of the compliments he gave her. For two weeks before they got married, they talked and Janie thought Jody was "speaking for change and luck" (28). The problem Janie had with Jody was that he didn't treat her as an equal. He wouldn't let her speak in front of people, teach her how to play checkers, or participate in other events. Janie notices the problem early in the relationship and confronts Jody about it when she says "it doesn't seem to be stopping us in some way, we're not natural with each other. You're always talking and fixing things, and Ah I feel like I'm just marking time I hope it ends soon” (43). Janie realizes that she cannot be open with Jody and that he is not the same man she ran off to marry. Jody has many of her own interests, and none of them care about Janie. “She discovered that she had a host of thoughts that she had never expressed to him… She harbored feelings for a man she had never seen” (68). Jody only gave Janie material possessions. She knew something was missing in her life, and that's how she realizes that the next man she meets is perfect for her. Her development as a woman is complete after living and learning with Vergible "Tea Cake" Woods. Tea Cake is the catalyst for the final stage of Janie's development as a woman. Through Tea Cake, Janie learns about love and what it feels like to be loved. Tea Cake not only made Janie feel special with his lyrics, but he also proved it by taking her fishing, hunting, to the movies, dancing, gardening with her, and other “signs of possession” (105). For a while, Janie and Tea Cake worked.