Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis

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 Zora Neale Hurston’s romantic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the heroine Janie, a beautiful mixed white and black woman, is on a journey to find someone who will make her feel love to find her own identity and freedom, away from her spouses. Janie’s marriages and quest for love impede her individual search for freedom, but in doing this she has discovered what exactly she wants for herself. Janie’s search for her identity and freedom is very much evident. Being abused and controlled during her marriages has made it clear how she wants to be treated and how she wants to live her life; as an individual who does not have to listen to anyone. The story opens with Janie’s return to town. Janie tells Phoebe Watson the story of her

Many people believe in marrying for love and they spend most of their life searching for it. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Nora Zeal Hurston, Janie Crawford goes through three marriages, and as a result, she learns who she wants to be and how to become that woman. Janie has her idealized view of marriage that depicts that you marry for love, and everything is like a fairytale. Through Janie’s three marriages, she learns what she truly desires in life and finds herself along the way. As each marriage comes to a close, Janie becomes stronger and surer of herself.

Richard Wright and Alain Locke’s critique on Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God reveal the common notion held by many of the time, and still today, that there is a right and wrong way for a black person to talk and to act. Wright’s point of view of clearly racially charged and coming from a place of ignorance and intolerance. While, Locke’s point is simply due to a lack of an ability to think out of the box and observe deeper meaning, perhaps due to internalized oppression and a fearful desire to talk and act just like a white man in order to be taken seriously. Wright’s argument that the novel has no central theme and is parallel to minstrel shows, and Locke’s belief that Hurston uses relatable language to avoid diving into mature writing, are inherently wrong and fueled by the very issues Hurston was trying to combat: racism and sexism.

Published in 1937 by author Zora Neale Hurston, the novel ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ chronicles an African American woman's journey to find true love in the Deep South. On one hand, an equal balance of power in a relationship leads to equality, fulfilment, and happiness for both partners - as observed in Janie’s relationship with Vergible Woods (Tea Cake). On the other hand, an unequal distribution of power in a marriage with a dominant partner leads to an overall sense of discontent and unhappiness in the relationship, as observed in Janie’s first two marriages to Logan Killicks and Joe Starks respectively. Thus, an equal balance of power in a relationship built on mutual respect and desire is a vital to a stable and healthy relationship.

In many novels, authors have implemented social constructs in order to shape the mood of the books. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston alludes to social class, especially race, subtly. Hurston’s background of anthropology and growing up as an African-American woman clearly plays a role in the social makeup of the novel. The main character of the novel, Janie, has various experiences in which readers can discover the social structures in her life. Through Janie’s story of self-discovery, Hurston reveals social constructs of the time, especially race and wealth, by including anecdotes, complex characters, and thought-provoking scenes that highlight controversial issues.

Susan B. Anthony once said there is not a women born who desires to eat the bread of dependence. In the novel Their eyes were watching god by Zora Neal Hurston, Janie Crawford depicts the life of a young African women who struggles with male dominance. As well for Mrs. Mallard in The story of an hour by Kate Chopin. Both of these women become independent, share experiences with male dominance and share an appealing perspective toward nature. They also have distinctive outcomes in their lives. Janie and Mrs. Mallard share similarities in their lives and distinctions as well.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston explores the life of a southern black woman, Janie Crawford, whose three marriages of domineering control of men make her acknowledge her independence and self-satisfaction as an African-American woman. Set in the early 1900s, Hurston reveals the dominant role of men in southern society and one woman’s journey toward finding herself and God.

“Beans running fine and prices good, so the Indians could be, must be, wrong. You couldn’t have a hurricane when you’re making seven and eight dollars a day picking beans. Indians are dumb anyhow, always were. Another night of Stew Beef making dynamic subtleties with his drum and living, sculptural, grotesques in the dance”(155).

Nature plays a tremendous role in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Throughout the book there are many references to nature and ideas that are influenced by nature and there is a constant presence of nature in the story. From the beginning to the end of the book nature is used as a symbol to describe and expand on other things happening in the book. Janie, the main character of the book, starts this theme of nature at the beginning with her scene at the pear tree. This scene opens up the idea of nature to the rest of the story. The hurricane scene towards the end of the book closes the book with the idea of nature, just as it was opened with nature. Ending the book with nature shows that it was an important aspect

In Zora Neale Hurston’s esteemed novel Their Eyes Were Watching God Nanny Crawford says, “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see.” When I read this bold statement in my 11th grade literature class it struck me. I carried these words with me for a long time contemplating their meaning. Does this comparison of black women to a lowly animal such as a mule hold true? It certainly did in the early twentieth century time period of the novel in which black women were nothing more than the property of white men. However, despite all the milestones and barriers African American women have broken since then, to an extent Nanny’s words hold true even in today’s society. Women of color still remain objects of exploitation and misrepresentation. As an African American woman, I would use my time enrolled in Grady College to prepare and mold myself into a positive representation of black women in mainstream media.

We grow up to the adults in our life telling us we are "unique", to be "ourselves" but when we practice that distinctive trait, we get labeled as weird; in other words "not normal". In the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie, the protagonist, favors the idea of love and freedom but in the town she is leaving in, those two are considered taboo to women. Janie being able to think for herself is the distinctive trait that sets her apart from the other women in her town. This is a problem because Janie got mad at her grandmother (nanny) for suggesting an arranged marriage but the grandmother was just voicing everyone's thoughts and expectations. So through janie's journey to self discovery, she shows us that we need to break away from

I read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, copyright in 1937 and has a total of 193 pages.

Finding Voice and Vision Their Eyes Were Watching God is such a admirable book because it allows readers to sit and ride along with Janie, the main character, on her journey through life. Living is about making memories, falling down, and getting back up again. Zora Neale Hurston presents a character who stand for her wants and her needs instead of someone else’s. She notices who matters the most in her life and stops putting other people’s needs in front of her own.

Napoleon Bonaparte, a renown French general and ruler, described ambition as “the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.” Humans are driven by ambition. Inevitable is the conflict between ambitions and the ways people pursue them.