In order for Janie to marry her first husband, Logan, Nanny had to continuously convince her that marrying Logan would be the best option for Janie's future. She assured Janie that the most important thing was for her to have stable surroundings and financial support, which was what Logan could provide her with if they got married. Janie's dream was always to find love and the reason for her to be hesitant about marrying Logan was because she knew that she didn't love him. Although she knew her feelings, Janie allowed herself to be persuaded by Nanny that she would naturally grow to love Logan after marrying him. I think Janie was naive in believing that love comes after marriage because if she didn't love the person, or even know the person, in Janie's case, and didn't find any attraction towards that person, I don't see marriage as a reasonable decision in achieving that love. Quickly after marrying Logan, Janie realized that she will never love Logan and ended up leaving Logan for another man, Joe Starks.
Being the businessman that Joe was, he became a highly regarded "government official" in Eatonville by establishing new and improved institutions and with Joe's responsibility, he quickly provided Janie with financial support and impressive living conditions. He added to Janie's life everything that Nanny had ever dreamed of for her granddaughter. But this was not what Janie dreamed of. Being married to Joe for more than two decades, he had not showed her much respect nor affection, making their relationship extremely hard to bare. Janie did everything Nanny had told her to do in terms of marrying well and becoming stable in life through a man, but because Janie listened to Nanny, this caused Janie to resent her. She hated Nanny for twisting her ideals about love and giving her false pretenses that if she was well off, that she would also be happy. Even after Nanny died, Janie wanted to grant Nanny's wish so she did what she thought Nanny would want her to do, but once she met Tea Cake, Janie realized that she should think for herself, instead of her grandmother. I think that Janie did the right thing in listening to her heart, even if trusting Tea Cake was risky, because she had followed Nanny's wishes for so long that she never had the chance to act upon her own dreams.
