Their Eyes Were Watching God Symbolism Analysis

Symbols in literary works can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Symbols can appear in a novel as an event, action, or object. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, uses the symbols of the gate to show Janie’s transitions to womanhood, independence from oppression, and realization of what love is to Janie.

When Janie is in a relationship with Joe “Jody” Starks, he restricts the freedom she has through Hurston’s symbolization of hair. Joe begins this oppression of her freedom when he witnesses the townsman Walter stroking the end of Janie’s braid “ever so lightly as to enjoy the feel of it without Janie knowing what he was doing” (Hurston 55). This violation of Janie’s body enrages Joe, for he views Janie’s body as exclusively his property. Regardless of Janie’s desires, he demands “Janie to tie up her hair around the store” (Hurston 55). By revoking Janie’s ability to wear her hair as she pleases, Joe strips her freedom to make her own choices. As she does not yet have the

Throughout the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God” (written by author Zora Neale Hurston and published in September 1937) multiple motifs (a recurrent image, symbol, theme, character type, subject, or narrative detail that becomes a unifying element in an artistic work or text) have appeared amidst the chapters. Furthermore, motifs have played an excruciatingly important role overall throughout the book, whether it be a place, a person, the weather, or simply just a personʻs possession(s). Therefore, in this prompt I will explain the various motifs exhibited in the passages.

At the beginning of the book, when Joe Starks and Janie get married, Janie's hair gives a direct representation of how her identity and freedom can become tied up or freed, the way that Janie’s hair can be tied up or let loose. For example, after Janie marries Joe, she is unable to do the things she

In the re-designed cover of Their Eyes Were Watching God I used a road as a symbol of dreams. The road helps show that there are better things ahead with the possibility of change and improvement. “Ships have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail on forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in the resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. that is the life of men” (Hurston 1). People rely on their dreams to get them to where they want to go just as Janie relies on men to get her to where she wants to go.

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.

Battles and fights are some examples of conflict in most fictional stories. They can be many different fights, like the epic battle between good and evil, or a kingdom defending their land from enemies. When people think of the word ‘battle’, they may think of climatic sword fights and war. But sometimes, battles can take place inside of a person. Perhaps a character may have conflicting aspirations and desires that may cause an internal battle and maybe result in something catastrophic. Or perhaps a character has opposing personalities that might clash and cause something important to happen. In many works of literature, the writer

In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she utilizes an array of symbolism such as color, the store, and her husbands to solidify the overall theme of independence and individuality. Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered by many a classic American Feminist piece that emphasizes how life was for African Americans post slave era in the early 1900s. One source summarizes the story as, 1 ”a woman's quest for fulfillment and liberation in a society where women are objects to be used for physical work and pleasure.” Which is why the overall theme is concurrent to independence and self.

Books aren't written or read in a vacuum. They're woven by writers and consumed by readers with the influence of centuries of writing behind us. Whether we're conscious of it or not, reading a book is never an isolated incident but part of a tradition. The classics are the milestones of our literary tradition. One of these “milestones is a book by the name of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” written by Zora Neale Hurston. The book is mainly popular due to the story and theme that are expressed throughout the book. However, one thing many people do not think about is the title and its meaning. Although the precise meaning of the title is up for hot debate, it does touch upon many of the book’s important themes.

Janie's life begins under the watchful eye of her grandmother. Her grandmother has given up her own happiness to raise Janie and her mother. Right away, it is obvious that Janie's life

Throughout the novel, Hurston describes Janie as a young woman with a compelling desire for seeking unconditional love. As Janie searches for her inner self, she begins life not knowing who she is. Janie endures harsh judgment from many people throughout the novel, which help build the qualities of independence and strength. Throughout everything she has learned, she matured and transitioned from a defiant teenager, to a woman in complete possession of herself. Janie 's quest for the “horizon” of herself finally lead her to a place in which she is defined, despite the society who denies her power because of her black ethnicity. The “horizon” demonstrates the distance one must travel in order to distinguish between illusion and reality, dream and truth, role and

In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston reinforces the idea of understanding oneself by the use of repeating patterns such as the blossom and the bee, and the horizon throughout the novel. The use of these two motifs represents the ideal relationship, an effortless union of individuals and the possibility of change or dreams and wishes. Janie Crawford in the beginning of the novel is a young lady who is naïve to love and will do anything that is asked of her. She is essentially forced into a marriage that her Nanny set up for her, for her own protection. Janie denies at first but then gives in, believing she will fall

Janie’s hair first acts as a symbol of defiance of trifling community values. Her defiance begins at the start of the novel, “What dat ole forty year ole ‘oman doin’ wid her hair swingin’ down her hair back lak some young gal?” (Hurston 2). This quote represents Janie’s defiance against the people of Eatonville. The inhabitants of Eatonville begrudge Janie for not fitting into a perceptible class. Since she is beautiful and defiant against the community standards, the porch gossips

We grow up to the adults in our life telling us we are "unique", to be "ourselves" but when we practice that distinctive trait, we get labeled as weird; in other words "not normal". In the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie, the protagonist, favors the idea of love and freedom but in the town she is leaving in, those two are considered taboo to women. Janie being able to think for herself is the distinctive trait that sets her apart from the other women in her town. This is a problem because Janie got mad at her grandmother (nanny) for suggesting an arranged marriage but the grandmother was just voicing everyone's thoughts and expectations. So through janie's journey to self discovery, she shows us that we need to break away from

“(Page 27) Her hair being down represents her freedom throughout this story, as when she first met Jody she felt free from her marriage with Logan Killicks, thus supporting why her hair fell down at that moment. Another example is at the moment of Jody’s death Hurston writes “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there.” (Page 104) After years of being restricted and controlled by Jody, Janie finally had the freedom to do what she wanted with her hair. As soon as he died she set her hair, and herself free. Finally, another example of what she did with her hair developing theme is when at the end of the story she lets her hair out, seemingly for good as it says “Now, in her room, the place tasted fresh again. The wind through the open windows had broomed out all the fetid feeling of absence and