The concept of home has a plethora of definitions which allows someone to feel at home in a multitude of places or with multiple people. In his TED talk, Pico Iyer, discusses these questions about home, which aids in formulating a definition. One of his definitions is the place “where you find yourself,” which corresponds to the discussion of home in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (Iyer). The broadness of the definition makes it difficult to pin-point one location or person. Through Janie’s experience, a home for her is a place where she has a voice. This is paramount for Janie as it allows her to vocalize her opinions and feelings, thus aiding in finding herself. In many of her relationships, however, this voice was taken from her in most of her relationships, preventing her from learning about herself, her wants and needs, therefore preventing her from finding herself and even a home. In the novel, the protagonist, Janie, struggles to create a home with Nanny and the three men she marries due to their dominance, ultimately preventing Janie from having a voice and having a healthy relationship. However, Janie does find a non-dominating and reciprocated relationship with Pheoby allowing her to find her voice, therefore herself, and ultimately a home.
Although Nanny had great intentions of creating a protective and safe environment for Janie, it was not a home. Nanny tried to live the life she initially wanted through Janie, however, this caused Janie
Self discovery is at the root of many stories. It is easily limited by external and internal factors. Tales about self discovery are often called a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman, essentially, is a coming of age novel. Both Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison are considered a bildungsroman. In the case of those two novels, there is one unique concept that contributes to their examples of self discovery. Double consciousness is that idea. It emphasizes how a person may struggle to adapt to more than one varying identities in order to fill a role within society. Double consciousness is present in both novels through the mindset and actions of characters who try to conform to the gender and racial roles placed upon their lives but find themselves in conflict with their limitations.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston portrays the religion of black people as a form of identity. Each individual in the black society Hurston has created worships a different God. But all members of her society find their identities by being able to believe in a God, spiritual or other. Grandma’s worship of Jesus and the “Good Lawd,” Joe Starks’ worship of himself, Mrs. Turner’s worship of white characteristics, and Janie’s worship of love, all stem from a lack of jurisdiction in the society they inhabit. All these Gods represent a need for something to believe in and work for: an ideal, which they wish to achieve, to aspire to. Each individual character is thus
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.
It’s amazing that one state can have within it places that differ greatly in all aspects—people, surrounding, weather, and feeling. Zora Neale Hurston exemplifies this phenomenon in Their Eyes Were Watching God. There are a multitude of differences between Eatonville, FL and the Everglades; each place represents a certain theme or feeling to Janie (the main character) and their differences each contribute to the meaning of the novel as a whole.
The struggle for women to have their own voice has been an ongoing battle. However, the struggle for African American women to have their own voice and independence has been an ongoing conflict. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie struggles a majority of her life discovering her own voice by challenging many traditional roles that are set by society during this time. Hongzhi Wu, the author of “Mules and Women: Identify and Rebel—Janie’s Identity Quest in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God,’” recognizes the trend of African American women being suppressed by making a comparison between animals throughout the novel and Janie. Wu argues that there are ultimately two depictions of the mule that the reader remembers and compares both of these interpretations to Janie’s transformation throughout the novel. While Wu’s argument is sound in the fact that it recognizes certain stereotypes African American women faced during this time, Wu fails to recognize Janie’s sexuality in depth as her major push away from the animalistic pressures she has faced.
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
In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their eyes were watching God the main character Janie is on a quest for self-fulfillment. Of Janie’s three marriages, Logan and Joe provide her with a sense of security and status. However, only her union with Teacake flourishes into true love.
Nanny tried to live the life she initially craved through Janie, conversely, this caused Janie to hate her. Nanny and her daughter were both raped by their masters, so she is determined to ensure that does not happen to her granddaughter as well. When Nanny talks to Janie about her birth, she says “Ah said thank God, Ah got another chance” (Hurston 16). She thanks God as though Janie is simply her gift to have an another chance for raising a daughter. The view of Janie as a second chance causes her to be controlling. She wishes for everything to be right for Janie and does not want to mess up again, comparable to when she unable to prevent her daughter from being raped by her master. When Nanny finds Janie kissing a boy in the yard, she demands that Janie is now a woman and must get married. Nanny forces her to marry Logan Killicks, although she does not love him. Nanny insists “’Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection” (15). This demonstrates Nanny’s protective instincts towards Janie as well as her controlling nature. Although Janie clearly does not love Logan, Nanny forces her to marry him, simply because it is what she [Nanny] wants. Marriage should be something desirable for both people, however in Janie’s case, it is simply due to Nanny’s dominance over Janie. In addition, Nanny also states that she wished to preach her
This departure from her horizon creates a series of relationships with selfish men who treat Janie like an object and suppress her voice; the more fed up Janie becomes with her situation, the more she begins to recover her speech. Her first months of marriage to Logan are unsatisfactory for one reason: she does not love him. Nanny forces her to wait for these feelings to come, but Janie only realizes that marriage does not
All through the novel Janie travels through valuable life experiences allowing her to grow as a woman. Janie at first has a difficult time understanding her needs rather than wants, but as she continues to experience new situations she realizes she values respect. Janie’s first two marriages turned out to be tragic mistakes, but with each marriage Janie gained something valuable. When Janie is disrespected in her second marriage with Joe Starks, he publicly humiliates her, disrespecting her as a wife and woman. This experience forced Janie to come out of her comfort zone and stand up for herself.
The plan for Janie’s future begins with her lack of having real parents. Hurston builds up a foundation for Janie that is bound to fall like a Roman Empire. Janie’s grandmother, whom she refers to as “Nanny” takes the position as Janie’s guardian. The problem begins here for Janie because her Nanny not only spoils her, but also makes life choices for her. Nanny is old, and she only wants the best for her grandchild, for she knows that the world is a cruel place. Nanny makes the mistake of not allowing Janie to learn anything on her own. When Janie was sixteen years old, Nanny wanted to see her get married. Although Janie argued at first, Nanny insisted that Janie get married. “’Yeah, Janie, youse got yo’ womanhood on yuh… Ah wants to see you married right away.’” (Page 12). Janie was not given a choice in this decision. Her Nanny even had a suitor picked out for her. Janie told herself that she would try to make the best of the situation and attempt to find love in her marriage to Logan Killicks. But, as time went by, Janie realized that she still did not have any feelings of what she had considered to be love in her husband.
As a child, raised by Nanny, Janie was guided by the unreal allusion of what life is made up of.
Ann DuCille describes Nanny as “play[ing] a major role in shaping the heroine’s [Janie’s] life, in her article “The Coupling Convention.” Both Nanny and Janie’s mother were raped by white men; Nanny feared that Janie would also be raped and was determined to protect her from that fate. Nanny tells Janie the story of Janie’s conception, “Dat school teacher had done hid her in de woods all night long, and he had done raped mah baby and run off just before day” (Hurston 72-73). Nanny’s way of protecting Janie was to marry Janie off to Logan Killicks. Nanny tries to reassure Janie by saying, “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection. Ah ain’t gittin’ ole honey. Ah’m done ole. One mornin’ soon, now, de angel wid de sword is gointuh stop by here. De day and de hour is hid from me, but it won’t be long. Ah ast de Lawd when you was uh infant in mah arms to let me stay here till you got grown. He done spared me to see de day. Mah daily prayer now is tuh let dese golden moments rolls on a few days longer till Ah see you safe in life” (Hurston 52). This quote is best explained by Judie Newman in her article “Dis Ain’t Gimme, Florida’: Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Nanny’s history under slavery dictates her strategic maneuvers in the wars of property and propriety. Having been denied a say in
Janie's flashback ends, and the novel returns to Janie's conversation with Pheoby that began in Chapter 1. It is almost as if Janie's life story could serve as a lesson both to her dear friend, Pheoby and to the readers of the novel. In her journey through life, Janie has learned two important lessons: People must "go tuh God," and they must "find out about livin' fuh theyselves." Although Janie has lost Tea Cake she remembers the good times with him. Even kept seeds he was planning to plant that she will put in her garden as a reminder of him. At the end of the book, it is also shown that being by yourself is okay that you can be strong on your own. Zora Neale Hurston shows us in the resolution of the plot that even though women are looked
In the first and second chapters of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes were Watching God, it starts off by showing a woman grieving the loss of a sudden death. Which leads to her going back to a place she never thought she would go back to, walking past dozens of judging eyes. Then mutters of Tea Cake leaving the women for a younger women, and taking all of her money overwhelm the women’s friend, Pheoby, and she stands up for her. Janie Starks is the women that these people are so interested in, and when Phoeby goes to join her friend the gossip does not come to an end. When the two friends meet again, questions about where Janie has been for the past year and a half arise, and startling answers are given. Janie vaguely explain that Tea