In the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston there was multitude of events that had occurred. As these events had all occurred there were all relevant to the main character’s quest to find happiness and her want to be respected. The main character, Janie, in this book has been shown to make decisions that had affected her both positively and negatively. All her actions and decisions as well as the course of the events of the book all are correlated to a central idea. That central idea is that in order to be happy and independent you must make your own wise choices. Janie finds this out the hard way multiple times throughout the course of the book. In order for this to be imminent in the book, the author uses a variety of …show more content…
Janie is characterized as a strong, self-sufficient, and independent. But, she was introduced to the book as all these things, but the author shows how she had developed into someone with these qualities throughout the course of the rest of the book beginning with flashback. At the beginning of the flashback, she was portrayed to be naïve and she had allowed Nanny to set her up with Logan Killicks whom she soon found out that she hadn’t really seemed to love. It was then when she had realized that her ideals had differed from those of her grandmother’s. Her grandmother believed that a huband should be wealthy and able to provide for the wife, but Janie believed there had to be a sense of mutual love between both partners in a relationship. It was at this point when she had started seeing Jody, for whom she had felt love. However, as the years went by, Jody had repeatedly suppressed Janie’s true self, although unknowingly. Due to this, Janie had bottled up her feelings of resentment despite Jody even lashing out at her on several occasions. She had kept those emotions pent up inside her not because she was scared of Jody but as a sign of strength to be able to persevere under such circumstances. The situation had worsened between them as years went by, and Jody had even passed away due to an illness. After Jody passed, Janie hadn’t really felt any feelings of remorse for him, because the relation between them had worsened. At this point, she felt a true feeling of independence. These were a couple of examples of how she was
The main character Janie, throughout the novel has to make tough decisions. Janie first obstacle comes across her when her grandma Nanny decides that “ Yeah, Janie, youse got yo’ womanhoodon yuh. So Ah wants to see you married right away” ( Hurston 12).
And Ah’d sit dere wid de walls creepin’ up on me and squeezin’ all de life out of me” (Hurston 112). Joe would treat her as a decoration on the wall, not a human being, leaving Janie feeling trapped and unknowing of who she is. According to Foster,
Janie’s past consists of her grandmother, known as Nanny throughout the book. Nanny taught Janie everything after her mother abandoned her and the father was
Janie shows determination as she persists and struggles to define love on her own terms through her marriages. First, her determination shows when Janie runs away with Jody. She becomes aware that her marriage with Logan does not satisfy her goals and dreams for love, so she takes a chance and marries Jody. Hurston states, “Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south.
Self-discovery is essential to a prosperous life. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie, the main character, discovers who she is through her relationships. Janie learns from each of her experiences, but the most significant are her husbands: Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake. Each of these people attempt to control her thoughts and actions, but Janie rebels against them. Janie stands up for what she believes in, and through these confrontations, she better understands herself.
but it didn’t do her any good” as Jody kept on fighting for her “submission” (71). As Jody continues to make Janie submit, less of her individuality is present as she is reduced to the ideal wife in Jody’s eyes. He does this by covering her hair, confining her to the store, and insults her. Again, In one scene,
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.
It is shown through Janie’s perspective who has a single ambition. To
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.
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.
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.
In her epiphany from Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie realizes her intrinsic capacity as an individual, and frees herself from Jody’s covetous ways in the act of letting down her hair. In the quote, “She tore off the kerchief from her plentiful hair... the glory was there,” Janie’s hair symbolizes her power and strength because it holds glory. By Janie releasing her hair, she finally notices the greatness that she has, which allows her to now view herself as eminent individual whom has independence. Because Jody made her tie her hair up as a device to hinder her individuality and identity in their marriage, he is intimidated by her reluctance to comply with his controlling demands.
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a main character whose outward existence conforms, and her inward life questions. This tension helps to evolve the author’s theme of the importance of individuality and how individuality creates happiness. Janie experiences most of her life in trying to conform, and grows to despise it. Once free, she becomes herself and becomes happy. Early in the novel, Janie marries Logan Killicks.
“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.
She raised another child, her granddaughter, Janie. And, now, Janie is entering the same remorseless territory, where she 's liable to be trampled upon, at any time,