“Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston”. In this story the main character Janie gets married three times. Her first husband Logan Killicks didn’t work out because she was forced to marry him by her Nanny. The second husband Joe Starks, she kinda had feelings for him, but it wasn’t anything big. Then her third husband was Tea Cake, she love him and actually had feelings for him. Now all three husbands represent something in Janie’s emotional, spiritual, and physical growth.
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the pear tree is a major symbol for Janie and her growth throughout the book. Throughout the whole story, the pear tree keeps returning for Janie, in person and in her mind. The pear tree, not only holding Janie’s experience of a first kiss, holds many memories and symbols for Janie in the story. Having this tree helps Janie through many hard times, and gives her something to think about in her times of need. The pear tree serves as a means of characterizing Janie throughout the novel by symbolizing lessons for Janie, Janie’s life, and giving Janie a goal for life.
“God never meant 'em tuh try tuh stand by theirselves. Joe, Janie 's husband had died & lots of men came by to check on her, telling her that a woman needs help and couldn 't make it on her own without a man. Some had been friends & associates of Joe Starks the mayor.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses lots of characterization and figurative language to give the reader an inside on Janie’s feelings and surroundings. In chapter the way the men focus of Janie’s physical features, and women criticize Janie’s hygiene and looks allows the reader to make an image of how Janie looks. The men were “saving with the mind what they lost with the eye,” and the women “took the faded shirt and muddy overalls and laid them away for remembrance,” this also shows how the women were going to keep that image of Janie in their head to hold over her (Hurston 2). Janie has a love for nature, the figurative language and metaphors allows the reader to understand Janie and her connections with nature. Hurston uses the pear tree in the backyard to show how Janie felt free and
Janie’s continuous interactions and experiences with nature prove its influential role in Janie’s life throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston supports a theme of desire, love, and independence. Neale uses different literary devices such as symbolism and motif.
Have you ever been in a past relationship and started a new one only to realize you have been comparing the two? You may realize that you desire the past spark that the present does not have. In Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she utilizes juxtaposition to discreetly invite the audience to compare two scenes; whether it be Janie’s reactions to events, Janie’s outlook on a goal or fantasy versus someone else's, or how Janie is treated by her spouse.
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.
“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
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, portrays the story of young woman named Janie struggling with relationships that become crucial to the way she chooses to identify herself. Janie goes through the constant struggle of being controlled by others and allowing others to dominate her identity rather than her owning herself. When she marries her second husband, Jody, he forces her to wear a handkerchief around her head in public because he declares her to be his property and is scared that her beauty will attract other men. However, when Jody gets ill and dies, Janie is placed into a predicament and finds herself face to face with the pain caused by her relationship. Hurston describes the transition Janie makes from being identified by others to recognizing her self worth. “The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the her handkerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (Hurston 170). The author uses the handkerchief to symbolize how people and objects have constantly covered and concealed the true beauty that Janie has never been able to embrace. Hurston’s metaphors help the reader to understand the great deal of oppression that the handkerchief symbolizes. The author’s metaphors such as “girl was gone”, “woman had taken her place”, and “the glory was there” emphasize that Janie is able to reveal her true beauty in overcoming her struggles. The author implies that by Janie uncovering her hair, she is revealing the constant shadow that has prevented her from her self-examination and in finding her true identity. The author’s metaphors are used to help the reader understand that the moment for an individual to overcome a struggle is profoundly beautiful and
Symbolism is something that is used very much in literature. Authors use this literary element to tell stories within the story. Motifs are a reoccurring element that has any sort of symbolic significance in a story. A theme in a story is a central concept of the story. Bernard Malamud used all three in his writings. Symbolism with Roy Hobbs bat in The Natural, motifs of right and wrong in The Assistant, and both books had a common theme with one individual overcoming something to become a better person.
Hurston’s usage of natural objects in the world, such as a pear tree, horizon, and hurricane, correlate with one another allowing the reader analyze the three different marriages that take place in various events Janie goes through in her life. From viewing the act of sex through pollination, a destination holding dreams, and o the eyes of death staring back at her, these symbols showcase a coming of age story.
The Other Wes Moore is a story of two different lives, but with the same name, and how their journeys have been shaped by their decisions in the past. Through the book, there are many recurring themes. An individual's choices has consequences, Discipline and violence, the influence of family and friends are all common themes shown by author Wes moore throughout the book, shining light on each of their life journeys.
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.
Porch. A covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance of a building. This inanimate object served to develop various themes throughout the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. She reveals the theme of jealousy and envy, gender inequality and a sense of community with the help of the porch.