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

Three women. Two out of the three were slaves for several decades and was able to obtain their freedom before the Civil War. The third woman, however, was never a slave since they were around after the Civil War. First, Sojourner Truth was born into slavery, later leaving her master in 1926 before she was legally emancipated in 1927 by the law of New York (Gates 245). Truth was also a Civil Rights and Women’s Rights activist (Gates 245). Next, Elizabeth Keckley, who was also born into slavery and stayed enslaved for over 30 years (Gates 365). After she had legally bought her and her son’s freedom, Keckley had established herself as a dressmaker and provide service to political figures, such as Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis (Gates 365). Lastly, is the author, Zora Neale Hurston, who had written Their Eyes Were Watching God and Mules and Men (Gates 1019). In Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the protagonist, Janie Crawford, undergoes a journey of self-discovery while overcoming obstacles. Truth was fighting for equal rights for women, while in Keckley’s text, she informs people of her years as a slave, the purchasing of her freedom, and her time at the White House. Therefore, between Truth and Janie there is an overlapping attitude of gender differences amongst men and women which can cause male dominance, whereas with Janie and Keckley, the overlap occurs in their struggle for freedom and the experience of being married then leaving one’s spouse.

Janie's flashback ends, and the novel returns to Janie's conversation with Pheoby that began in Chapter 1. It is almost as if Janie's life story could serve as a lesson both to her dear friend, Pheoby and to the readers of the novel. In her journey through life, Janie has learned two important lessons: People must "go tuh God," and they must "find out about livin' fuh theyselves." Although Janie has lost Tea Cake she remembers the good times with him. Even kept seeds he was planning to plant that she will put in her garden as a reminder of him. At the end of the book, it is also shown that being by yourself is okay that you can be strong on your own. Zora Neale Hurston shows us in the resolution of the plot that even though women are looked

The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, centralizes over the story of Janie Crawford. The story starts out with middle- age Janie visiting her home in Eatonville. The town begins to gossip about her clothing and her younger husband. Janie tells Pheoby her life story in order to relay it to the townspeople and end the gossiping. She believes that she does not need to explain herself to the people.

Teacake helps Janie lock up the store and walks her home. Janie cannot help but notice how comfortable she is around him, whom she hardly knows. As weeks pass a growing love develop between the two. Many people become concerned with their relationship. Hezekiah in particular warns Janie that Teacake may be just after her money. Janie, although takes this warning into consideration, trusts Teacake anyway. Eventually the two decide to make it official, as they marry, and move to the Everglades. Almost immediately, Janie and Jody become heavily part of the Everglades lifestyle. Teacake teaches Janie to shoot, something she would of never thought to do. Both work in the fields with the rest of the community. Janie cooks dinner, cleans, and still has time to spend time with Jody and work the fields. Janie's house becomes a heavy part of the community, almost like a “magnet” (Hurston 134). Other field workers come to eat, gamble and tell fascinating stories on the porch. Janie finally is able to comfortably sit on the porch herself, and tell her own stories. Janie oftens thinks about her life in Eatonville, and about how much she had missed out

In the novel,” Their eyes were watching god” written by Zora Neale Hurston is a book based on the trials a young woman goes through as she goes through her journey to find a new life as changes come. I found many motif examples in this book, but to be more specific, community and race/racism. These two things significantly impact the book's plot and the overall setting.

A life without choices doesn’t seem to be a good life to have, and in Zora Neal Hurston’s novel Their Eyes were Watching God, the main protagonist goes through life slowly being able to make more choices for herself. While she was a child, she wasn’t able to make any decisions for herself, and that affected her later years and how she made her choices.

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.

Daisy on the other hand allures men with her voice and beauty and orients her life around her husband Tom and their image together rather than what she actually wants. When discussing her daughter, Daisy states “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” This quote which appears early on in the novel is striking because instead of wishing her daughter to be intelligent Daisy wishes her to be a fool so that she will be able to easily accept her lack of power. Demonstrating how the social environment objectifies women, viewing them as objects rather than intelligent beings.

“They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God. (p. 160)” Zora Neale Hurston prophetically embodied the awe of the Divine and His infinite sovereignty in relation to His creation. This novel explores the complex awakening of Janie Crawford as an African- American woman in the southern Florida during the twentieth century. The protagonist is on a quest to find self- awareness and love due to a troubled childhood and broken home. Along this spiritual and personal journey, Janie finds herself in malicious relationships in which she is dominated and subjugated by male counterparts. However, it is not until she slowly grows spiritually independent of her physical situations that she is able to overcome adversity and truly love herself. Hurston contrasts the use of boisterous characters and colloquialism with Janie’s inherent silence to effectively illustrate the protagonist’s gradual independence in relation to language. The importance of personal fulfillment through self-awareness over power serves as a source of

In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s understanding for struggle allows her to empathize for another and fix the problem. Zora Neale Hurston writes, “Janey is displayed by Starks as a 'lady'? Just as he displays the retired mule”(Hurston). Janie's treatment by Jody has caused her to feel the struggle and hatred towards the people that only make life harder than it should be. When Jody saw this mule getting abused and treated the way it shouldn’t be, she was able to feel empathy for it and do something about it.

He reveals that “[he] decided to stay since they wanted to make another season on the muck” (Hurston 139). Tea Cake’s sense of adventure falls short to his love for Janie in regard to staying with her. He wants to stay with her while also experiencing new things and all that the world has to offer for him. By staying in the Everglades, Tea Cake is still experiencing something relatively new while also sticking beside Janie. Not moving away to an even better and exciting place is a big step for him in terms of maturity. It is evident that Tea Cake is starting to let the feeling of love govern his life, but he still has his faults and may slip up, as many people make mistakes throughout their

In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the author uses the description of nature to emphasize the multiple relationships’ effect on the well-being and the personality of the main character, Janie. Janie’s character is mainly affected by the not only the different romantic relationships in her life, such as with her second husband Joe and her third husband Tea Cake, but also by her familial relationships as well with her Nanny, determining if she will “blossom” or “decay.” Therefore, the use of nature in the novel evaluates of the effects that her romantic relationships have created for Janie, such as how they uplift or hinder her growth as a person.

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.

Zora Neale Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston used a variety of writing techniques to cover a broad amount of themes. The most important message she got across was that it takes a journey to self discover yourself. Similar to how when someone is going through college they will change their major multiple times before finally deciding what they would actually like to do and even then sometimes they realize they may have made the wrong decision or wish they did something different. In comparison to the book Janie would be the college student going through many experiences to discover her true self and become happy. Hurston represents these ideas by using a well planned plot and strong characterization.

In the society and world we live in we all want to be accepted and feel like we belong. Zora Neale Hurston goes through trials and tribulations as being a twenty-century African American such as slavery and feeling like she belongs. Imagine every time you think you are finally happy with whom you are and it turns out that wasn’t the case. In Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie embarks on journey in search for her own identity where each of her three husbands plays an important role in her discovery of who she is.