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.

Tea Cake returns home after Janie has a panic attack regarding the two hundred dollars she thought he stole. She assumed he had run off, but he returned with it. This sets up trust between the two parties. Additionally, there is understanding between the two of them, as Tea Cake accepts that she wishes to accompany him to future events. This also sets them up to spend time with each other instead of Janie being isolated like she was with Jody.

“Tea Cake split the water like an otter, opening his knife as he dived... They fought and somehow he managed to bite Tea Cake high up on his cheek-bone once, then Tea Cake finished him and sent him to the bottom to stay there” (Chapter 18). This quote shows that Tea Cake would rather himself get hurt than Janie because he loves her that much, even though he did not know what was wrong with the dog and that it would lead to him getting extremely

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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 Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie, believes in the idea of love after watching a bee pollinating a flower. Out of all Janie's ex husbands, Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods would have been the best husband for Janie.

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

Their Eyes Were Watching God discusses race as something that defines people, this leads to many sharp contrasts both within and between different races. This is seen many times during the novel most notably through Mrs. Turner’s conversations with Janie, the trial after the death of Tea Cake, and in the way that Janie’s mother was conceived.

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

A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creats a range of associations beyond itself. In Zeala Hurston’s novel, Their eyes were watching God there are different symbols that expressed an idea, clarify a meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Some of these symbols include: Hurricane, death, horizon, Pear tree, mule, e.t.c. For this essay, i chose the symbol: Death. The deaths in Their eyes were watching God represents a transition from one phase to another phase in the life of Janie. The symbol also can be refered to as a change.