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Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston: Literary Analysis

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“Their Eyes Were Watching God,” a novel written by African American author Zora Neale Hurston is a story about the life of an African American women, Janie, who has trouble finding a husband that she really loves. Looking through the analytical lense of race one major theme that is identified in the first half of the book is beauty. Janie is a beacon of beauty that radiates into every character’s eyes and men can’t help but drool over her. Throughout the story it seems that not one women or man is anywhere close to looking as good as Janie does. Mostly all of the characters in the first half of her story are black, and most are made out to be ugly, none beautiful. This is important to the story because Janie is treated differently than other black women are; lots of men want to be with her. After Joe’s death this makes …show more content…

Although they were married, Joe and Janie never had a strikingly obvious intimate relationship. Joe was a bad husband. Joe treated Janie bad because of how beautiful she was. After the shop was built Joe made Janie work in there just so he could look at her, even though she hated it. And again later in the story Joe made Janie feel bad about her looks by making her wear something to conceal her hair while she was in the store. Towards the end of the marriage when Joe started to look horrible, sick, and fat, he thought that he would try to make Janie feel bad about her looks too. This is all important to the story because these little cases was what drove the two apart permanently. Janie’s beauty was what split her and Joe up. Janie developed some bitterness in the solitude that Joe and the town gave her, that was evident in the speech she gave to Joe on his deathbed. Janie grew into a more independant women after he and Joe got on bad terms, this is what made her stand up for herself and persevere through his

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Eventually, Janie decided to leave Logan for another man she met names Joe Starks, and her quest for love continued with her new marriage. Janie was instantly attracted to Joe’s innate power because he gave her hope that she could reach the “horizon” (page 36). Joe took over as mayor of Eatonville and his influence increased dramatically with his improved confidence. He made decisions for Janie, just as her grandmother had, and forbid her from living like every other townsperson. For example, Janie was not allowed to associate with any customers in the store she helped Joe run, she could not wear her hair down in the store, and she had to dress a particular way because of Joe’s raging jealousy.

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These actions gain the attention of the other residents in Eatonville. The men become jealous of his possession over Janie. This fuels Joe into taking even more control over her. Clearly, Janie was controlled by Joe because of his jealousy and insecurities; he made all her decisions for her. When another man started to touch Janie’s hair, Joe said, “Her hair was not going to show in the store” (55).

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