How Does Zora Neale Hurston Use Imagery In Their Eyes Were Watching God

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.

Throughout her marriages Janie has grown and become a mature woman. When she married Logan Killicks she was a young girl with no idea of the harsh world. She learned that she does not want to be with Logan. “Ah wants to want him sometimes” (Hurston; 3, 26). He does not treat her like wife should be treated, he treats her like a worker. She realizes that this horrible marriage to Logan is not what she dreamed about under the pear tree. When Janie meets Joe Starks he speaks to her in rhymes and promises her the world. Her dreams of a beautiful marriage are alive once again. Joe and Janie move to Eatonville, Florida, an all-black town where Joe becomes mayor. As time progresses and Joe gains more power and respect Janie feels lonely. Joe is so focused with his position that he unknowingly pushes Janie into loneliness and sadness. Joe had taken all the fun and life

The imagery of the bees and the pear tree are the catalyst of Janie’s coming-of-age, representing her first “springtime” and the awakening of her sexuality. The moment Janie sees the bee pollinating the blossoms on the pear tree is when she becomes aware of her sexuality. She finds herself empathizing with the blossoms; both being young and undergoing the springtime of life. Contrastingly, however, Janie has no “bees singing for her” like the blossoms do (Hurston 11). In Janie’s eyes, the relationship between the bee

Throughout the novel, Janie searches for the love that she has desired from her adolescent years. A depiction of love represented by her grandmother's pear tree where bees and blossoms connect. The pear tree symbolizes her blossoming sexuality which sparks her interest in romance and her idealistic views towards relationships. In relation, the pear tree represents her crave for sexuality while the bees are the men needed to fulfill her blooming. Under the pear tree she masturbates and

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, describe the various experiences Janie Crawford had with her marriages. However, this book is not about searching for the right men, but for finding herself and be independent. On her second marriage to Joe Starks, who is distrustful and possessive, doesn’t bear to see other men touch or contemplate Janie’s hair. This relationship demonstrates the domination of man because Joe controls Janie, from behaving as the Mayor’s wife to using a kerchief. Janie is a submissive woman, but as soon she finds the opportunity she confronts her husband. Therefore, the action of taking out the kerchief was symbolic because she reveals herself to the society and by letting her hair down she showed her freedom and beauty.

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.

The author immediately introduces the female perspective. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Hurston celebrates Janie as an artist that enriches Eatonville and details her self-discovery. Without delay, on first page of the book, Hurston substantiates the contrast between men and women by initiating Janie's quest to reach fruition of her own dreams and presaging the female quest theme throughout the remainder of the novel. "Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things

Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God follows protagonist Janie Mae Crawford’s journey into womanhood and her ultimate quest for self-discovery. Having to abruptly transition from childhood to adulthood at the age of sixteen, the story demonstrates Janie’s eternal struggle to find her own voice and realize her dreams through three marriages and a lifetime of hardships that come about from being a black woman in America in the early 20th century. Throughout the novel, Hurston uses powerful metaphors helping to “unify” (as Henry Louis Gates Jr. puts it) the novel’s themes and narrative; thus providing a greater understanding of Janie’s quest for selfhood. There are three significant metaphors in the novel that achieve this unity: the

It’s no wonder that “[t]he hurricane scene in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a famous one and [that] other writers have used it in an effort to signify on Hurston” (Mills, “Hurston”). The final, climactic portion of this scene acts as the central metaphor of the novel and illustrates the pivotal interactions that Janie, the protagonist, has with her Nanny and each of her three husbands. In each relationship, Janie tries to “’go tuh God, and…find out about livin’ fuh [herself]’” (192). She does this by approaching each surrogate parental figure as one would go to God, the Father; she offers her faith and obedience to them and receives their definitions of

“She was seeking confirmation of the voice and vision, and everywhere she found and acknowledged answers. A personal answer for all other creations except herself. She felt an answer seeking her, but where? When? How?” (Hurston 11). This quote exemplifies Janie’s desire for answers throughout her three relationships, displaying what she is longingly seeking for in life. Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, follows the life of protagonist Janie Crawford, a confident, middle-aged black woman who goes throughout life discovering her quest for spiritual enlightenment and self-discovery. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston explains the hardships as ideas of maturity, sexism, and social class.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie, the protagonist, experiences relief at the end of the novel. The novel begins at the end, emphasizing the importance of her moral reconciliation. Though at the beginning, it appears she returns home defeated, it is contrary. She returns home triumphant in finding her peace and fulfillment. When Janie starts to take things into her own hands instead of relying on her faith of others, she finally finds herself and joy. She needed to experience love in her own way to find what she was missing and what she needed in her love and her life.

In the book, "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Zora Neale Hurston demonstrates her autobiographical style of writing. The main character Janie represented many different aspects of Zora's life and also helped show the steps of the hero's journey. Through the events that occurred in Janie's life as well as the trials and tribulations that she had to suffer through, this tale of a tragic but satisfying love helped show how Janie as a character developed throughout the book and in turn found her identity. The autobiographical style of Hurston helped enhance the hero's journey and overall self-development that Janie went through. The steps of the adventure that Janie experienced in turn show her connection to Hurston as an overall person. Therefore,

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is innocent and does not know what she is searching for. Life experience, however, teaches her to gain control of her destiny and leads her to a love that provides equality, understanding, and self discovery. Through the novel Janie is on a quest for love, though she does not really know what she is searching for over here journey she goes through many trials of love, whether romantic or not each leading her to a new step of self discovery. As she continues to jump into new relationships, she gains understanding of herself and her identity, while growing as a person and taking control of her life and relationships. Through Janie's journey to no known destination she gains equality in her relationships specifically as a women and understanding of who she is

In Janie’s revelation about her sexuality, she longs “to be a pear tree—any tree in bloom!” This metaphor for Janie’s youth and vitality suggest she is in the spring of her life, with her “glossy leaves” and “bursting buds” and struggling to make sense of the “marriage” that is buzzing through the air with bees. Thus in this scene, Janie crosses the threshold from childhood to adulthood, a passage made complete by her hasty marriage to Logan Killicks, a man far beyond the tumultuous “spring” of youth that Janie is in the midst of in this passage.

The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place” (Hurston 87). In Their Eyes Were Watching God , Janie finds herself learning from her previous relationships about her true self. Ever since the incident under the pear tree, Janie has dreamed of finding true love. After going through two husbands and finding her third one, Tea Cake, she finds that her dreams have come true. Zora Neale Hurston uses Janie’s inability to speak out, her doubt about Tea Cake, and her ability to shoot a gun to utilize Janie’s determination to find her voice and fulfill her childhood dream of finding true love. In the beginning, Janie’s ongoing struggle to find her true self causes her to go to Joe for opportunity and change — things that she never