Jody Starks is Janie's handsome, wealthy, ambitious, and power-hungry second-husband. Meeting Jody Starks prompts Janie to leave her first husband, Logan Killicks, who she felt treated her as nothing more than an animal. Upon meeting Jody, Janie feels that she catches a glimpse of the horizon. Although Jody initially flatters Janie by focusing on and complimenting her beauty, he too ends up demoralizing her, treating her as an object upon which to exercise his desire for control and power rather than as a partner of equal standing in the relationship.
Jody Starks Quotes in Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Their Eyes Were Watching God quotes below are all either spoken by Jody Starks or refer to Jody Starks. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon.
Related Characters:
Janie Crawford, Jody Starks
Related Symbols:
The Horizon, The Pear Tree
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5
Quotes
"Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home."
Related Characters:
Jody Starks (speaker), Janie Crawford
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Jody Starks Character Timeline in Their Eyes Were Watching God
The timeline below shows where the character Jody Starks appears in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...spots a stylish and charismatic young man in town, who goes by the name of Joe Starks. They meet eyes and begin to flirt, as Joe tells Janie of his desire...
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Joe stays around town for what is presumably longer than he had expected to, and sees...
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...to. After a painful end to their fight, Janie immediately runs off to reunite with Jody at a nearby secretly-arranged location and time. They marry before sundown and together run away...
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Chapter 5
When Jody and Janie arrive to the new Florida town called Eatonville, they are surprised to find...
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Jody continues to make a name for himself in the town by announcing his plan to...
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Jody makes back the money he spent buying the 200 acres by selling land to newly-arrived...
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In his new role as mayor, Jody declares that the town needs a street lamp. As such, he purchases the lamp and...
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...of the simultaneous feelings of admiration and jealousy that the townspeople feel toward her and Jody. In particular, Janie senses envy in the townspeople's perception of their house – unlike the...
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...can only speculate about why and how she might be able to be married to Jody, who has become known increasingly throughout town as unpleasantly domineering. In particular, they note the...
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Chapter 6
Jody overhears Janie, and in order to quell Janie's anxiety about the mule's victimization, Jody purchases...
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When the mule dies, Jody plans a funeral for it, as the mule had become a kind of mascot for...
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One day following the funeral, Janie finds herself annoyed at Jody and instead of remaining silent, she plainly tells him, "You sho loves to tell me...
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...of natural instinct to avoid heat, or because they have been conditioned to avoid it. Jody joins in the conversation, and despite her passive position as listener, Janie too finds herself...
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...man named Tony Robbins – enters the store and requests a bit of meat from Jody for her starving family. Janie ends up getting the meat for Mrs. Robbins, who remarks...
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Chapter 7
The years being married to Jody take "all the fight out of Janie's face," as she spends them ignoring her emotions...
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During this time, Jody has aged a great deal, such that Janie even describes there being "something dead about...
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Jody grows increasingly rude and intolerable as his health worsens. Jody's insults reach an all-time high...
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Chapter 8
In an effort to reject Janie in a more formal way, Jody decides to relocate his belongings to a guest room, where he also sleeps in order...
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Janie calls for a doctor from nearby in Orlando to examine Jody, determined to get her husband proper care despite having complicated feelings about him. The doctor...
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Soon after their argument, Jody dies and Janie is left to her own devices. Feeling a complicated mix of nostalgia,...
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Chapter 9
Janie attends Jody's funeral and pretends to be in mourning in order to convince the townspeople that her...
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Chapter 12
Janie tells Pheoby that Tea Cake is not comparable to Jody Starks, and that she wants to escape the potential comparisons that might arise if she...
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