Gary Lavariere
December 3rd, 2013
Intro to Literature
Essay #2
What is Love?
There is something about love, that indescribable feeling towards two people which brings
them together to create something beautiful. Love can be attempted to be explained in so
many different ways, but most believe the certain feelings brought by this emotion are
unexplainable. I have been in many relationships throughout my life but I can honestly say
there was only one situation where I was legitimately, because love is a rare occurrence. In
this life there are many types of love, but I feel they can be broken down into a few
different types. These consist of one sided love, unconditional love, and the type where the
two are forced to try to feel the emotion of love. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their
Eyes Were Watching God, she clearly explains these different types of love in a very
creative way.
At the start of the novel we quickly discover that Janie has the desire to feel love. We first
are made aware of her search for affection when we hear about her interaction with Johnny
Taylor. This ends up changing the course of Janie’s life drastically. Zora Neale Hurstons
writes, “She thought awhile and decided that her conscious life have commenced at
Nanny’s gate. On a late afternoon Nanny had called her to come inside the house because
she had spied Janie letting Johnny Taylor kiss her over the gatepost” (10). Though this just
seems like an innocent kiss, this innocent act makes Nanny feels she has to do something
