ipl-logo

Their Eyes Were Watching God And Great Gatsby Comparison

844 Words4 Pages

Gavin Ostrenga
Advanced English 11
Ms. Hammen
May 19th, 2023

Loss, Love, and Longing: A Comparative Essay of “'The Great Gatsby” and “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston are two American classic novels of literature that offer unique perspectives and views on themes of power, race, love, and identity. Although The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God were published in different time periods and explore different characters and settings, both stories share many commonalities and many differences that make them unique and intuitive to compare and contrast. Both novels share many similarities along in addition to many differences allowing for an …show more content…

A quote from Their Eyes Were Watching God goes as this, "Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see." The protagonist Janie Crawford searches to find her own voice and identity as an African American woman in a dense, patriarchal society portrayed as the world in the quote. Janie desires to achieve love and self-realization, which she believes will make her fulfilled and free. Similarly, Gatsby says, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald, 180). In The Great Gatsby, the main character Jay Gatsby is driven by his desire to achieve love, status, and wealth, all of which he believes will grant him happiness and a sense of acceptance in his society seen in the quote. Both of these novels critique the idea of the American Dream as an unattainable and empty promise that can only lead to tragedy and …show more content…

The most obvious is the difference in the narrative style and language. In Their Eyes Were Watching God is a more traditional novel that uses rich and rhythmic vernacular language to capture the dialect and culture of the Southern black community. Hurston's prose is lively and vivid, with a strong sense of humor and irony that convey the resilience and wit of her characters. In contrast, The Great Gatsby is a modernist novel that uses a symbolic and fragmented style to depict the chaotic, retrospective, decadent world of the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald's prose is often lyrical and poetic, with intricate, vivid imagery along with common metaphors that create a sense of longing and

Show More
Related

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

    309 Words  | 2 Pages

    The man vs nature conflict in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" plays an essential role within the novel. Throughout the novel, especially in the beginning, Janie is shown to have a connection to nature. This is most noticeable in the way that bees and pollen symbolize Janie's maturity and how the horizon is used to represents Janie's lifelong search for happiness. It is because of this, that when the hurricane comes across Janie and Tea Cake near the end of the novel that it is more than just a mere battle for survival. Throughout the novel, forces similar to that of the hurricane antagonize Janie: the doctrines to which Nanny, Logan, and Jody adhere; Mrs. Turner’s racism; the sexism of Eatonville’s men; and the gossip of the porch culture.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Their Eyes Were Watching God And The Great Gatsby

    574 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the two novels--Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Great Gatsby the protagonists are conveyed as showing affection for many people within their lives, whether it be through riches (materialistically or figuratively), sacrifice, or protection. The manner in which they show their love is widely accepted amongst many peoples. In the novel--The Great Gatsby, the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, shows his affection for Daisy Buchanan through his riches--he purchases the expensive, luxurious mansion located transversely from her humble abode to ensure his closeness to her; in doing so, he manages to lure her from her husband, reminding her of the history they had shared together previously, “Can’t repeat the past? [...] Why of course you can! ”

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1735 Words  | 7 Pages

    The novels The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Their Eyes Were Watching God follow the lives of Jay Gatsby and Janie Crawford, respectively, exploring the depths of their love life and personal values. Wealth plays a big part of each story, however, with differing importance to the main characters. Janie is not materialistic, and cares not how much money she has, but whether she is happy or not. Gatsby, on the other hand, cares only about wealth and convinces himself he is in love with Daisy, equating financial success with love and happiness. Their class, the themes and materialism that is shown in the novels reveal the place of wealth in their lives, showing how commodification is either negative or positive.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Their Eyes Were Watching God And The Great Gatsby

    733 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dreams The novels The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God both have strong metaphors for the protagonist’s hopes and dreams. From the beginning of the stories, the characters we are introduced to show strong emotions for finding what they desire. In Gatsby, Nick meets his luxurious neighbor Gatsby hopes to rekindle the flame with his previous lover, Daisy. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, we learn that from a young age Janie has always fantasized about finding her true love.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Devices

    984 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston composed a passionate story of a beautiful African American woman in the early 1900s. It embodies how life was for the women of color, and the struggles they faced. Hurston used literary devices to show the struggles Jaine had to go through to find her voice and the power within herself. In the relationship between her and her first two husbands, she struggled to figure out if marriage was really the equivalent of happiness. Not knowing what she needed in life she struggled to find the feeling she had always craved.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

    573 Words  | 3 Pages

    In life, all humans are looking for love and respect. Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie searches her whole life looking for love and finally finds it with Tea Cake. When she was a child, she craved the love from her grandmother but she received mostly a structured life with a lot of responsibility. Her first marriage was to Logan Killicks, which Janie soon realized that she wasn’t married because of love, but because of the amount of work she could do to keep the farm going. Her second marriage was to Joe Starks which lasted twenty years, but she never felt the love even though she had economic security.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Gatsby And Their Eyes Were Watching God

    242 Words  | 1 Pages

    Love encompasses a variety of different emotional and mental states, typically strongly and positively experienced, ranging from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection and to the simplest pleasure. Love is the one thing every flesh and blood loves to enjoy unconditionally. Like Jay Gatsby, many components of the paragraph in that opens the blockbuster Their Eyes Were Watching God plays into Janie Crawford and how she positions the gender roles that the author narrates. Janie experiences different kinds of love throughout her life. Unlike Jay Gatsby who experiences love early on and eventually goes searching for the love of his life.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

    853 Words  | 4 Pages

    For centuries, love has always been seen as a mystery, pure human instinct, or even a poison to some. When someone spends their whole life blindly looking for a partner, they miss out on things such as careers, friends, and just an appreciation for life, in general. A constant obsession of searching love and intimacy can cause distraction from the other good things in life. In the classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the main characters, Jay Gatsby, fell into a deep distraction called love.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

    648 Words  | 3 Pages

    Farlow, Sarah Farlow1 Mrs. Allison Honors English III May 26, 2023 The Power Of Self Discovery By Sarah Farlow In Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God," the author skillfully combines themes of self-discovery and individuality through her vivid language, elaborate symbolism, and complex characterizations. Through these literary devices, Hurston develops and supports the overarching theme of the transformative power of self-discovery and the importance of embracing one's individuality. In this analytical essay, we will explore how Hurston's writing style and the various literary elements she applies work together to create an eye-opening narrative that entertains and informs readers about the importance

    Read More

  • Examples Of Deception In The Great Gatsby

    826 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is an American novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. On the surface, the book revolves around the concept of romance, the love between two individuals. However, the novel incorporates less of a romantic scope and rather focuses on the theme of the American Dream in the 1920s. Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as an era of decline in moral values. The strong desire for luxurious pleasure and money ultimately corrupts the American dream which was originally about individualism.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Their Eyes Were Watching God And The Great Gatsby

    1155 Words  | 5 Pages

    The novels, Their Eyes were Watching God and The Great Gatsby, there were many characters that were affected by their desires. From each, there were characters that ruminate over their ambitions, like Gatsby and Jody. Each one of them though also had somebody they were affecting such as, Daisy and Janie. In The Great Gatsby, the narrator, Nick, told us about Gatsby’s life through his eyes. Their Eyes were Watching God also had many ambitions intertwined within.

    Read More

  • Differences And Similarities Between The Giver And Katniss

    99 Words  | 1 Pages

    In both texts the main characters are very similar they both share the same characteristics and are relatively the same age. They both have a younger sister. They both experience terrifying events.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Their Eyes Were Watching God

    866 Words  | 4 Pages

    Love, life, and death. All of these things is what really gave these characters ambition. The main ambition of each character was different but over all the same. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby just wanted to live a happy life with Daisy and make her happy. And in the other novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tea Cake he wanted to be with Janie and make enough money for both of them.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Jealousy In The Great Gatsby

    924 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a book about a tragic love story, one would not expect to find a deeper meaning behind the dangers of jealousy or peril of lust. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a deeper meaning beyond jealousy and love. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses an empathetic storyline as a symbol to unwittingly give a complex depiction of the nuisance that people create that not only destroy our world but our society and gives warning to what will occur if we continue the path of destruction. With this intention, the brilliant opinionated writer, expressed his opinion through symbols such as the characters he uses, the setting the story takes place in, and the objects he uses in the book.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay

    1133 Words  | 5 Pages

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of the American Dream. Written in 1925, the book tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, whose main driving force in life is the pursuit of a woman called Daisy Buchanan. The narrator is Gatsby’s observant next-door neighbor, Nick Carraway, who offers a fresh, outsider’s perspective on the events; the action takes place in New York during the so-called Roaring Twenties. By 1922, when The Great Gatsby takes place, the American Dream had little to do with Providence divine and a great deal to do with feelings organized around style and personal changed – and above all, with the unexamined self .

    Read More

More about Their Eyes Were Watching God And Great Gatsby Comparison

Open Document