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Throughout __Their Eyes Were Watching God__, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie, the main character, relies on several different people for protection and support. But, as the novel progresses, she becomes less and less dependent on others, until finally she becomes entirely independent. The people she relies on for support are Nanny, her grandmother, and her first two husbands, Logan Killicks and Joe "Jody" Starks.

As a child, Janie depends on her grandmother, Nanny, for support. Janie, like her mother, Leafy, is an illegitimate child. Leafy had been raped by her schoolteacher, and ran off after giving birth to Janie. Nanny, thinking she had failed as a mother to protect Leafy, sees Janie as a second chance at raising a child. Having grown up a slave with no money or property, Nanny believes that wealth and high social status is the key to happiness. She realizes that she is old and weak, and doesn't have long to live. Nanny wants Janie to marry for money and social status, so Janie will never have to deal with the hardships of poverty and discrimination. She requests that Janie marry Logan Killicks, a wealthy, hard-working, middle aged suitor. She tells Janie that even though she doesn't love Killicks yet, love will come with marriage. Janie reluctantly agrees, and within months, Nanny falls ill and dies.

As a child, Janie needs protection and support, but Nanny, feeling as though she had failed to protect her own daughter, becomes overprotective. In addition, Nanny's struggles with poverty and discrimination due to having been a slave make Nanny materialistic, believing that one can't be unhappy if they have money and high social status. She forces these beliefs on Janie, with her anecdotes of her struggles, and makes Janie marry a man she doesn't love.

Within a year, Logan Killicks stops courting Janie and gives her many chores to do, including cooking and working his 60 acres of land. He justifies this excessive work load (especially for a sixteen-year-old) by saying that his first wife didn't mind as many chores, and would even chop wood for him. Janie realizes that she is not developing an attraction to Killicks, and that Nanny was wrong in that respect. One day, she meets an attractive, stylish businessman from Georgia named Joe Starks, who openly shows his affection for her, and offers to marry her. That night, she and Killicks start arguing about the oppressive way he treats her, and she threatens to run off. Killicks ends the fight abruptly, but in the morning a similar argument erupts. Janie goes back to fixing a meal, seeming defeated, but suddenly turns around and runs off to go marry Joe.

Janie is still a child during all her time with Killicks, and lacks the maturity to succeed independently. Thus, she relies on Killicks for support. But during her marriage to him, she matures in the respect that she realizes that her grandmother was wrong, that wealth doesn't bring happiness and love doesn't develop during marriage. She becomes independent enough to decide to leave the domineering Killicks.

When Janie first meets Joe, she is attracted to his stylish attire, and proud, confident attitude. She finds that he is an ambitious and seemingly wealthy businessman, and that he believes that it is wrong for a lady to be forced to work. After they run off together, they settle in a town called Eatonville, where Joe quickly gains popularity and influence by buying another 200 acres of land to add to the town's original 50, and establishing a post office and a local store. The citizens appoint him Mayor, and he becomes the most respected man in town. Slowly, he begins to show traditional chauvinistic beliefs, not allowing Janie to do anything uncharacteristic of women. Regardless of this lack of freedom, Janie spends much of her life with him. As the couple grows older, Joe becomes more and more oppressive, and eventually starts insulting her age and looks. Janie, after decades of putting up with Joe's strict limits, finally fights back, insulting his appearance and exposing that his insults are merely to draw attention away from his own aging self. Soon after, he falls ill and refuses to see Janie. She calls in a doctor to diagnose him and learns that Joe's kidneys have failed. He is terminally ill, but rather than going to sympathize with him, Janie reproaches him for refusing her any freedom. Under the pressure of Janie's admonishment, he dies.

During Janie's marriage to Joe, Janie matures and becomes capable of making correct decisions on her own. Janie's confrontation of Joe about his insults signifies her apprehension that she can live independently, and doesn't need a man or a parental figure to guide her anymore. She doesn't need Joe anymore, so she doesn't need to put up with his insults and restrictions. Furthermore, Joe's death marks the point of Janie's financial independence, as she doesn't need a wealthy husband anymore for money.