Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston: Literary Analysis

Most directly, Janie was alienated by her Grandmother. Janie sought after a natural and passionate relationship with a man from the beginning, believing that marriage was the only option for a young woman such as herself. Throughout her journey she desired a perfect relationship. She thought that a mutual love would quench her desire, while her grandmother sought for her merely a good man, which caused resentment to arise inside Janie. “Please don’t make me marry Mr. Killicks… Lemme wait, Nanny, please, jus’ a lil bit mo,” ( Hurston 15). Her Grandmother forced upon her a marriage she did not want. “Neither can you stand lone by yo’self,” a statement that her grandmother made quite evident (Hurston 15). It is from her grandmother that she

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has allowed the audience to better understand the limitations, and emotional challenges that women had to deal with in a male dominated society. Janie’s relationship with her first husband, Logan Killicks, consisted of tedious, daily routines. Her second husband, Joe Starks, brought her closer to others, than to herself. In her third and final marriage to Tea Cake, she eventually learned how to live her life on her own. Janie suffered through many difficult situations that changed her as a person, and her opinion on love.

In her late teens, Janie’s grandmother forced her into a marrying a poor farmer named Logan Hillicks, a man she did not love or want to marry. She convinced herself to be devoted to her husband, and tried to form some attachment to him. After 3 months in her lonely and isolated marriage, Janie confronts her Grandmother, Nanny, about her decision to force Janie into marrying Logan. Nanny berates Janie for not appreciating her husband’s generosity and protectiveness, persuading her to stay in the marriage, stating, “ ‘Tai’n’t no use in you cryin’, Janie...Better leave things de way de is. Youse young yet...Wait awhile,baby. Yo’ mind will change,” (Hurston 24). Soon after Janie’s conversation with Nanny, she dies, leaving Janie alone in her marriage. A year after her grandmother’s death, Janie still did not love Logan. And neither did her husband, “Long before the year was up, Janie noticed that her husband had stopped talking in rhymes to her,” (Hurston 26). To Janie, love is

Hurston used imagery to characterize and distinguish between men and women in. She compares the dreams of men to ships. She says "Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time." She then goes on to say “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 accordingly. She believes men and women dream differently. Men set their sights on things they will most likely never accomplish. If they fail, they pack their bags and forget about it, they don't keep striving to achieve it. Women on the other hand have their sights set on dreams that are realistic and they don't just wait for their ship to dock, they "act and do things accordingly". This idea is represented with all three relationships Janie has in the novel. First she marries Logan, with the hope that her dreams of love and prosperity can be fulfilled. Unfortunately this did not work. Then Janine marries Joe Starks, but feels no real love for him. Then Janne meets Tea Cake. He fulfills her dream of love, and is the only person that makes that dream come true for her.

In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Zora Neale Hurston writes about a young girl named Janie who is stuck between the reality of love and the quixotic ideas of what love could be. In the book, Janie is forced to marry an older man due to her nanny's standards set on her security and safety. Janie's first marriage quickly ended after a charming man with the name of Joe Starks swept her off of her feet and made her realize what she's really worth. Despite of her initial attraction to Joe, both marriages end up making Janie unhappy and Unsatisfied.

As Janie leaves her first husband, Logan, for Joe, it is evident she believes this new relationship will fulfill her image of a loving partnership that she imagined as a young woman when she thinks “From now until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom. Her old thoughts were going to come in handy now, but new words would have to be made and said to fit them,” (Hurston 32). The floral imagery is quite idealistic as Janie looks into the beginning of her new life with Joe, showing that she really sees their relationship as a new beginning. While she had previously realized that “...marriage did not make love…” (Hurston 25), Janie is still idealizing her future in a way that may not be realistic considering she runs off to marry the first man that offers her an escape from an unloving marriage. However, there is some development in her image of herself because she now sees Joe as “a bee for her bloom” which places him in relation to her, rather than seeing

Her first experience of marriage was with a man named Logan, this marriage was forced upon her by her grandma. Before they were about to get married Janie tried to convince herself that she will love Logan after she gets married to him and would end her loneliness because that was what people told her. When they arrived at Logan’s house Janie was wishing for it to glorious but ended up feeling the complete opposite. “But anyway Janie went on inside to wait for love to begin.” (Hurston 38) Two months later Janie is getting worried and frustrated because she isn’t falling in love with Logan. When she went to her Nannies one evening she had brought up that she wasn’t happy with Logan and asked if there was a way she could fall in love with him. Janie’s Nannie views marriage a different way as Janie does, as Janie views marriage as paradise, her nannie views it as having property, protection, and having a status as a married women. So, her nannie told her she should be lucky to have a husband that “Got a house bought and paid for and sixty acres uh land right on de big road……Dat’s de very prong all us black women gets hung on. Dis love!”(Hurston 28). Janie left with the same mindset of marriage coming in. “She knew

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has allowed the audience to better understand the limitations that women in society had to deal with in a male dominated society. Janie’s relationship with her first husband, Logan Killicks, consisted of tedious, daily routines. Her second husband, Joe Starks, brought her closer to others, than to herself. In her third and final marriage to Tea Cake, she eventually 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.

Often during our hardest moments, we respond in silence to show our strength. Janie depicts a capable and courageous twentieth century woman who must conform to her what society tells her to. Through Janie’s love experience with her Nanny, Logan, Jody, and Teacake, her independence grows with each one. The contrast between a protective love and a romantic love affects her independence differently. Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has conforms to her social mores due to their power status even when she inwardly questions their demands.

Janie’s budding sexuality is an extremely crucial point within the novel, however, she quickly realizes that sexual fulfillment, and emotional involvement with one another are not priorities. The novel introduces Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, who grew up in a highly patriarchal society and passed her values on to Janie that compatibility and stability are all that are needed for a strong marriage. From Nanny’s

Their Eyes were Watching God was one where every time I read a line where Janie was inferior or under the tyrannical rule of a male, I face palmed myself for her helplessness out of disbelief and anger. I am strong believer that women can do as much as men can or even better, but both are needed equally. I believe that women do not need only men to survive and that a woman, who is without a man can find happiness and peace in her freedom. Throughout the Novel, Zora Hurston allows Janie to undergo three different marriages with each relationship bring short-lived to emphasize Janie’s growth after each man and how in the end she is satisfied with only herself. In Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston explores the relationships

Janie is a young girl raised by her “old-fashioned” grandmother who has a fixed outlook on marriage. Her grandmother believes

During this time while slavery was abolished a woman was very much expected to serve her husband fully, who was not always chosen out of love. Growing up Janie's guardian and major influence was her nanny, a woman that grew up during slavery and in turn hoped for janie to have a better life, she says, “You know , honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways. You in particular. Ah was born back due in slavery so it wasn't for me to fulfill my dreams of what a woman oughta be and to do” (Hurston 16) Her view was imposed on janie to the extent where she grew up believing that a woman's dreams were predetermined and don't go far beyond being a wife, unlike men who are seen to have the world

Ultimately, Janie found herself contempt with the experience from her adventure. Janie at a young age knew nothing of love, but as she grew up love took hold of her. Janie searched for love to the point of looking for it blindfolded. After the first two attempts of love, she was able to find some of her ideals of love in Tea Cake, but after losing him, she was able to see her capability. She developed to the point of taking action for herself as “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around her waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder” (Hurston 193). Janie who was once a girl that waited for life to give her an answer on love was able to search for it. She carries the negatives and positives from her adventure

Before Janie was able to evolve she was confined for years, her first compressed relationship was with her first husband Logan Killicks. Janie’s sense of confinement begins when she is just a teenager and is forced into a marriage with a man whom she does not love. As Janie was forced to grow up she realized a painful truth about love and the people around her. As she reflected on her marriage to Logan she realized, “The familiar people and things had failed her so she hung over the and locked up the road toward playing off. She knew now that marriage does not make love. Janie’s first dream is dead, so she became a woman” (25). Janie felt as if the people who she was surrounded by had lied to her about love. This realization caused her to grow