External and Internal Conflict

Throughout the novel Janie has many problems with males in general, and all of these conflicts lead to her having to choose what to do on a more personal level. Janie's first internal conflict involving men is when Granny wants her to marry Logan Killicks so that she will be well of in life, unlike both Nanny and her mom. Janie has to choose between listening to Nanny, the women who she loved and had raised her till her young adulthood, and listening to herself and all of her dreams. If Janie decides to marry Logan, all of her hopes in life seem, to her, to be unreachable. Janie pushes herself into listening to Nanny by telling herself that love will come with marriage, and that if she goes through with the marriage she will learn to love Logan and be happy. "Finally out of Nanny's talk and her own conjectures she made a sort of comfort for herself. Yes, she would love Logan after they were married. She could see no way for it to come about, but Nanny and the old folks had said it, so it must be so. (21)" This quote goes to show that Janie does not want to be with Logan, but she tells herself that she will love him and be happy if she marries him, and this is why she goes through with it. After trying it Janie realizes that marriage does not create love and she will never love Logan and she moves on with Joe Starks. This internal conflict Janie faces teaches her a lesson she doesn't forget throughout the novel and that is that she has to want to be in a relationship for it to work out. She takes this on a broader scale and does everything in life only if she wants to.
Later on when Janie realizes Joe is not the man she is looking for, she has to decide how to deal with this fact. Janie can choose to openly fight back against Joe and how he is holding her back or be peaceful and let him have the power. Janie chooses the latter of the two, and Joe begins to take her for granted more and more. Eventually Janie snaps because of her decision to try and bottle up her feelings and what she wants. This decision to be merely Joe Starks wife does not settle for Janie and after he takes her for granted she can not continue to live this way. This conflict leaves Janie with another self taught life lesson that is exemplified by her throughout the rest of the novel. She learns to do what she wants regardless of what others think, and it is how she is able to go with Tea Cake and explore the world. Even though Pheoby and the rest of the town think she should be mourning over Joe, she moves right on to Tea Cake. "'Sh-sh-sh! Don't let nobody hear you say dat, Janie. Folks will say you ain't sorry he's gone.' 'Let 'em say whut dey wants tuh, Pheoby. To my thinkin' mourning oughtn't tuh last no longer'n grief.' (93)" This quote shows Janie completely disregarding what the unannounced "rules" of mourning are, and moving on whether the town thinks she should or not. This shows that Janie has taught herself a very important life lesson that she intends to follow. Both of these internal and external conflicts shape Janie through the rest of the novel, and without these conflicts, this self realization Janie has would never have happened and therefore these conflicts were necessary in Their Eyes Were Watching God.