The most prevalent themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God involve Janie's search for unconditional, true, and fulfilling love. She experiences different kinds of love throughout her life. As a result of her quest for this love, Janie gains her own independence and personal freedom, which makes her a true heroine in the novel. Because Janie strives for her own independence, others tend to judge her simply because she is daring enough to achieve her own autonomy.
Throughout the novel, Janie searches for the love that she has always desired, the kind of love that is represented by the marriage between a bee and a blossom on the pear tree that stood in Nanny's backyard. Only after feeling other kinds of love does Janie finally gain the love like that between the bee and the blossom.
Janie experiences many types of love throughout her life. With Nanny, her caring grandmother, Janie experiences a love that is protective. Nanny yearns for Janie to have a better life than she did, and she will do anything in her power to make sure that Janie is safe and cared for. This protective love that Nanny bestows on Janie serves as the driving force behind Nanny's plot to arrange Janie's marriage to Logan Killicks.
With Logan, Janie has attained a similarly protective love, much like that provided by Nanny. Logan represents security for Janie, as he owns a 60-acre potato farm. For Janie, however, this protective love does not satisfy her need for the love that she has always desired.
