What Does The Peach Tree Symbolize In Their Eyes Were Watching God

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston describes the horizon as possibilities and opportunities. When the story starts out Janie’s perception of the horizon changes first from desire for love to the need of love, and ultimately the feeling of contentment towards love to show Janie maturing throughout the novel.

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.

Author Zora Neale Hurston weaves many powerful symbols into her acclaimed novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston’s use of symbols enhances the reader’s understanding of the trials and tribulations along the road of self discovery for the story’s main character, Janie. Of the many symbols used throughout the novel, one in particular - Janie’s hair - is subtle yet striking as it gives us insight into Janie’s perceived social status, oppression, self identity, and her eventual independence through her self identity as a woman despite the social norms of the time period.

Hurston’s first use of imagery in the book is seen with the pear tree representing young love, something that doesn’t last forever. Janie is telling her friend, Pheoby, about her time spent around the blossoming pear tree as a young girl. Hurston uses imagery in this section with the blossoming pear tree to represent young love. While Janie is

From the first sentences of the beginning of the novel we are lead to learn about the dreams of men. Starting with those first few paragraphs meant the audience needed to keep a look out for Janie’s dream. From the first moment we see her with the pear tree Janie’s dream seems obvious. Her dream is to find out what true love is. Using Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Edwidge Danticat’s foreword, and my own annotations Janie’s dream will be explored.

The author immediately introduces the female perspective. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Hurston celebrates Janie as an artist that enriches Eatonville and details her self-discovery. Without delay, on first page of the book, Hurston substantiates the contrast between men and women by initiating Janie's quest to reach fruition of her own dreams and presaging the female quest theme throughout the remainder of the novel. "Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things

For example, Hurston’s use of imagery helps to establish the varying moods within the novel. While beginning to tell her story to Phoeby, Janie describes the growth of the pear tree that she grows fond of throughout her childhood: “From barren brown stems to glistening leaf buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom” (Hurston 10). Janie tells how the pear tree from a mundane tree to one blooming with excitement. This also follows Janie’s path from childhood to womanhood. The imagery of the pear tree presents a serene mood the follow along the plot of the novel for some time. Word choice such as ‘glistening’ and ‘snowy’ creates a peaceful situation in which suits Janie’s childhood. Later in her adult life, Janie becomes attracted to Tea Cake to the point where she can’t bear to be without him: “He did not return that night nor the next, and so she plunged into the

Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God follows protagonist Janie Mae Crawford’s journey into womanhood and her ultimate quest for self-discovery. Having to abruptly transition from childhood to adulthood at the age of sixteen, the story demonstrates Janie’s eternal struggle to find her own voice and realize her dreams through three marriages and a lifetime of hardships that come about from being a black woman in America in the early 20th century. Throughout the novel, Hurston uses powerful metaphors helping to “unify” (as Henry Louis Gates Jr. puts it) the novel’s themes and narrative; thus providing a greater understanding of Janie’s quest for selfhood. There are three significant metaphors in the novel that achieve this unity: the

Through her use of southern black language Zora Neale Hurston illustrates how to live and learn from life’s experiences. Janie, the main character in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a woman who defies what people expect of her and lives her life searching to become a better person. Not easily satisfied with material gain, Janie quickly jumps into a search to find true happiness and love in life. She finally achieves what she has searched for with her third marriage.

According to the novel, Janie seemed to be a very sexual young girl from the ways she looked at nature from her kissing Johnny Taylor (Hurston 11-12). So her

She was looking, thinking under the tree for a confirmation to her wedding. In addition, Hurston uses personification in lines 12-14 to emphasize that Janie is beginning to see how her marriage will be." ... soaking in

Meredith Mannion Mrs. Worrall Literature of Controversy En 137-2 8 October 2014 Their Eyes Were Watching God Symbols represent something of a higher meaning. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the pear tree to Janie represents all of her dreams, hopes, and plans for the future. The pear tree is the exemplary love for Janie in her lifetime.

Long, luscious locks cascade down Janie’s brown back, spilling over her shoulders and tickling the tops of her thighs. Her face is buried in the thick curtain that ripples slightly in the sweet, warm summer wind. This is Janie’s freedom and her femininity embodied in such a commonplace object. Janie’s hair represents her inner self: the part of her that was smothered and buried in her previous marriages. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s hair symbolizes much; throughout the novel, her hair represents youth, attraction, and freedom.

janie is going through her teen years and how she sees the world differently.zora Neale Hurston's novel "their eyes were watching God".when zora uses the rhetorical devices, she is showing how Janie has "woken up" and is curious to see the world. at the outset of the passage,"it had called her to come and gaze on a mystery". Zora uses personification to say that the pear tree wanted to get attention from Janie. she is becoming a young woman with a curiosity in the new world. in another sentence,Zora uses simile in "it was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again".

The most prevalent themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God involve Janie's search for unconditional, true, and fulfilling love. She experiences different kinds of love throughout her life. As a result of her quest for this love, Janie