“Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston. The novel portrays Janie, a middle aged black woman who tells her friend Pheoby Watson what has happened to her husband Tea Cake and her adventure. The resulting telling of her story portrays most of the novel. Throughout the novel, Zora Neale Hurston presents the theme of love, or being in a relationship versus freedom and independence, that being in a relationship may hinder one’s freedom and independence. Janie loves to be outgoing and to be able to do what she wants, but throughout the book the relationships that she is in with Logan,Jody and Tea Cake, does not allow her to do that. Neale Hurston further supports this theme with symbolism, like Janie's hair rag that held up her …show more content…
Another example is seen in chapter 6,”But you ain’t goin’ off in all dat mess uh commonness”(Hurston,60) This quote shows that Jody is not allowing Janie to go to a communal event, which is the funeral of the mule, because he doesn’t want her to be in all of the commonness. This is hindering Janie’s independence because she is not making choices for herself, and she doesn’t do anything even though she wants to go. Being in the relationship with Jody constricts her freedom, which proves Hurston's theme. Thus, Zora Neale Hurston uses community as a motif to help prove her theme, using specific details such as Janie’s disallowance to go to the funeral and the community scorning her. In conclusion, the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” presents the theme of love and that being in a relationship hinders independence but in an unique way. Hurston uses symbolism like Janie’s head rag which stifled her independence and when burned, made her feel free. She also uses the motif of communities, which are ever present throughout the book, using specific examples such as when Janie isn't allowed to go to the funeral, which hinders her independence because she isn't making choices for herself and isn't doing
The black culture is very diverse in different parts of the world-even in different parts of the state. Janie as moved throughout Florida to places such as West Florida, Eatonville, and the Everglades. Residing in these different places helps develop and define the character of Janie. Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie experiences many variations of black culture that helps build her character as she travels through Florida.
Hurston tells the story of Janie, a black woman who because of her grandmother experiences and beliefs was forced to marry into a loveless marriage with Logan Killicks, a hard-working farmer who had 60 acres of land and could provide for Janie. This marriage ended when Janie ran away with Joe Stark, a man that she fell in love with and thought could give her the love absent between her and Logan. But Janie soon realized that her second marriage wouldn’t turn out better than her first. Joe was just as controlling and degrading as Logan. He hardly expressed his love for Janie and spoke to her like an incompetent child.
TEEWG Essay Symbols in literature can reveal characteristics, express ideas or give meaning to the work as a whole. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, symbols reveal the identity and purpose of the main character, Janie, In this novel, Janie struggles to find true purpose and meaning in her womanhood by searching for love. In the beginning of the novel, the horizon is used to symbolize not only what the world has to offer to Janie, but her aspirations and desires too. The horizon is Janie’s goal and ticket to find what she’s looking for.
Their Eyes Were Watching God: An Exploration of Female Empowerment and Departure From The Harlem Renaissance In Zora Neale Hurston’s Novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” it reflects a departure from the key concepts of female empowerment through the character of Janie Crawford, using aspects such as the pear tree and the horizon to show how she challenges the traditional gender roles and expectations during that era. She shows that departure as Janie Crawford experiences personal growth and empowerment. On page 11 Zora Writes “ She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her… Oh to be a pear tree– any tree in bloom!
Zora Neale Hurston Nanny character in the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” places non-feministic values into the character Janie at a young age. In the story, the readers follow a young girl named Janie through her life. Nanny is introduced as Janie’s Grandmother and caretaker. She pushes Janie to get married and in doing so instills values that Janie will have to overcome throughout the story. Nanny forces Janie to get married before she passes away.
In the historical fiction novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, tells the story of Janie Crawford; a woman growing and maturing while dealing with real-life problems like divorce and racial bias. Janie left her home due to finding her second husband, but his health declined, and she had to come back home alone. The townspeople judged her harshly for her return and spread rumors about her quick arrival. The judgment stems from the unknown. People are quick to judge and doubt people they deem strange.
In their eyes were watching god, it allows us to enter into the life of janie. Janie is one of our main characters who is longing for love. In the begining she was forced to marry and old man who she had no feelings for, she stayed hopeful that one day she would find the love she was searching for, and eventualy she did... well she atleast she thought she did. Zora Neal the author shows how even in the black community, women are treated the same as anyone else.
Zora Neale Hurston’s writing in Their Eyes Were Watching God, reflects the Harlem Renaissance through Janie 's individuality, and departs from the Harlem Renaissance with the common recurrence of black woman empowerment. In the novel, Hurston reflects the ideas of the Harlem renaissance with the ways in which Janie rebels and goes against norms for women.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie suffers from hardship in two relationships before she can find her true love. Janie explains to her best friend, Pheoby, how she searches for love. Therefore Pheoby wants to hear the true story, rather than listening to the porch sitters. Throughout the book Janie experiences different types of love with three different men; Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Vergible "Tea Cake" Woods. At 16 Janie marries Logan Killicks.
Janie tells “ talkin’ don’t amount tug uh hill uh beans when yuh can’t do nothin’else”. In contrast to Joe start, who seeks to be a big voice only to have his wish become true when Janie informs him that he “big-bellies round here and put out à lot of brag, but ‘tain’t nothin’ to it but yo’ big voice”. Janie seeks for a voice which can picture, which can make you see. The ability to find this voice is important in a world where , as Nanny says “We don’t know nothin’ but what we see. The heavy use of imagery shows that Hurston knows
Victoria Venzor Ms. Adao AP English Literature 17 January 2017 Life’s Revelation Through the Eyes of a Colored Women Written by Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, follows a young woman named Janie Crawford and her coming of age story. In the opening scene, Janie opens up to her friend Pheoby and tells her how things have been since she had left with Tea cake two years ago. However, Phoebey doesn't understand the story Janie is trying to tell her; therefore, the opening scene leads to a flashback. At the age of 16, Janie was sitting outside under a pear tree when she witnesses a bee pollinating the flowers, which she interprets as love.
Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the story of how one man, Tea Cake, changes how a grown woman named Janie views life, opportunity, and happiness. Zora Neale Hurston employs parallelism in order to reveal the dynamic of this relationship between Janie and Tea Cake and writes, “He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place” (Hurston 128). At the very end of the book, Hurston writes again, “Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie merely wants to love someone, but that choice is ripped out of her hands when Nanny makes her marry someone she does not love. This marriage as well as another one does not work out because she never learns to love them. Finally, she meets Tea Cake, and falls madly in love with him even though he is a lot younger than she is. He is someone that she can truly love while still being able to be herself. They go through their struggles as well and sadly, he dies by the end of the novel.
(Hurston 8-9).” This really starts the search for identity within her. It fuels the fire to her wanting to know who she is, where she came from, and where she is going to go. Hurston is using this message to convey the theme of Identity. She uses Janie as the main representation of that theme.
By showing the inside and outside, Hurston accesses the inner thoughts of Janie, it also shapes and allows Janie to discover her double-conscious and make use of her divine new story-telling and