Their Eyes Were Watching God

Got a house bought and paid for and sixty acres uh land right on de big road…Lawd have mussy! Dat’s de very prong all us black women gits hung on’” (Hurston 23). In Nanny’s speech, Hurston is trying to emphasize that the female’s only role is to marry and look good, and let the man do all the work. Also in her article, Hartman says that “…due to the fact that the man was almost always working, little room was left to develop a connection between husband and wife; love was a foreign concept.”, which describes what Janie and Logan have together exactly. Despite being given all she should want, Janie seeks more.

Topic 2: Compare/contrast Janie in Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God & Edna in Chopin 's The Awakening in terms of conformity within a male-dominated society. (four page minimum)

In Catholic doctrine, the seven cardinal sins are the basis from which all the “sins” of humanity stem. In this system, any moral infraction a person may commit would be categorized under one of these seven sins (also known colloquially as the “seven deadly sins”). This system has been widely adapted throughout culture over the centuries, and is a common tool utilized to examine the actions of humans. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character, Janie, enters into three marriages, two of which fail based on the failings of her husbands, and the third of which succeeds in spite of the failings of her husband. Each of these husbands, in fact, displays traits which fall under the cardinal sins, and the sin of pride in particular; even the third husband, Tea Cake, displays the very same sin, leading to the downfall of their marriage.

     The plan for Janie’s future begins with her lack of having real parents. Hurston builds up a foundation for Janie that is bound to fall like a Roman Empire. Janie’s grandmother, whom she refers to as “Nanny” takes the position as Janie’s guardian. The problem begins here for Janie because her Nanny not only spoils her, but also makes life choices for her. Nanny is old, and she only wants the best for her grandchild, for she knows that the world is a cruel place. Nanny makes the mistake of not allowing Janie to learn anything on her own. When Janie was sixteen years old, Nanny wanted to see her get married. Although Janie argued at first, Nanny insisted that Janie get married. “’Yeah, Janie, youse got yo’ womanhood on yuh… Ah wants to see you married right away.’” (Page 12). Janie was not given a choice in this decision. Her Nanny even had a suitor picked out for her. Janie told herself that she would try to make the best of the situation and attempt to find love in her marriage to Logan Killicks. But, as time went by, Janie realized that she still did not have any feelings of what she had considered to be love in her husband.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the protagonist, Janie, endures two marriages before finding true love. In each of Janie’s marriages, a particular article of clothing is used to symbolically reflect, not only her attitude at different phases in her life, but how she is treated in each relationship.

Nanny’s idea of a marriage is “a haven from indiscriminate sexual exploitation and as a shelter from financial instability” (Jordan). Janie’s marriage to her first husband, Logan Killicks, is an unexpected grief and he disgusts her sexually. She tries to love him but their relationship lacks intimacy, romance, and fun. Throughout the novel, Janie is on a mission and she soon finds out “that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (24). Killicks think Janie is spoiled and “counts Janie among the livestock on his farm, estimating her value by her ability to produce greater surplus value” (Ha 33). It is when Janie realizes Killicks plans to put her to work on a mule because she does not bore him any heir that she runs off with Joe Starks.

Author Zora Neale Hurston begins the novel by saying, “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. That is the life of men. Now women forget all those things they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly” (page 1). In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston indicates the relationship between men and women by using gender roles. Although seeming undeniably contrasting, there are not many differences between the two besides their incentive in life. Men being stubborn to fail, give up their dreams in spite of that, whereas women acquire what they want from life; that which is most important to them, to support them through failure. Knowing this, a main theme to take from the novel is that despite the distinction between men and women, they both should not be restricted to the gender roles of society.

Another factor which strongly affects Janie and Delia’s search for independence is their gender. With her first marriage, Janie is forced into the submissive, passive role in their union. Because of her gender, she does not get to choose her husband. Rather, he chooses her and Nanny encourages her to go along with his desires. She feels no love in their marriage, but partly because she is a woman she does not have much control to change her situation. “She knew that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (Hurston 25). If Janie were a man, her options for marriage would be greater and therefore more likely to lead to a relationship that would fulfill her dream of finding love. This dream is ultimately what leads her to run away with Jody, who eventually begins to assert dominance over Janie, justifying his actions by saying, “Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none themselves” (71). Jody lumps Janie in with kids and animals because of her gender, using this as an excuse to oppress her, which therefore leads to her being kept from reaching independence. It is impossible to be independent when another adult is treating you as if you were a child. Both of her first husbands do this to Janie, as Jennifer Jordan discusses in her article, “Feminist Fantasies: Zora Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Mae Crawford, the Protagonist, is involved in three diverse relationships. Zora Neale Hurston, the author, explains how Janie grows into young woman through marriage, integrity, and love and happiness from her relationships with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake.

Hurston’s main way of inspiring a sense of feminism in her novel, is through the relationships of Janie including her Nanny, Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake. She addresses Janie’s role differently in each of these relationships using motifs and stereotypes. Janie begins her journey of self-discovery following the dreams of her Nanny to becoming a strong, independent woman who makes her own decisions. All of the roles that Janie obtains stem from the distinct

I read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, copyright in 1937 and has a total of 193 pages.

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a novel that was written by Zora Neale Hurston.

What comes to mind when you hear the term "American South" (or "Southern United States")?

I feel that Hurston’s representation of people in Their Eyes Were Watching God showed her training as an Anthropologist. Her use of language and perspectives of the individuals and their interactions with one another and their society added and layer realism to the story. As I read, I perceived the communities as real and shows deep understanding of how people and communities evolve. The use of community to help tell the story is similar to Faulkner, As I lay Dying. Both represented the rural south as a close community where people know each other and their businesses and are bound by customs and duty, but these communities are often just as petty and bitter as it is friendly and helpful. The view of the Janie by her neighbors in similar

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston in 1937 that tells the story of the life of a woman named Janie. When another man shows interest in Janie, her husband Tea Cake decides to beat her to scare him off. Although he believes his intent was pure he still finds himself justifying his actions to his co-workers the next day. In Othello, a play written in 1622 by William Shakespeare Roderigo is in love with Othello’s wife Desdemona and Iago has convinced Roderigo that Desdemona loves Cassio and that he should fight Cassio to win Desdemona. Although it seems as though these speeches are completely different as Tea Cake’s intent is pure, and Iago’s is malicious, both speeches support the conclusion that the way to a woman’s heart is by exerting physical dominance.