Summary Of Janie By Zora Neale

As I reread and discussed this poem in class, I noticed the sexual language and meaning behind the poem, which deepened my appreciation for the poem. I believe my experience shares many of the same types of emotions as the sensuality Mary Oliver is describing, only in a different context. Oliver writes about how, “fear shouts, / excitement shouts, back / and forth” (7). This description applies to both sexuality and experiencing great and awesome acts of nature. This relates to one of Oliver’s themes, experiencing nature and its parallels to our experiences.

As the passage goes on, the author, Zora Hurston, uses mainly imagery to talk about the pear tree that Janie spends a lot of time under. She describes the scenery that surrounds the tree by saying "the gold of

In the beginning, the pear tree symbolizes Janie’s yearning to find within herself the sort of harmony and simplicity that nature embodies. However, that

The narrator shares this story from his youth in the words of an educated man. His actions as a teen are in stark contrast to his phraseology as an adult. Early in the story, he viewed “nature” as sex, drugs and rock and roll (Boyle 112-113). However, as the story ends and the turmoil subsides, the narrator sees nature for the first time, through the eyes of a person matured by this traumatic experience. The “sun firing buds and opening blossoms” replaced the once revered beer and

Janie is beginning to realize who she truly is and has been awakened through the scenic vision of the nature around her, presenting her womanhood in front of her eyes.

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has allowed us to better understand the restraints that women in society had to deal with in a male dominated society. Her marriage with Logan Killicks consisted of dull, daily routines.  Wedding herself to Joe Starks brought her closer to others, than to herself.  In her final marriage to Vergible Woods, also known as Tea Cake, she finally learned how to live her life on her own.  In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie suffered through many difficult situations that eventually enabled her to grow into an independent person.

Janie’s discovery of the person she is through each of her separate life experiences, has brought her to the comprehension of the different levels of herself. Although it takes her the complete book to comprehend her sexual awakening from the beginning where the blossoming pear tree starts her on this journey to go through untainted love, she goes through this experience as the sun sets and rises past the many moments in her budding life;

Sumer Muqbil June 1, 2018 Chapters 3-5 Text Evidence Analysis Effect “Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon. He spoke for change and chance” (Zora Neale Hurston 29). The characters involved in this are Janie and Joe Starks.

Following her Nanny’s death Janie began to pursue her own romantic desires more freely. Before long, she meets her soon to be second husband Joe "Jody" Starks. Initially Jody is a gentleman. He showers Janie with compliments and promises in order to flatter her out of her first husband’s arms. Still new to the world, Janie mistakes flattery for love and succumbs to her need to absorb more about life and love, leaving behind her substandard life with Logan in lieu of personal development. She anticipated that “from now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom" (31).After Jody has convinced Janie to run away with him, however, his affection begins to waver. This leads Janie to understand that "[Jody] did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees.” However, “he spoke for far horizon” (50). “Janie knows that Joe does not fulfill the promise of the pear tree; but she intuits that she must travel in order to grow, and Joe is going places, first literally and then figuratively” (Chinn).

[she longed] to be a pear tree - any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world! She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she... [was] waiting for the world to be made" (11). Janie, feeling herself opening like the petals of a flower, yearns to delve into the unfamiliar - to find the sweet marriage represented by the bees and blossoms.

In the beginning, Janie is captivated by a bee that associates with the blossom of a flower. She sees a “bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom” and meet with the “love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree” which was “creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight” (p 11). Hurston incorporates the bee and the blossom symbol to represent Janie’s desire for love’s pleasure. The author reveals to the audience of how she is taken away by the overwhelming desire and passion shown from the “creaming” of the tree and the bee. This marks her virginity as she is presented pleasingly to the desire of lovemaking, yet also conserve her purity through creating her expectations for her later affectionate lovers. Further, Hurston portrays the shattering of Janie’s bee and blossom dream when she is left to realize that being with Joe and his personality is an illusion as he slaps her. She “stood where he left her for unmeasured time and thought” and saw that “her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered” causing her to have “no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man” (p 72). Hurston revealing Joe’s actual image to its reader depicts Janie’s apprehension of how he was never the man of her dreams and just persuaded herself to believe that he was just a better man than Logan. She is left with the

Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Alabama. She is known to be one of the most influential novelist of the twentieth century in African America literature. Hurston is described to be a very opinionated woman that stood for what she believed in; which reflected in some of her works. In addition to her many titles such as, being an anthropologist and short story writer, she was closely related and heavily focused on the Harlem Renaissance. Zora Neale Hurston and her political opinions placed her at odds with important figures during that time which I wholeheartedly believe played a part in the undeniable attraction that most people have towards her works. Being that Hurston was such a unique writer, to understand the ethics and themes of her and how she contributed to African American literature comes with an understanding of the background and childhood she had.

What did that tree, leaning out from the bank, all white and lacy, make you think of? She asked. Well now, I dunno, said Matthew. Why a bride, of course- a bride all in white with a lovely misty veil.” (Montgomery, 65-66) It is identified here how nature pleases Anne’s eye. The way in which she is able to take a tree branch and bring it to life by imagining that is connected with something beautiful like a bride. It doesn’t only suggest her inquisitive imagination, but also her intellect. With using the enjoyments of nature to foster a desire, and with her perceptive vision she is capable of imagining the branch as something else. Through its beauty and emphasis on colour she can make a connection that the tree branch can be compared to a bride. It is crucial how Anne doesn’t take the natural sights of Avonlea for granted, because she values the power of self-expression in nature. Through her imagination with nature she is able to seek comfort. This is seen on her first night in Avonlea, when she’s afraid no one will come for her, so she turns to a tree as her home, where she can sleep. She states, “I had made up my mind that if you didn’t come for me and to-night I’d go down the track to that big wild cherry-tree at the bend, and climb up into it to stay all night.” (Montgomery, 64) This scene represents how Anne is reliant on nature. Instead of being afraid that no one has yet to pick her up she uses nature to occupy her time. She is inspired by nature to

In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Lora Neale Hurston, the main character engages in three marriages that lead her towards a development of self. Through each endeavor, Janie learns the truths of life, love, and the path to finding her identity. Though suppressed because of her race and gender, Janie has a strong will to live her life the way she wills. But throughout her life, she encounters many people who attempt to change the way that she is and her beliefs. Each marriage that she undertakes, she finds a new realization and is on a never-ending quest to find her identity and true love. Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake each help Janie progress to womanhood and find her identity.

    In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford is the heroine. She helps women to deal with their own problems by dealing with hers. She deals with personal relationships as well as searches for self-awareness. Janie Crawford is more than a heroine, however, she is a woman who has overcome the restrictions placed on her by the oppressive forces and people in her life.