Analysis Of Barbara Kingsolver's A Fist In The Eye Of God

Throughout the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, there is an ongoing story of how Janie, the main character, grows up and deals with the many challenges life throws at her in her quest for her “Horizons”. A horizon is a metaphor for one’s ambitions, hopes and dreams. To be truly happy, one must conceive their own horizons, explore them and embrace them. Janie’s “horizons” evolve throughout the novel, starting as limited and socially determined, moving towards being expansive, individualized, and fully realized.

“Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves.” (Hurston 226) The book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is told from Janie’s point of view and she is telling her story to her friend Pheoby. She grows throughout three marriages and the hardships she faces. She learns what she wants from life and how to become an independent individual. Throughout the story of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie is on a quest for self-fulfillment and individuality. This is shown through the changes she endures in her relationships and can cause the readers to take control of their own lives.

During the 1930s there was a time period known as the Harlem Renaissance, during this time African Americans sought a newfound cultural freedom and advancements in social classes. In the novel, Their Eyes Are Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston portrays both similarities and departures from the ideals of the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston uses the main character Janie to illustrate these ideals such as the struggle to find oneself and fight against the opinions of others. In addition Hurston also depicts issues and similarities like African Americans who achieved high social classes and discriminated those below them, racial segregation, but also a new found African American confidence. She also demonstrates departures from the Harlem Renaissance

The Avis Papyrus, more commonly known as the Carmel Origami Bird, native to the sparsely spaced Cool Creek Islands, was subject to a study of its evolutionary success. These birds must travel long distances to get between the islands they inhabit in order to survive long enough to produce offspring; meaning that being able to fly long distances aids in their fitness. The development of these beneficial characteristics are possible because of something called natural selection. Natural selection is the gradual process over the course of generations where a species gradually develops and excludes traits and characteristics (Fukuyama, 2004). This is to help increase reproductive success of an organism and increase the animals fitness. The experiment looked at how natural selection led to their evolution and it’s raw data shows evidence that the Origami Birds have met evolutionary success due to natural selection.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of Janie and her journey to find herself. She went through a lot meeting different people specifically men to help her understand what she really wanted in her future. Throughout her life, Janie was on a mission to chase her dreams and find her happiness by experiencing new horizons, which suggest that in order to be happy one has to push out of the comfort zone.

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, the story opens with an intriguing extended metaphor: “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight…” In this quote, Zora Neale Hurston describes how far off a man’s dream can be. Within the first few paragraphs, we meet our main character, Janie Crawford as she’s walking back into town. Multiple people are looking on from the porch, wondering where Janie has been.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie compares Joe to Abraham Lincoln because he freed the mule just as Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. While comparing him to President Lincoln, she says “. . . and dat makes you lak uh king uh something” (58) and this quote shows how Joe is seen by Janie and the people of Eatonville. He is seen as a king with the power to control everyone but instead of king, his title is Mayor of Eatonville. When Joe died, Janie stated that “Dis sittin’ in de rulin’ chair is been hard on Jody” (87) and his position of power finally caused him to collapse. The chair was his throne and he was on the throne as Mayor of Eatonville.His his reign eventually came to an end and it became too much for him.

Their Eyes Were Watching God, a book by influential author Zora Neale Hurston, is about the life of an African American woman named Janie and the effect relationships have on her freedom. Janie's freedom is constantly limited by the men in her three marriages, but through these relationships she learns how to be free through independence. Although Logan, Jody and Tea Cake all treated her very differently, they all placed some sort of emotional, physical, or social limit on her freedom.

The tension between male and female figures is further used to promote Janie’s emotional growth and maturity. Janie’s inner confidence and reassurance did not develop overnight, as it took three painful marriages for Janie to find her inner strength. After her mesmerizing moment under the pear tree, she was persuaded into marrying Logan Kilicks thinking marriage always formed true love. Janie’s assumption of finally having the embrace she longed for in marriage however, was destroyed when she married him. Logan did not live up to the beauty that she saw in the tree, “she knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (25). After marrying Logan, Janie realizes the reality of marriage and love.

The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, centralizes over the story of Janie Crawford. The story starts out with middle- age Janie visiting her home in Eatonville. The town begins to gossip about her clothing and her younger husband. Janie tells Pheoby her life story in order to relay it to the townspeople and end the gossiping. She believes that she does not need to explain herself to the people.

In the novel,” Their eyes were watching god” written by Zora Neale Hurston is a book based on the trials a young woman goes through as she goes through her journey to find a new life as changes come. I found many motif examples in this book, but to be more specific, community and race/racism. These two things significantly impact the book's plot and the overall setting.

Zora Neale Hurston a woman who was a marvel of her era. She was known as the “Queen of the Harlem Renaissance.” Hurston came to this nickname by overcoming obstacles that were placed in front of her. As a child Hurston was forced to mature too quickly, however, despite Hurston’s unsettled life, she managed to surmount every obstacle and become one of the most profound authors of the century. When her mother died, she was able to stay emotionally and mentally stable.

On October 9, 2012, in northern Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head (Lieve 1). Prior to this incident, Yousafzai, who lived in a patriarchic society “began giving speeches across Pakistan in favor of education” for women and became “a rising voice of dissent against terror” (3). However, the men in her community felt threatened by the undermining of their power, and one of these men committed a heinous act in order to suppress efforts to achieve equal rights for women. The concept of sexism embedded within the basis of society is reflected in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston’s Reconstruction era tale centers on Janie, a character who attempts to find her own identity in a social structure that seeks to find it for her. The sexism underscores the struggles Janie must face in order to grow and prosper as she continues on her journey towards maturity. This demeaning social force helps the author develop the theme that the restriction of freedom affects the ability of a person to make a difference in their society.

Many scientists believe variations are caused by environmental factors, such as food availability, weather and more; and that species evolve when environmental conditions change to increase the species survival. Darwin censures this idea; he believed that the main cause of variation is due to reproduction (Chapter I). Darwin suggested that parents pass down specific characteristics to their offspring, and those variations are continued on in the following generations. The problem with Darwin’s theory of reproduction is that Darwin did not comprehend how or why some characteristics are perennial and how others are not. Darwin’s inferences on variations also conflict with the idea that God created species independently, which was widely understood by many people in a time where religion was prominent (Chapter II).

Creationists, mistaking the uncertain in science for the unscientific, see the debate among evolutionists regarding how best to explain evolution as a sign of weakness. Scientists, on the other hand, see uncertainty as simply an inevitable element of scientific knowledge. They regard debates on fundamental theoretical issues as healthy and stimulating. Science, says evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, is "most fun when it plays with interesting ideas, examines their implications, and recognizes that old information may be explained in surprisingly new ways." Thus, through all the debate over evolutionary mechanisms biologists have not been led to doubt that evolution has occurred. "We are debating how it happened," says Gould (1983, p.256).