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Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God

884 Words4 Pages

Ryan Lipncik Mr.Spears/Mrs.Crocker English 3
May 1 2023
Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis Essay
Change is one of the most difficult things in life. Many people have conflicting options on change and it has been a staple of history even being a huge part of the value of rebirth in the Harlem renaissance. Author Zora Neale Hurston offers a very insightful analysis of this value and other values in the Harlem renaissance. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she shows that she shares the Harlem Renaissance value(s) of rebirth and self expression, however she departs from the value of prosperity.
A prominent value supported both in the Harlem renaissance and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston was the …show more content…

In the Harlem Renaissance Jazz music erupted through the streets and history.com provides excellent commentary on this occurrence. The most popular “music that percolated in and then boomed out of Harlem in the 1920s was jazz, often played at speakeasies”(Smith 2). Music is one of the most recognizable forms of self expression. Smith explains that music was booming out of the streets in Harlem showing self expression was everywhere. Many Harlem Renaissance leaders agreed with this and Hurston was one of them, after a successful opening of a store in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston demonstrates her thoughts on self expression through Janie being deprived of a chance to give a speech. Janie tries to forget the chance to give a speech being taken, “but it wasn’t too easy. She had never thought of making a speech and didn’t know if she cared to make one at all. It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance”(Hurston 43). Hurston uses Janie’s negative reaction of being deprived a chance to express herself to show her support of the value of self expression. Janie’s feeling sad when not being able to express herself shows she truly values the ideas of self expression. Conclusion sentence: Both the Harlem Renaissance and Zora Neale Hurston share the ideals of self expression and feel it should be an essential aspect of their

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