Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis

He “[invites] Janie to be…herself” and he “does not limit her to a particular role” (Domina 315). As a result, there are no expectations for Janie to fulfill. She has no need to conform to a certain type of behavior or appearance, which allows her to finally reconcile the differences between internal and external versions of herself. Professor Deborah Clarke describes Janie’s time with Tea Cake as an opportunity for Janie to flourish and learn how to “formulate a self which is not predicated upon oppression” (Clarke 607). Because Tea Cake does not impose societal expectations upon Janie, she is able to navigate a relationship in which her innermost self that she has kept hidden can now rise to the surface.

In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, attempts to bring into light problems caused by prejudice. However, as she tries to show examples of inequality through various character relationships, examples of equality are revealed through other relationships. Janie, the novel's main character, encounters both inequality and equality through the treatment she receives during her three marriages.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is sometimes classified as a feminist novel, but that is not so. Feminism is often associated with men and women being equal without a doubt. This passage establishes a fundamental difference between genders. Chapter six is a prime example of these gender differences. Chapter six shows Joe’s need for control. During an argument between Janie and Joe, Joe states, “Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves” (71). Hurston’s statement here suggests that men during that time period needed to feel superior to

Wright argues that Their Eyes Were Watching God has no central theme or significance, which is interesting considering it is now looked at as one of the most influential works of the twentieth century. The greatest, most revolutionary artists throughout history, think Van Gogh, have always been deemed lazy or untalented due primarily to social conventions of their time refusing to budge. However, what is truly unintelligent and lazy is Wright’s unwillingness to admit the abundance of important, ground breaking them throughout this novel. Their Eyes Were Watching God combats issues of racism, sexism, classism, and

Throughout the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God” (written by author Zora Neale Hurston and published in September 1937) multiple motifs (a recurrent image, symbol, theme, character type, subject, or narrative detail that becomes a unifying element in an artistic work or text) have appeared amidst the chapters. Furthermore, motifs have played an excruciatingly important role overall throughout the book, whether it be a place, a person, the weather, or simply just a personʻs possession(s). Therefore, in this prompt I will explain the various motifs exhibited in the passages.

In Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the reader is taken on an expedition through the life and love of Janie, which provides the reader different levels of imagery and symbolism. “Hurston… use the journey motif to structure and enhance their heroines‘quests as well as lyrical image patterns to evoke and communicate the processes of growth, regeneration and intimations of the Divine within each character.” (Sullivan 1364) Through this expedition Janie strives to achieve her principles about what love was and how she should be living her life. Hurston chose to introduce the reader to the return of Janie as the opening of the book. “Janie’s existence will become a continuous struggle to bring her own experience into harmony with her initial vision of the pear tree” (Maroto 72) Janie was not focusing on what is wrong in her single life, but what was good in it. “Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and

The book opens with Janie returning to Eatonville, after Tea Cake’s death. She walks down the street wearing the same overalls she wore while she was working with Tea Cake, causing many of the town’s residents to wonder about her. When confronted about this gossip, Janie proclaims, “if God don’t think no mo’ ‘bout ‘em then Ah do, they’s a lost ball in de high grass” (5). She means that if God cared about the townspeople as little as she did, they would get lost amongst all the other things God likely does not care about. This shows how little she minds what other people think of her, and how her quest for self determination has been

Early in the text of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston employs imagery and syntax to show Janie uncovering the growth and power she has over her own life. This sort of revelation comes to Janie as Hurston describes that “It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown seems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy

Meaning that this was a strong storm that would destroy many things. A couple paragraphs later we can hear what they heard during the storm and feel what they felt. As it says, “Through the screaming wind they heard things crashing and things hurtling and dashing with unbelievable velocity”. This wind and hurricane can also be a metaphor for Janie’s previous marriages. The “burst of thunder and lightening” can describe Janie’s first marriage to Logan Killicks. It was just thrown at her and came out of nowhere, kind of like a burst of thunder and lightening. Nobody expects it, it just shows up and you have to be prepared and know what to do. Janie was definitely not ready to be married, but her Nanny threw her into this situation and expected her to know what to do. “The screaming wind…crashing” can portray Janie’s marriage to Jody Starks. The marriage might have started with a “screaming wind”, meaning they both had energy and excitement towards the marriage, but then when Jody started treating Janie like she was a nobody and did not deserve anything, there was a “crash” and their marriage went downhill. Jody took Janie for granted and treated her however he felt and she did not appreciate that. Once he died, Janie was able to move onto to her final and best marriage with Tea Cake. This marriage was “dashing with unbelievable velocity”. It was

On the very first page of Their Eyes Were Watching God, the contrast is made between men and women, thus initiating Janie's search for her own dreams and foreshadowing the "female quest" theme of the rest of the novel. "Detailing her quest for self-discovery and

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

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Oprah Winfrey alters the novel’s story line so much,

Their Eyes Were Watching God was a book that presented the world with a new look on writing novels. Zora Neale Hurston’s experience in what she has seen through research was embodies in this novel. She demonstrates what data she has collected and intertwined it into the culture within the novel. While being a folklorist/anthropologist, and inspired by her life experiences, she developed a character who dealt with the issues that were not yet uncovered, female empowerment was one of them. Zora Neale Hurston defined this topic of female empowerment throughout the character Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

In Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, there are many major points in the novel that reflect the meaning of the title. Hurston seems to relate God to love and life and this could be one reason why a book about love and self-realization would have a title relating to a higher power. The title also reflects a sense of lacking control over the outcome and direction of life. Through Janie's experience with Teacake and one of the major turning points in the novel, the hurricane, the reader can see the relevance of the title to the novel as well as the novelist.

Their Eyes Were Watching God has different messages to it that anyone can receive. One message that Zora Hurston wants to portray is that men and women are equal. Many people think that men or stronger, or that men can be better leaders; however, men and women share similar qualities. Zora Hurston puts a stronger emphasis on the females in this book because of belief that men don’t have to be the main characters all the time. The theme of Their Eyes Were Watching God is that the nature of women is confident, protective, and willing.