What Does The Mule Symbolize In Their Eyes Were Watching God

The mule metaphorically showed oppression and cruelty towards Janie for both situations. For example, when she was with Logan, he was going to buy her a mule so Janie could forcefully work with him on the farm. When Janie was married to Joe, the entire community bonded over mocking a mule someone owned. Joe then bought the mule himself and instead of relieving of its pain, he further ridiculed it just as he had his wife. Ironically, Joe’s egotism and aspirations subjugated Janie to his will leaving her with no escape except of Joe’s passing.

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.

The novel clearly reiterates the notion that more people conform than rebel when confronted with authoritarian control. The animals in the novel are divided into two categories. Those who have knowledge and therefore power, and those who lack knowledge and therefore are submissive. The main difference is that the submissive animals such as the horses and sheep represent the people that chose to stay uneducated, as it is a much less difficult pathway. They chose this because knowing consequences creates threatening actions against the livelihood of the animals. Despite the animals suffering from violence, poor conditions, and being overworked, they continue to conform as it becomes an easier lifestyle for them. The repetition of the lines “Napoleon is always right” and “I will work harder” showcases how the farm animals follow the routine of others and resign to conformity as their means of life, for it is an easier, simpler outlook to life for them. The idea of being an outlier and having a voice is forsaken by the animals, as the narrative evolves they witness more and more unruly acts of behaviour from the pigs, who are controlling the farm. The emotive language used within the line “Silent and terrified, the animals crept back into the barn” effectively demonstrate how a wave of melancholic and frightened emotions flood through the farm animals, creating a sense of compliance within. The use of threatening tone within the lines “At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing

Many literary works embody the concept and elements of symbolism. It can evoke striking feelings and communicate prominent ideas through its symbolic language. A profound author, Zora Neale Hurston, known for her use of symbolism in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, conveys symbols to communicate the experiences of a beautiful yet determined, black woman named Janie Crawford. Janie endeavors to find her euphoria and her perception of self-recognition and love. What comes with her journey of her womanhood is her undying struggle in discovering her aspirations from many marriages to realize her true love that completes her. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses the horizon, the pear tree, and the bee and blossom as symbols

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.

All novels contain symbolism in one shape or form, masking a deeper meaning beneath the words that are written on the page. Usually, there is an assortment of symbols disguised by a literal meaning that blend in with the scene. Symbols frequently come in the form of nature. Nature, generally being in the background of a scene, becomes more prominent when it is meant to be identified as a symbol. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the symbolism in nature is recurrent throughout the novel. It is used to indicate turning points and track the growth of the main character, Janie’s, coming-of-age. This is portrayed through the changing of the seasons and various correspondents. In this way, it can be seen that not all events affect Janie in the same way, leading her in one direction. In Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, seasonal symbols are used to target experiences in Janie’s life and how they affect her overall development into adulthood.

Even Janie’s grandmother proclaimed that “‘de nigger women [were] de mule uh de world,’” an unpleasant statement that Janie herself seems to be compelled to defy. However, the commentary seemed to also foreshadow a significant event where Janie’s second, power hungry husband Joe, frees a mule, but never frees Janie. This metaphorical and symbolic gesture provokes consideration and attention towards the issue of how men like Joe, and even her first husband Logan Killicks who claimed she was under his command, lust for ways to display power and restrain Janie’s spirit. However, Janie’s response and growth from these issues are quite complex since she does not let the belittling of the men damper her. In fact, what Janie describes as her internal “silent rebellions” against the insults was at

To them, the dream is not on the horizon and out-of-reach, “the dream is the truth.” This means that they can make their dreams becomes a reality, instead of hoping that it will happen. This difference is ironic, as it is a role reversal of the stereotype that men are superior to women as demonstrated by social norms. With this being said, however, it becomes evident throughout the novel that in this setting, women, like Janie, are able to shape their own world, although they must ignore certain traumatic memories, while the major male figures (Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake) are either dead or defeated by the end of the novel. Thus, the women have more authority than it may seem at first glance, especially with their limited amounts of speech. The men have the ability to speak constantly, but do not use their language to further any noble cause. When it comes to women in the novel, however, especially Janie, their speech moves mountains. For example, Janie made a difference with the town mule. When she saw the mistreatment, she spoke out and saved the mule from a torturous

In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, symbols are implemented to help the readers Identify and understand the leitmotif of the novel. One commonly found symbol is Janie’s hair, which represents her personality, individuality, and character. The state of her hair changes as the novel progresses and Jamie goes through different stages of life, struggling to find true love. Using Jamie’s hair to express her feelings and emotions throughout the novel, Hurston highlights the theme that finding true love and happiness requires one to be free and adventurous in life without letting any obstacles or events alter one’s character.

Throughout Wu’s article, Wu address Janie’s marriages and the representation with the imagery regarding the mule. One of Wu’s stronger arguments is the first marriage Janie has with Logan Killicks. Wu argues that the marriage between Logan and Janie is an “obvious surrender to Nanny’s concept of black women, which defines them as the mule of the world” (Wu 1054). In the beginning of their marriage, Logan treated

The suppression of Janie, both as a woman and a human, is Jody's most interesting facet. He sets a limit on her self- fulfillment, treating her more like an object than a woman. Of course, he lumps women in with mere things--"Somebody got to think for women and chilun and chickens and cows (67)." He's good to Janie, but he's good to his animals also. In fact, Joe's attitude towards Janie is echoed in his behavior towards the overworked mule he buys and sets free: he lets the mule loose to wander around town as evidence of his generosity and wealth.

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.

Mr. Hawkins’s mule, Jenny, represents Dave. Overall, Dave fears working on the fields under everyone else for the rest of his life, constantly being treated as a child. Dave connects with the mule and consciously draws connections between the two of them such as the time Dave states, “They treat me like a mule, n then they beat me” (Wright 221). Dave believes he is treated like a mule, and believes there is little hope for anything

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.

Symbolism is a literary technique that is used to clarify the author's intent. Sometimes it is used to great effect, while other times it only seems to muddle the meaning of a passage. In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne uses objects and people as symbols to allegorically reveal his message to the reader.