Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay

While the heart-shaped world in the drawing represents Janie’s world with both goodness and conflict in the form of light and darkness, it is surrounded by other important features such as religion and personal values that act as major influences to how her world works. Therefore, our drawing is a complete representation of not only Janie Mae Crawford’s views on the world from her perspective, but also her life itself as seen throughout the

I enjoyed Their Eyes Were Watching God's grasp on imagination, imagery and phrasing. Janie's dialogue and vernacular managed to carry me along, slipping pieces of wisdom to me in such a manner that I hardly realize they are ingesting something deep and true. Their Eyes Were Watching God recognizes that there are problems to the human condition, such as the need to possess, the fear of the unknown and resulting stagnation. The book does not leave us with the hopelessness of Fitzgerald or Hemingway, rather, it extends a recognition and understanding of humanity's need to escape emptiness. "Dem meatskins is got tuh rattle tuh make out they's alive (183)" Her solution is simple: "Yuh got tuh go there tuh know there." Janie

Janie’s outward appearance and her inward thoughts contrast following Joe’s death. She finally frees herself from his control only after he dies as she, “…tore off the kerchief…and let down her plentiful hair” (87). In freeing her hair, Janie begins to free herself from others’ control and social norms. However, she chooses to keep it tied up until after Jody’s funeral in order to keep appearances that she is grieving his passing in front of the townspeople. However, on the inside, Janie doesn’t really feel any sorrow and “sent her face to Joe’s funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world” (88). It is only after Joe’s elaborate funeral that Janie shows her first act of freedom by burning “every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist” (89). She chose to let her hair be free from his domination, thus freeing herself from him overall and allowing herself to move onto the next journey in her life.

She felt free in a way but she knew that if she showed her new found freedom that the town would judge her. Finally she stopped mourning and she started seeing Teacake. She wore her hair down and wore blue dresses. She was no longer scared to show how liberated she actually felt. But as she predicted she was ridiculed and judged. The town felt as though she should still be mourning since Joe had only been dead a couple of months. Some even confronted Janie about it. But after all the harsh words toward Janie she realized she did not have to please them. She became more confident with herself and disregarded what everyone was saying and just focused on her and Tea Cake's relationship. The words the town said about her made Janie live for her and realized she could never make everyone happy with

Janie is a black woman who asserts herself beyond expectation.  She has a persistence that characterizes her search for the love that she dreamed of since she was a girl.  Janie understands the societal status that her life has handed her, yet she is determined to overcome this, and she is resentful toward anyone or anything that interferes with her quest for happiness. "So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don't tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see, "(Page 14)  laments Janie's grandmother as she tried to justify the marriage that she has arranged for her granddaughter with Logan Killicks. This paragraph establishes the existence of the inferior status of women in Janie's society, a status which Janie must somehow overcome in order to emerge a heroine in the end of the novel.

From a young age, Janie has to surpass her nanny’s traditional beliefs to set herself free. Nanny attempts to restrict Janie by slapping her, making demands, and setting up a marriage Janie is not in favor of. Nanny tries to put Janie into the stereotypical woman role by having Janie raise her status through marrying a man with property. Also, Nanny

Janie is in search for satisfaction but she is repeatedly struggling against overpowering male figures who strive to restrict her. “Thus race and gender converge on this issue of evaluating beauty and this purports to the belief of Black feminists that women are oppressed not only because they are women but also because they are black women.” Janie craved to find a relationship that included the couple being equal to each other but the perspective of the time in the great depression denied her from entirely accomplishing her dream. Throughout the novel Janie’s actions try to demonstrate the reader the erroneous claims that women were by nature inferior to men and thus deserved to be subservient to them. It was evident that Janie will stop at nothing to accomplish what she set her mind to.

was like during the Harlem Renaissance and is one the most famous writings of 20th century literature. Hurston’s writing provided a feminist voice in a movement that was dominated by men, we can see this through her character Janie Crawford, the protagonist of the story and her search for unconditional, true, and fulfilling love. She meets different men throughout the story and experiences different types of love throughout her life while at the same time seeking personal independence as well as her own personal freedom.

Looking for the perfect man is difficult. The most essential feature for a man is his nature. A complex person does not fit the criteria. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neal Hurtson, the protagonist, Janie marries a wealthy and modish man named Joe Starks. He was initially Janie’s perfect man but suddenly showed his true colors. Joe’s complex personality is helpful, yet disrespectful.

Throughout the book, Janie has been through many different marriages. With each marriage comes a different way she carries herself. These changes range from her behavior, self confidence, and ideals, to her actual appearance. The way she looked and acted were a direct result of each marriage, whether that be for good or poor reason.

Joe Starks, found herself lost in the passion she had always yearned for. The daze of infatuation she was in left her blind to the inconvenience of Joe’s big voice. While, his voice brought improvement to their little home town it only caused strife in Janie’s marriage. His voice became the town's voice and soon Janie’s “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’ Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.”( 5..43) Janie realized that not only was her voice in this marriage unheard, but also this made it difficult for Joe to respect her intelligence or opinion. Though, her input was hushed by her husband Janie still had her authority as the Mayor's wife. When, she became more acquainted with her superiority, she began to understand her rank , “Janie soon began to feel the of awe and envy against her sensibilities. The wife of the mayor was not just another woman as she had supposed.”( 5.46) Mrs. Mayor Starks received the respect she deserved from the townspeople, who understood her power.With respect came envy as well, many perceived Janie as snobbish or pretentious due to her new understood authority . Since this was the only way she could express her voice, she coped with the gossip from the petty and envious

Their Eyes Were Watching God is commonly praised and likewise studied for author Zora Neale Hurston 's distinct and masterful writing that resulted in a beautiful quest for spiritual identity, soul-searching fulfilment and unconditional love pursued by the complex, strong and amorously passionate heroine Janie Mae Crawford. As readers are immersed in the Southern black rural world made vivid by Hurston 's engaging dialect, it is apparent that the theme of relationship is repetitively vital

This creates a visible contrast between Janie’s past and present. This strategy helps to contribute to the purpose because throughout the novel, Janie reminisces about her past longingly and in a wistful way; it is as if she wants to relive her past because she is so unhappy with her present. As each of her husbands become more and more restrictive over her life, she begins to find the strength within herself to make her present situations as beautiful as her past ones.

The issue of the forms of gender restrictions that are imposed on females and how they determine every facet of their existence -for what they endure can not be rightfully called a life- are obviously a major concern to Hurston in her novel. This is clear in every aspect of the novel such as the characters, setting, events, and dialogues, and the different stories that are narrated for in each of them Hurston "incorporates many elements that comment upon socially expected roles of men and women" (Jones 197). Each character in the novel portrays the limitations that women must accept because they are not born as men so they must suffer. Beginning with Janie' grandmother who attempts to force her beliefs in the rightful place of women,

The prevailing theme in the story would be Janie’s many ups and downs when it comes to how she confronts her inner self; especially when it comes to her youthful vision of love. An example of this would be, “ She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her.” (Hurston 11) This statement fulfills the assumption that with all the coddling life has done to Janie, she will consequently receive a more oriented and richer of who she is. She is given time to explore herself, and as a teenager, she starts to come of han age in which she realizes what it means to love in her mind. Her sense of love is constantly brought up again and again in order to engrave the idea that Janie may never be truly satisfied with the love she