Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Companionship is a fundamental necessity for human beings to function. People thrive off of social interactions and without companionship, loneliness and alienation would prevail. Everyone wants the same things in life which are love, social acceptance and companionship, in the hope that once these things are obtained one will feel complete. In the novels Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, readers witness the characters struggle to find their identity while also trying to meet the need for partnership. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, readers see the main character Janie, grow as a women while showing that marriage does not always mean love and that until

Throughout life, everybody makes sacrifices that may become more beneficial to him or in ways they could not foresee. A sacrifice may be simply giving up an object or giving up something deeper in meaning. Their Eyes Were Watching God is a prime example of a book that reflects this theme. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie, struggles to figure out her identity and what she desires in life. As she matures in her relationships and in life, she learns to make sacrifices in order to seek what she really needs. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston illuminates Janie’s values and the text’s emphasis on self-actualization is demonstrated through Janie leaving stability with Logan to marry Joe,

To begin with, Janie’s first marriage is to Logan Killicks. She meets him through her grandmother and is basically forced to marry him. In the novel, Janie complains to her grandmother “Cause you [Grandmother] told me Ah mus gointer love him,and, and Ah don’t” (Their Eyes were Watching God 23). This quote demonstrates how Janie feels throughout her marriage to Logan. He treats her like a labor mule and complains that she is too lazy to do anything. From her first marriage, she learns that she has to be with a man she

Feminism and gender equality is one of the most important issues of society today, and the debate dates back much farther than Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. To analyze Janie’s existence as a feminist or anti-feminist character requires a potential critic to look at her relationships and her reactions to those relationships throughout the novel. Trudier Harris claims that Janie is “questing after a kind of worship.” This statement is accurate only up until a certain point in her life, until Janie’s “quest” becomes her seeking equality with her partner. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s main goal pertaining to her romantic relationships undergoes multiple changes from her original goal of a type of worship to a goal to maintain an equal relationship with her husband.

In the late nineteenth century, the New Woman time period emerged after World War I. Women began to cast away the domestic stereotypes and they became “independent [women] who [sought] achievement and self-fulfillment beyond the realm of marriage and family” (Miller 1). Straying away from the typical image of women staying and maintaining the home, women started attending universities, receiving professional jobs, and becoming involved in politics (1). The transition of women from the domestic sphere to the public sphere is a notion Zora Neale Hurston uses in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston’s use of dominant characters in society reveals her theme that experiences and relationships are the roots of finding independence and identity despite the obscurity caused by sexism.

this oppression, Janie has no concerns about leaving town. In the beginning of her marriage, Janie keep her opinions to herself and does what she is told.

Janie’s three marriages were all different for the most part, though they each had their ups and downs. Her marriage with Logan Killicks was the worst of the three. The only upside to this marriage was that she did have the protection and security her grandmother wanted, but Logan was not willing to make compromises like, “And ‘tain’t nothing’ in de way of him washin’ his feet every evenin’ before he comes tuh bed. ‘Tain’t nothing’ tuh hinder him ‘cause Ah places de water for him.” (Hurston 24) which shows that he wasn’t even willing to wash his feet so Janie wouldn’t have to smell his feet. Logan also expected Janie to help him with everything he was supposed to do and still make dinner for him. Despite all that Janie still wanted to love him but she just couldn’t do it. Janie’s marriage to Joe was better than Logan’s but was still really bad. Joe provided Janie with anything and everything she needed, but not what she wanted. Their relationship was about Joe, and what Joe wanted. Joe also thought he was superior to Janie. “Ah knows uh few things, and womenfolks thinks sometimes too!” “Aw naw they don’t.

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, a young woman travels through difficult life experiences in order to find herself. Hurston portrays the protagonist as an adventurous soul trapped in the binds of suppressing marriages. Janie experiences three different types of marriage learning from each one what she values most. From these marriages she learned she values love and respect, finally achieving them in her last marriage. Each new marriage brought something new to the table for Janie and no matter the situation or the outcome of the relationship Janie grew into her own independent individual because of it.

            Janie's first husband was a poor old soul named Logan Killicks.  He was an ugly, dirty farmer whose prime concern for Janie was that she do her share of the work in order to keep the farm up and running.  Janie was simply another pair of hands to do some work.

Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, characters face many acts of racial discrimination growing up while living in the South during the 1930’s. In the novel Hurston shows how a racial caste system is formed. As the story progresses, the reader is able to see how the caste system affects different characters in different ways. This shows that even if people do not experience oppression in the same way as another, it doesn’t mean that they don’t bare the same weight, but might react to the weight differently.

In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston a young girl named Janie begins her life unknown to herself. She searches for the horizon as it illustrates the distance one must travel in order to distinguish between illusion and reality, dream and truth, role and self? (Hemenway 75). She is unaware of life?s two most precious gifts: love and the truth. Janie is raised by her suppressive grandmother who diminishes her view of life. Janie?s quest for true identity emerges from her paths in life and ultimatly ends when her mind is freed from mistaken reality.

In order for an individual to effectively rebel against an established society, he or she must maintain some degree of power. If leaders or majority groups intend to revolt against an aspect of society, they simply speak or act against their issue. A member of marginalized group does not have the liberty of rebelling so directly, as he or she would be immediately isolated. In addition, taking a stand through an unappreciated aspect of one’s status in society would be futile. Therefore, an individual must find his or her value to society and utilize it as their method for rebellion. This is exemplified in both Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, as women rebel against society without using their voices. The main characters, Janie and Hester, defy gender roles through external appearances, maintaining silence, and accepting sexuality. Both Hawthorne and Hurston reveal society’s value of women’s external persona through female characters’ nonverbal rebellion.

Janie’s three husbands

Throughout history, the aspiration to accomplish one’s dreams and gain self-fulfillment has been and continues to be prevalent. Consequently, one’s reactions to the obstacles propelled at them may define how they will move forward in search of achieving their goals. Reaching one’s full potential is certainly not an easy conquest. Zora Neale Hurston, an especially noteworthy African American author, uses her astounding piece of literature, Their Eyes Were Watching God, to illuminate the path to discovering what is truly valuable in life. She uses the character, Janie Woods, who endures some of the greatest hardship imagined to elucidate the ways in which hindrance, although discouraging, only makes one stronger. Accordingly, Hurston argues

The novel ‘Their Eyes were watching God’ was written by African writer Zora Neale Hurston. The novel plays a significant role in underlining the role played by women and their subsequent transformation from being voiceless yet vibrant in their teenage years into being women who have the hands-on their lips about taking charge of their lives. The novel revolves around the main character Janie Crawford’s activities. The novel ‘Their eyes were watching God’ indicates their initial perception of Janie with regards to life as she increasingly expected more out of life even though she realizes that it is rather different with the truth. Jannie realizes that an individual has to learn about life on their own (Hurston, 1937). The title of the novel is attributable to the fact that Janie likens the prospect of learning about life based on an individual’s thoughts on going to God where people will take an individualistic perspective. The novel underlines Janie’s road to maturity through a series of marriages. Also, nature plays a significant role in triggering her desire of finding and experiencing true love.