Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, we follow our protagonist, Janie, through a journey of self-discovery. We watch Janie from when she was a child to her adulthood, slowly watching her ideals change while other dreams of hers unfortunately die. This is shown when Jane first formulates her idea of love, marriage, and intimacy by comparing it to a pear tree; erotic, beautiful, and full of life. After Janie gets married to her first spouse, Logan Killicks, she doesn’t see her love fantasy happening, but she waits because her Nanny tells her that love comes after marriage. Janie, thinking that Nanny is wise beyond her years, decides to wait. But, as Logan continues to snap at Janie day to day, she becomes even more uninterested. While avoiding Logan, sitting under a tree, Janie comes to a realization; “She knew that marriage did

After Janie’s grandmother sees Janie kissing a local boy named Johnny Taylor, she makes it her duty to find a husband who can provide protection for Janie. She forces Janie to marry Logan Killicks. Logan is a great husband in Nanny’s eyes. He has sixty acres of land and a mule. Nanny believes he can provide for Janie. When Janie objects to marrying Logan, Nanny responds, “‘Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection’” (15). She admits that she is getting old and may not be there for Janie one day. Logan seems like the perfect man to do that. Janie does not want protection, but love. She does not really know what love is or where it comes from. So, she takes a very innocent view on it. Janie believes, “She would love Logan after they were married” (21). After marrying Logan, Janie does

Zora Neale Hurston was a well-known anthropologist and novelist in the 1920s, whose works of literature became popular throughout the Harlem Renaissance. One of her most famous works was Their Eyes Were Watching God, which she wrote while traveling in Haiti. It follows the life of Janie Crawford, a mixed-race girl looking for true love in post-slavery Florida. An important aspect of this novel is Janie’s three marriages, none of which worked out the way she wanted them to. Another one of Hurston’s works was a short story entitled “Sweat”, which is also about a black woman named Delia who has issues with her husband. Despite both of these pieces being different in length, they do share some similarities. More specifically, they share similarities

Foils help to show a main character in a different light. They can be the same as the character or the complete opposite or even be a little of both. This helps the reader to see the good and the bad inside of that certain character to better the understanding of the novel as a whole. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the characters of Daisy, Mrs. Bogle, Mrs. Robbins, and Mrs. Turner all act as stereotypical sketches of what it meant to be a black woman during the time period. They each act as a foil to the main character Janie in multiple ways.

“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” Jane Austen. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston depicted the travels of Janie Crawford and her understanding of womanhood and freedom through her several marriages. Throughout the book, Hurston portrays the growth of Janie and her ideals, her hair being a major recurring symbol.

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.

Nanny plays an integral role in the development of Janie because she becomes Janie’s guardian and mother. Nanny also balances the role of Janie’s caregiver and source of wisdom. Nanny, in turn, provides Janie with a source of reason careful intuition, especially with regards to men. This reasoning helps Janie to be more careful about putting herself out there for all to see and allows her to be analytical. Consequently, Nanny embraces her belief that a woman needs to be careful with the men she meets and seek a more stable relationship in life. Janie even marries Logan Killicks, a man of stability, much to her grandmother’s own arrangement. With Janie newly married to Logan, the reader can even see that Janie values stability and a man that will take care of her. Much of this value Janie places in a steady marriage stems from her grandmother’s belief that it is better to marry a man who will treat a woman with some decency than purely off of what one believes is love. Janie’s marriage to Logan even brings Janie to a realization that she does not truly love Logan. Hurston writes, “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (Hurston 25). Janie now realizes that she never really loved Logan but only felt artificial attraction because the values her grandmother instilled in Janie were

In life, some people are motivated by selfish feelings or desires but sometimes these selfish ambitions have a negative effect on other people as in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. In this novel, Janie is a character who is on a journey motivated by finding herself, however, the desires of others always seem get in the way. Nanny’s selfish ambitions are the first to affect Janie on her journey, soon followed by Joe Starks, Mrs. Turner, and even Tea Cake. Throughout this novel, the strive for money and power are recurring desires that inevitably result in unhappiness and pain for Janie.

Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, introduces Joe Starks into the novel as a controlling, yet successful man who falls under the control of his own problematic characteristics. These traits influence actions of his which work for and against his favor. Joe is notably prideful; however, his insecurities cause him to verbally and physically mistreat Janie because he feels threatened by her better attributes.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character, Janie, often focuses her attention on nature and makes many comparisons of situations in her life to things, such as pollen and a pear tree, in nature; the nature comparisons reveal her love-centered nature and her hopeful visions in the future for a love-filled life.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the story revolves around the protagonist, Janie’s, experiences in three different marriages. First, with a man named Logan Killicks who has the money and land to provide Janie with security. Then, a rich leader and pioneer named Joe Starks. And finally, with a young man who could only provide Janie with his love and best effort, Tea Cake. Although these three relationships never lasted, through each relationship Janie was able to grow.

Whoever knew how difficult love can be. Love changes like the season. Summer and Spring are your happy moments. Winter and Fall are the bad moments. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston shows how quick and easy love changes overtime. The novel also shows us different types of messages about love and marriage as the men and women play different roles in relationships.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a character that posses “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions”. Throughout the novel, she is searching for a “pear tree love”, and her many experiences help her come to understand the true meaning and feelings that it creates.

Love plays an important part in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. First of all Janie spent her days looking for love. She thought love was like an element of springtime. In the story she tells Phoebe about the day she spent under the pear tree and how she watched a bee pollinate a pear tree blossom. After she witnessed that, she found herself kissing a boy named Johnny Taylor. Throughout the story, Janie is searching for this kind of perfect love.

In this novel, Nanny arranged Janie to go out with Logan, but Janie disapproved. Nanny claimed that Logan was Janie’s security because he was a hardworking man with 60 acres of land. Logan never abused Janie, but he wanted to. The only thing that stopped him was because she was white. He was not the type to show love. Every time he got threaten to be left he just brushed it off. Janie then thinks he is insensitive because he shows no emotion. Even if he wanted to abuse her he still told her “Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think Ah …” (Hurston 24). After 2 years Janie complained about the relationship with Logan, so she moved on to her other husband.