What I Learned In Their Eyes Were Watching God

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, love plays a pivotal role in the life of the protagonist, Janie. Janie is exposed early in life to all the facets of love. From an early point in the novel until the very end, Janie searches for a man to fulfill her childhood concept of love. It is through this search for love that Janie finds the confidence and security in herself to become independent. Therefore, Janie’s quest to find love is not only a fulfillment of a childhood dream, but also a journey to find who she really is.

In the novel "Their Eyes were Watching God," the main character, Janie, faces an inner battle in her three marriages, to speak or not to speak, which manifests itself differently with Logan, Joe, and Tea Cake. In her first marriage to Logan Killicks, Janie has her idea of what a marriage should look like shattered, as she failed to fall into the romantic idea of love that she held dear (Myth and Violence in Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God). In her second marriage, to Joe “Jody” Starks, Janie buried her fight and spirit within herself, as she attempted to fit into the mold of the “perfect wife” Joe imagined (In Search Of Janie). Finally, in her marriage to Tea Cake, she feels the love she has longed for, and is accepted as the strong, independent woman she is (Janie Crawford Character Analysis). In every marriage, Janie feels the various effects of each man, as they either encourage or diminish her voice and inner spark.

So many people in modern society have lost their voices. Laryngitis is not the cause of this sad situation-- they silence themselves, and have been doing so for decades. For many, not having a voice is acceptable socially and internally, because it frees them from the responsibility of having to maintain opinions. For Janie Crawford, it was not: she finds her voice among those lost within the pages of Zora Neale Hurston’s famed novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. This dynamic character’s natural intelligence, talent for speaking, and uncommon insights made her the perfect candidate to develop into the outspoken, individual woman she has wanted to be all along.

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.

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie suffers through three abusive marriages. Janie’s husbands take away her voice and equality, for their own desires. Janie learns a lot from each marriage, hopefully leaving her in a better place to make the best decision for her own well being, if she chooses to marry again. The lack of equality and freedom given to Janie in her relationships with Logan, Joe and Tea Cake helps Janie to realize her need for a happier more independent life, that may not include a man.

"De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see."

In the beginning of the 20th century, it was a new era for everything, especially literature. Two new and unique literary movements began; Local Color and Naturalism. Local Color with its distinct character tone and Naturalism with its weak main character was knowingly cherished by readers. As a response to Darwinism and the inequality in America, Naturalism opened Americans' eyes of the individual being defeated by society. Local Color freed the minds of the readers as well as the writers by putting the tone of the actual character, not everyone being sophisticated and educated. Despite the fact that Naturalism and Local Color was love, there were two notorious books of each kind; The Awakening, Naturalism, and Their Eyes were

“Their eyes were watching god” By: Zora Nealle Hurston is a book with the central motif of

Janie Mae Crawford, a lady of mixed black and white that came from her ancestry. Janie is an attractive, middle aged woman from Eatonville, Florida. Janie is very unfortunate with love. She’s been married 3 times and been hurt 3 times. All she wanted is a man that will take care of her and love her. Janie was first married with Logan kellick, second is Jody Starks, and last one is Tea Cake.

Zora Neale Hurston’s novel highly praised novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was once denounced by many critics because it was categorized as a feminist novel. However, through further analyzation, the novel is now viewed simply as a protagonist developing a feminist conscience throughout her marriages.

Janie tells Pheoby that Tea Cake is gone and she returned because she was no longer happy living with Tea Cake

Folk legends and histories are an integral aspect of any cultural context, and it seems that Zora Neale Hurston’ s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God appears to relate to the reader the story of Janie in a narrative fashion much of the cultural components of African Americans in the deep south. Through her background as a collector of African-American folklore, Hurston uses this feminist novel tells the coming-of-age story of a young black woman in a southern Florida town who tries to find her true voice and sense of self throughout the trial and travails of her three marriages. That sense of voice become much more realistic and believable due to the author’s insistence on using various voices in relating the story, so that throughout the

Janie's entire life is one of a journey. She lives through a grandmother, three husbands, and innumerable friends. Throughout is all, she grows closer and closer to her ideals about love and how to live one's life. Zora Neale Hurston chooses to define Janie not by what is wrong in her life, but by what is good in it. Janie changes a lot from the beginning to the end of Their Eyes Were Watching God, but the imagery in her life always conjures positive ideas in the mind of the reader.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston rests upon a standard of incredible excellence. An account of the coming of age and maturation of Janie Mae Crawford, a strong, resilient, black woman, the novel boasts a beautiful depiction of the complex feelings of love, compassion, and liberation. The work’s success with its themes is largely due to Hurston’s phenomenal writing. She exercises marvelous skill in the narration of the characters and their innermost thoughts. Regardless of gender or race, one becomes invested in each character’s feelings and easily relates to their struggles. Additionally, the way the story is presented to the audience in vernacular dialect allows the novel to be told as a story, rather than a lengthy