Something I admire about Janie is that she knows herself very well it seems. She has her own thoughts and opinions and is not just living the typical wife role, or at least doesn't want to be. She likes the independence that comes her way with the death of Joe Starks. She proves many people wrong when she owns and runs the store successfully and can play checkers. Although others try to undermine her by insulting her intelligence, appearance, and ability to perform tasks, Janie is not easily fooled, has self-confidence without being vain, loves herself, which can seem like the easiest thing to some, but for others is a daily struggle. This confidence gives her the ability to not care about the gossip and what other people say or think about her. She knows she wants to be free form the oppression of men, which is not to say she wants to be without one, which is another thing she knows about herself.
Her dream of finding true love is normal and admirable, but at the same time is one thing that bothers me about her. I feel like she knows she can easily be without a man especially now that she is almost getting too old to marry. Nevertheless, she is hung up on this idea she NEEDS to find true love and that once she has found this her marriage with him will be perfect. This might be because of, like Janie had said in the book, her grandmother pushing her down this path of marriage without love so early in Janie's life and Janie was left with this curiosity and yearning of what she could have found if she had explored herself with no rush. Also considering the time period this story takes place in, we see women were expected to have a man by their side always because they were seen as unfit to work and care for themselves, whereas today, it isn't uncommon to have independent women, widows not remarried, single mothers, and lesbian couples who may also have their own family. Also she has learned to be a bit more cautious of running into a relationship head on with the first man that "talks in rhymes to her" from her experience with Jody. She makes sure that Tea Cake has good intentions (not wanting to waste her money/force her into things she doesn't want) and that he understands the reality of their potential relationship.
Overall I really like Janie as a character because I feel like she is outspoken (for a black woman of her time), independent, practical, rational, confident, and charismatic.
