Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has allowed us to better understand the restraints that women in society had to deal with in a male dominated society. Her marriage with Logan Killicks consisted of dull, daily routines.  Wedding herself to Joe Starks brought her closer to others, than to herself.  In her final marriage to Vergible Woods, also known as Tea Cake, she finally 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.

Love is a life-changing event. It is an event that causes you to embrace another person in your life. It can be a positive or a negative experience for a man or woman. It is a cycle of connection then death, however; some people will not last to death due to death of divorce. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie explores the themes of love, beauty, and evolves into the woman that she is at the end of the novel through three different marriages. When Janie gets married to all three men, she loves them progressively as she goes from one marriage to the next;however, in the end she ends up loving Tea Cake more than any of her past husbands.

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.

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.

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.

Janie’s marriage to Logan was not anything special. In the beginning Logan was acted like a good husband and would do all the work on his land, and Janie would stay in the home, cooking and cleaning. Eventually, after a couple of months of being married, this so-called honeymoon stage was over. Logan now acted as if he owned Janie and she was his slave, commanding her to do whatever he wanted, not listening to what she wanted. Janie felt constraint; she felt like she was losing her freedom to Logan, she felt like she was not Janie anymore, she was now Mrs. Logan Killicks and she was now obligated to do whatever he commanded of her. Janie was tired of being in an unhappy marriage; she did not love Logan like Nanny said she eventually would: “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman”, and she did not like the way she was being treated. One day while she was outside she saw a man walk by, she thought he was very attractive so she drew attention to herself and the man came over. After having a conversation

In the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” by Zora Neale Hurston Tea Cake becomes an unlikely hero because of the way he saves Janie physically and emotionally. Before Janie met Tea Cake she was emotionally abused from Joe Starks treating her terribly for over twenty years. When Janie met Tea Cake it was as if she was seventeen again and was just starting her life with someone she had known forever because their love was so intense. Tea Cake not only saved Janie emotionally, but he actually saved her life during the hurricane twice. First from drowning then when she was about to be bitten by a rabid dog.

In the novel “Their eyes were watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s love changes throughout the course of her three marriages from security to actual love. Throughout time Janie was seeing changes in her first marriage. “Long before the year was up, Janie noticed that her husband had stopped talking rhymes to her.” “He had ceased to wonder at her long black hair and finger it”( Hurston 26). Since Logan stopped showing interest in her, like not showing the love he once did, Janie knew that she wasn’t in love with logan and he was not the one for her. This shows that Janie has yet to feel in love with someone. In Janie’s second marriage she has a feeling of betray. Why must Joe be so mad with her for making him look small when he did it

The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about Janie Crawford and her quest for self-independence and real love. She finds herself in three marriages, one she escapes from, and the other two end tragically. And throughout her journey, she learns a lot about love, and herself. Janie’s three marriages were all different, each one brought her in for a different reason, and each one had something different to teach her, she was forced into marrying Logan Killicks and hated it. So, she left him for Joe Starks who promised to treat her the way a lady should be treated, but he also made her the way he thought a lady should be. After Joe died she found Tea Cake, a romantic man who loved Janie the way she was, and worked hard

Growing up as a child, Janie did not have a mother or father figure in her life. "'Tain't Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it's protection” (Hurston 28). Her grandmother, Nanny, wanted her to live a better life than her mother. Janie believed that Logan was not the person she wanted to be with, but wanted to please her grandmother’s wishes. Janie had learned that even though she did not love him now, later on in life true love would find her. Once Janie and Logan were married, months had gone by and she was afraid that she would never fall in love with him. She had decided to give her grandmother a visit to confess how her love for him is still not there. Despite the fact that Janie was just trying to find a way out, her grandmother sent her off to give love time to unfold.

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.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a light skinned women who is trying to look for love. Her Grandmother, arranges her marriage with Logan, which ends up failing because it lacked true love. Then, Janie marries Jody, which ends in a divorce because of Jody’s controlling personality. Finally, she finds the love of her life Tea Cake, and lives a happy life. The role of violence in this novel is very important. The way Janie’s husbands treat her effects their relationship. Janie wants to be with a man who treats her equally, and with respect. She does not want to be controlled, which is the reason why she left her other marriages. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston conveys the message that the purpose of violence is to gain control and power.

A major theme in Their Eyes Were Watching God is the search for real love. Janie Crawford goes on a journey in order to find her true love and what true love really means. If Janie didn’t have that desire, all the marriages she was in would not have a point. Men don’t always treat her right so when she meets Tea Cake things are different. The search for love is a hard search and only some people are lucky enough to find it in their lifetime.

Finding Voice and Vision Their Eyes Were Watching God is such a admirable book because it allows readers to sit and ride along with Janie, the main character, on her journey through life. Living is about making memories, falling down, and getting back up again. Zora Neale Hurston presents a character who stand for her wants and her needs instead of someone else’s. She notices who matters the most in her life and stops putting other people’s needs in front of her own.

Being whisked away in a carriage by a handsome prince is every girl's dream. A fairytale full of love, bees and blossoms is what Janie, the protagonist of the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, longed for. In the novel, Janie goes through a pivotal moment in where she grows from being a naive little girl who believes love is a fairytale to a mature woman who knows love is a roller coaster full of twists, turns and most importantly sacrifices. Janie experiences this pivotal moment when she herself has to kill her true love, Tea Cake. As hard as it was for Janie to do this she knew Tea Cake was suffering and he would be at peace if she ended his life. After this experience Janie matures in knowledge and realizes sacrifice comes with true love. This pivotal moment makes the reader ponder on the question ‘What does it take to find your true love?’