In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, it is clear that Janie does not care about what people think about her when she exclaims, “ ‘Well, Ah see Mouth-Almighty is still sittin’ in de same place. And Ah reckon they got me up in they mouth now’ ” (Hurston 21). The reason for this carelessness is most likely because of a past experience that caused her to lose trust in everyone that she was acquainted with. This also may have influenced her decision to leave town with a younger man and not look back until now. She is an embodiment of strength in women because she is able to ignore all of the rumors and keep her head held high, only acknowledging these lies when her best friend comes to check on her. Strength and women is …show more content…
Ah raked and scraped and bought dis lil piece uh land so you wouldn’t have to stay in de white folks’ yard and tuck yo’ head befo’ other chillun at school’ ”(Hurston 37). Nanny worked very hard to help Janie and it is clear that they have a mutual love for one another. Because of this, the theme of love is shown between Janie and her grandmother. It is obvious that there was a great separation between races during this time period, especially since slavery had ended and segregation was common almost everywhere. Nanny reveals this when she explains her struggle to keep Janie away from white people and their schools. I can infer that Janie will try to be equal with everyone, including those of different races. This is because of her resistance to obey her Nanny’s orders to do what any other woman must do and not stick to what is normal, which causes the old woman to have to justify herself. Additionally, Nanny appears to be strong and stubborn because of her ability to work hard and her resistance to the culture and ways of other races. Hurston presents Nanny this way in order to show the connection between her and her granddaughter, who happens to be just as strong and …show more content…
Their voices state hateful things and is described as, “...mass cruelty. A mood come alive. Words walking without masters, walking altogether like harmony in a song”(Hurston 18). This personification shows the great amount of rumors being spoken at once, causing all of the voices to mix together and sound singular. The massive bashful tone is created from pure jealousy and the need to know everything about everyone. Because of this, I can infer that jealousy will be a theme of the novel. I get the impression that, at some point, Jane was an important figure in the town, which is how everyone knows her. They are quick to judge her because of how much she seems to have changed since she left a year and a half ago. This i shwy their voices and opinions are so cruel and
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreJanie is the symbol of feminism and independence for women in the novel and shows her heroism in many instances. Some of her heroic qualities include determination, empathy, and
When Janie first arrives to the town, she is greeted by envious glares and cruel remarks from the porch sitters. “Seeing [Janie] as she was” made them remember the “envy they had stored up from other times.” Their jealousy ate them them through till they couldn’t take it any longer. They made “burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs. It was mass cruelty.
Jealously In “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston sees jealously as a flaw in the African American community and on a personal level as inhibitor that clouds a person’s actions, thoughts, and judgement. Throughout the story, Hurston touches on jealously in how it makes people act and how it’s an ugly characteristic to have. In the beginning of the story when Janie is reminiscing about her childhood, she talks about a young girl named Mayrella who used to bully her. “Dere wuz uh knotty head gal name Mayrella dat useter git mad every time she look at me.
Toni Morrison’s A Mercy portrays a young slave, Florens, struggles with her past as well as her life as a slave. Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God shows a woman, Janie, who struggles through various relationships in her life, but in the end, they help her find her freedom and individualism. Both stories have different story lines, but upon a closer look, it is easy to see that Florens and Janie have common factors in their lives; which includes, both characters are isolated by others, both characters want to love someone, both character’s guardians make decisions for them that they do not understand which causes conflict, and finally, both characters commit difficult actions which ends up changing their lives.
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order” - John Burroughs. The novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was written by Zora Neale Hurston and published in 1937. The film “Beasts of the Southern Wild” was directed by Benh Zeitlin and released in 2012. The film “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and the novel “ Their Eyes Were Watching God” have some critical similarities. These include the characteristics of the protagonists, each protagonist 's relationship with nature, and the climax of a destructive storm.
People come into our lives for different reasons. Some leave a positive impact, while others bring negativity. Readers and critics alike have treasured Zora Neale Hurston’s 20th century novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, for generations particularly for its complex portrayal of the different main characters. The people a person meet and the experiences that person many go through in their lifetime can alter a person significantly. Through the tyrannical words of Joe Starks and the inconsiderate actions of Nanny, Janie in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is negatively influenced as her actions and thoughts alter her life.
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.
Racism can be defined as prejudice, discrimination, or contributions to a system that perpetuates the idea that one race is inferior to another. Racism was heavily enforced throughout American history, specifically in the early 1900’s. Coincidentally, this was the same time feminists, or women’s-rights activists, were in the in the midst of their fight for equality. Feminism is the theory that women should be treated equally to men in terms of social, political, and economic matters. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses the protagonist, Janie, to convey both concepts through her journey to self-love and acceptance.
Is it worth risking everything in order to be happy? In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, an African American woman named Janie makes many challenging decisions in order to be happy. This novel takes place in the 1920’s which creates many obstacles that Janie must overcome in order to achieve happiness. There are many stereotypes and inequalities during this time that make life extremely difficult for Janie. Although Janie allows others to mistreat her at points throughout the novel, she is overall an excellent role model for young readers because she overcomes several stereotypes of African American females during this time period, and she makes many difficult decisions based solely on her own happiness.
Janie Crawford Killiks Starks Woods is the main character in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, where she learns what's it's like to go from marriage to marriage looking for love. In the novel, Hurston utilizes the pivotal moment when Janie realizes that marriage doesn’t always mean love to show Janie's coming of age and psychological development which is used to show that love doesn't always come first. Logan Killicks was Janie's first marriage, which was brought about after Nanny (her grandmother) decided that she need to be married after she caught Janie and a young boy kissing when she was 16. After that Janie finds herself being thrown into some random marriage with some man she barely knew, and for a reason
In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist Janie, is influenced by others to change her ideals. Hurston vividly portrays Janie’s outward struggle while emphasising her inward struggle by expressing Janie’s thoughts and emotions. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening the protagonist is concisely characterized as having “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions,” as Janie does. Janie conforms outwardly to her life but questions inwardly to her marriages with Logan Killicks, her first husband, and Joe Starks, her second husband; Janie also questions her grandmother's influence on what love and marriage is.
“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.
Nanny’s portion of the novel shines a light on how Janie really views the world compared to her grandmothers. Ultimately Nanny wants Janie to be happy and well taken care of by any means necessary, regardless of how Janie feels. Nanny grew up while being in slavery and lived a hard, loveless life. She ended up getting pregnant with a white man, which to some degree helped her life and the life of her daughter better than it was before. Nanny believes that having the “ultimate life” is based off of status and what the man can bring to the table and provide for her, not solely from mutual
She is willing to stand up for herself and put the people in their place she learned strength through the book and she became more vocally strong. “ I have as much soul as you and full as much heart”(Brontë,306). Although she loves him and is willing to live
One of the universal themes of literature is the idea that children suffer because of the mistakes of an earlier generation. The novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" follows the story of Janie Mae Crawford through her childhood, her turbulent and passionate relationships, and her rejection of the status quo and through correlation of Nanny 's life and Janie 's problems, Hurston develops the theme of children 's tribulations stemming from the teachings and thoughts of an earlier generation. Nanny made a fatal mistake in forcibly pushing her own conclusions about life, based primarily on her own experiences, onto her granddaughter Janie and the cost of the mistake was negatively affecting her relationship with Janie. Nanny lived a hard life and she made a rough conclusion about how to survive in the world for her granddaughter, provoked by fear. " Ah can’t die easy thinkin’ maybe de menfolks white or black is makin’ a spit cup outa you: Have some sympathy fuh me.