Zora Neale Hurston's Response To Their Eyes Were Watching God

She admits, “Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate…closing the portals forever behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams” (Chopin 18). In marrying Leonce, Edna abandoned her hopes for love and adventure. Although she thought that she would outgrow her childish desires, Edna still yearned for something more in her life. She did not fit her role as a housewife, “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman… They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands” (Chopin 10), Edna is not one of them.

But what would have become of Shabanu.” Dadi is making Shabanu marry Rahim just to make peace between their families. Dadi knows Shabanu doesn’t want to marry Rahim but still makes her because he know it will make their family rich and keep them out of danger. Further in the book Women are valued even less their main purpose in life was to marry and have children. As a woman in a marriage you must obey your husbands every request.

Identity is composed of not only self-perception but also the perception of others. Consequently, relationships are vital in the forming and expressing of one’s identity. Healthy relationships allow for the expression of oneself without fear of consequences, whereas unhealthy relationships put pressure on one to change for one’s partner. Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God explores the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships, focusing on how each affects the expression of one’s identity.

Her thoughts take precedence over images, Instead of being given lovely images of her children, the reader is left to imagine the fleeting moments of mother-child interaction. Unlike with the idealized relationships of Madame Ratignolle, much of Edna’s raising of her children is out of necessity and they are simply a force that keeps Edna from having her own individuality. In the society represented in The Awakening, it is clear that mothers who err from the patterns of married female behavior are frowned upon by their husbands. Chopin also makes it clear that the husbands in the book, especially Edna’s husband Leonce, feel that it is necessary to intervene in their wives lives, in order to make judgments of their profession as a mother and wife.

These concerns include his recurring absences as well as his manipulation of Janie 's image concerning his gambling habits. This type of male-dominating character is similar to that of the men from her past marriages, and Tea Cake 's jealousy becomes apparent when he "whip[s] Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession"

Babi and Fariba’s marriage were consensual, for Fariba had actually proposed to him on her own because they had actually loved each other (Page 120.) Also, she showed the love she had for her husband when she would talk affectionately about him to her friends (Page …) In her older years, because of her depression, she stopped handling

Janie describes how she noticed Tea Cake not fighting her off as much as she expected. She could have gotten scared hat he was intrigued by Nunkie. The idiom that her fear was growing into tree shows that she was only a little nervous at first but once she watched closely, she realized that she should be worried about Tea Cakes loyalty. Tea Cake not fending Nunkie off as much as Janie expected could actually mean that Janie hoped Tea Cake would avoid contact with any other woman while she was dating him. There was a theme of fear in this chapter since Janie said she was fearful or implied it through her actions in multiple instances.

As much as a reader might agree with Sherley Anne Williams’ ideas of Hurston’s writing, there are some concepts a reader may question. Although the author, Sherley Anne Williams, was correct in suggesting Hurston including the shield of protection for Janie from her grandmother, Nanny, was not creating a picture of life looking like reality; however, her idea that Janie had an insufficient amount of wisdom about herself as a whole is inaccurate because Janie does have self-awareness as she chose who she wanted to be, even if the ideas were pushed away by others. Sherley Anne Williams includes a quick understanding of how Janie sees herself. Discussing how Janie saw her self for the first time in a picture, notiving she was black. Because Janie

This could have been placed directly after they moved into the new house, but having her wait so she could finish her schooling shows that it is something that she really desires and is not a wandering thought that she picked up along the way and decided to run with, which she was often reprimanded for. This also brings closure for the reader because it puts Beneatha with a man that she truly loves, not one that has been handpicked to satisfy all of her and her families needs. Along with this, she is also wearing her hair in its natural state. Originally she had been mocked for this, but after searching long and hard she had finally found who she wanted

Fleur Beale wants readers to understand that no matter what others think, what others talk about doesn’t matter as you should do what you think is right. The main character, Hannah Carstairs was sure she didn’t want to get married but everyone who knew her believed she should. Despite the talk about this and disapproval from others she didn’t give up her opinions and stayed strong with what she believed. This is important as often in life we will have an original opinion which is good but courage is sticking with that opinion even when it is obvious that others disagree and not changing that because of this mater. A movie that is similar to this book is Divergent.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s African American Literature Novel Their Eyes Watching God, she writes of a young female named Janie who journeys through life trying to find the perfect relationship. Throughout Janie’s relationships she discovered that she did not want to live a marriage life full of fear, unhappiness and sorrow. Janie’s ability to dream and to act on her instincts allows her to truly find her happiness with her last

Throughout "Their eyes were watching God" , the title plays a significant role as it is strongly connected to the plot and the characters of the story . In the book we read "Still, though, Tea Cake, Janie, and most of the other migrant workers remain in the muck, unprepared for the threatening storm. ... The lights go out, the storm rages, and Tea Cake, Janie, and their friends seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God." is pretty much the climax of the story. In other words, the title of the story comes from the observation when Janie and her friends battle with the hurricane . The force that is the reason for the conflict of the story .

Every Woman’s Wish Janie learns in life that women and minorities are being viewed as second class citizens, and strives to defy that misconception. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie discovers how her and her colleagues are seen as inferior by men. Janie has a rough path in this story, starting out from being loved by her grandmother to having to bury her third husband, Tea Cake. The passage, “Now women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget.”

Some amount of time after Joe dies, Janie marries Tea Cake and has, for the first time, a happy marriage. However, this marriage is still short-lived. Janie is forced to shoot her husband while he is under the influence of rabies in order to save herself. This later leads to a court case, which is the ultimate proving point of Janie's strongest powers: her will and choice. Janie's choice to not “plead to anybody” (Hurston 236) and to only say what she needed to proved her own power.

Many authors utilize the events that have occurred throughout their lifetime as an inspiration for not only their novels’ plots, but also their novels’ themes. The author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston, is one of the many authors who have utilized their life’s experiences as inspiration for her novels’ themes. Throughout her major novels, she has utilized events in her life, such as her early life, her relationships, and the fact that she grew up in an all-black town, in order to inspire several themes in her novels, and several of her beliefs that she conveys in her novels. Themes, and beliefs, such as African-Americans are not all good nor are they all bad, experiences contribute to finding one’s true self, there is no