Love is different for every person. For some, it's easy and happens early in life. For others, like Janie in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, it happened much later in life, after two failed marriages. Janie's grandmother, the nanny, raised Janie to be drawn to financial security and physical protection rather than the pursuit of love. The nanny continually emphasized that love was something that would have to happen after those needs were met; even if the nanny never married. Janie formulates her ideal of love while sitting under a pear tree as a teenager; one that fulfilled her intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and physically. She was then informed that she was to be married to an older man, Logan Killicks, who offered her just the security and protection, as the nanny pointed out. After the marriage failed, seeking change, Janie ran away and married an ambitious, wealthy, and unromantic man named Joe Sparks. Her marriage to Joe quickly became monotonous, and Joe soon died of kidney failure. Later in the novel, Janie meets a poor, young, lovely man named Verible “Tea Cake” Woods. Tea Cake surpasses his ideal of love. Janie's view on love does not change over the course of the novel; instead his first two marriages further entrenched his wants and desires; all of this came to fruition in his marriage to Tea Cake. Janie's relationship with Logan was the exact opposite of her ideal type of relationship; not only did he treat her as if she were worthless because she refused to work for him, but the marriage in general was totally devoid of ... half of paper ...... ta bloom is clearly an underdeveloped flower, suggesting that the concept of Janie's love may have evolved. However, it is important to note that from the beginning Janie knew that Joe was not her ideal spouse (29), she was just looking for a change from Logan. After Tea Cake's death, Janie tells an old friend that "love is a sea lake" and that it is a moving, ever-changing entity that is "different with every shore [it encounters]" (191 ). One can only hope that love can be as beautiful as the relationship Janie and Tea Cake shared. Works Cited "Feminism". Wikipedia. May 24, 2008 .Hurston, Zora Neale. Their eyes were looking at God. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. "Lyrics to Love Train by the O'Jays." ST text. May 24, 2008.Stevens, George. “Review of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston The Saturday Review of Literature (New York Post) September 18. 1937.