Their Eyes Are Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Aria Jackson

Ms. Lavelle

4/21/23

The Harlem Renaissance was known at the time as the, “New Negro Movement.” From literature to music to art, this period emphasized the struggles and experiences of African-Americans as a whole. The Harlem Renaissance explored themes of economic social prosperity, the importance of community, the power of rebirth, and the value of self-expression, and the role of spirituality. Through the neighborhood gossiping about Janie, to not being able to go to the funeral, to her taking off her head rag, and to reminiscing her flashback to phoebe, Zora Neale Hurston departs from the harlem renaissance value of community and reflects the harlem renaissance value of self expression.

The value of community serves an important

In the novel, Joe is on his deathbed. Janie comes to visit him and tells him his mistakes, but Joe doesn’t want to listen. Coming back from speaking to him, “she tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory [is} there.” (Hurston 87) Janie’s decision to let down her hair is an act of self-expression. Janie is no longer willing to meet the expectation and the demands of anyone else. By taking off her headscarf and letting down her hair, the headscarf Joe had wanted her to wear that took away from her identity, Janie is showing the people in town she is a woman who is not afraid to express herself. Her act of self-expression shows she will no longer be defined by other expectations, but her own aspirations. Toward the end of Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie tells the ending of her and Tea cakes story. She reflects on her life and how “dat’s how everything wuz, jus’ lak [she told phoebe]. SO [she's] back home agin and [shes] satisfied tuh be heah. [she] done been tuh de horizon and back and now [she] kin set heah in [her] house and live by comparisons.” (Hurston 191) Janie speaks to her development as a character and her journey toward self-expression. Throughout the novel, Janie struggles to find her own voice and express herself in a way true to her identity. Although in this quote she's reflecting how the past experience has shaped her. She explains she has been to the “horizon'' and seen many things but she realized the most important thing was to be true to herself and live on her terms. Janie is finally able to see the beauty and value in her life and she is able to come to find her own sense of identity and purpose through her journey to self expression. With the reflection of Self-expression Zora Neale Hurston was able to show the search for identity in