Examples Of Diction In Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, uses diction in order to depict Janie’s self-possession over her life and hope for her future. While flirting with Janie, Tea Cake convinces her that “Nobody else on earth kin hold uh candle tuh you, baby. You got de keys to de kingdom” (104).

The book “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zola Neale Hurston is very enthusiastic. The book includes many allusions throughout the novel. An allusion is when you call something to mind but do not mention it. Many of the allusions apply to the characters in the novel. Janie is a confused woman who just wants to find love and experience life; no matter of her skin color. Plenty allusions occur in her lifetime in the novel.

Janie’s ability to interact with the people of Belle Glade coincides with her finding a person, Tea Cake, she truly values in her life. Therefore, Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake allows her to have a sense of identity past the role of wife; she becomes a part of the community rather than a possession of an individual of the community. In comparison, Janie’s relationship with Jody made her a slave to the structure of marriage; she had no identity past being the wife of Jody. For example, Janie’s lack individuality in Eatonville’s conveyed by Hurston through the mouth of Hambo, “Yo’ wife is uh born orator, Starks. Us never knowed dat befo’. She put jus’de right words tuh our thoughts” (58). Hurston’s choice of allowing Hambo to express Janie’s lack of vocal presence within the Eatonville community further reflects the lack of Janie’s individuality. After all, Hambo isn’t thanking Janie for her words he’s thanking her husband conveying a lack of understanding of Janie being an actual person. Hurston further reflects Janie’s lack of individuality in this sequence with the phrase choice of “Yo’ wife” conveying the impression of Janie being Jody’s possession rather than being her own individual

Hurston opens the story with Missy anxiously awaiting Joe’s return home from work. Upon his arrival, they have flirtatious play fights and wrestle in “a furious mass of male and female energy”. Joe always placed candy kisses home to Missy May for her to discover in his pockets during a frantic, yet playful search. Throughout “The Gilded Six-Bits” Joe and Missy May continually refer to each other as “sugar,” “honey”, and other endearing names. After Missy May has exposed her infidelity to Joe she realizes that “with this strange man in her bed, she felt embarrassed to get up and dress…” Joe calmly reply’s “Missy May you cry too much. Don’t look back like Lot’s wife and turn to salt.” Joe does not want his wife to concentrate on the past; he aspires to keep all focus on the future with his wife. This character trait, which Joe shows, can either portray his maturity of moving forward – or it portrays his immaturity trying to ignore the past. Joe and Missy may have an excellent marriage set on a solid foundation of love, caring, and understanding, yet this incident of infidelity threatened to destroy the relationship that they have built up. Going through this incident shows the realness of their relationship, and how both have grown from this hardship.

Sadly, both Albert and Joe give minimal freedom to women; however, Joe gives more freedom to Janie than Albert gives to Celie. In Hurston’s novel, Joe is portrayed as a confident man who dresses better than those he considers inferior to him. At first, Janie admires his appearance, but soon after their marriage, these same qualities drive her away. The narrator explains:

First of all, Janie’s grandmother guide her to get married and taught her to be a submissive wife. Janie didn't have any alternative than to follow her Nanny’s advice. Indeed, on her second marriage she was complacent to her husband, Joe. For instance, he told her to act as the Mayor’s wife, work in the store, and to cook for him. Janie did comply his instructions, despite that she dislike doing it. Hurston states that, “Times and scenes like that put Janie to thinking about the inside state of her marriage. Time came when she fought back with her tongue as best she could, but it didn’t do her any good. He wanted her submission and he’d keep on fighting until he felt he had it” (71). This is evident that in his attempt to possess Janie, he

I can see how their would be controversy over the “dialect” of the black characters in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God and whether or not they are authentic to how blacks were speaking at that time period, because at time the wording and vocabulary can appear as extreme. However, I have not done any studying on dialect or the origin of ebonics to say whether or not the dialect is accurate or not. I personally would assume that because Zora Neale Hurston herself was a black woman, would write the book in the most authentic manner and raised the image of blacks as much as possible, especially in the 1937 when Their Eyes Were Watching God was published. Although, I also agree that the dialect really helps the characters and the stories

Hurston uses the tension between male and female figures in Janie’s life to promote her emotional growth and maturity. Janie’s spiritual journey traces back to her moment under the pear tree. Janie’s moment under the pear tree is an important symbol that defines the center of Janie’s quest throughout the novel. Her experience under the tree serves as the standard sexual and emotional fulfillment that she desires. The tree mirrors standard gender stereotypes as it references the tree waiting for the male bee to penetrate its blossoms.

Hurston’s words depict Janie’s actions as a blow to Stark’s manhood of pride. By delivering those hurtful comments, Janie “casted down upon his empty armor” by hurting Stark’s self-esteem. Joe’s “empty” armor is, metaphorically speaking, the manhood of pride and self-esteem that a man feels. Adding insult to injury, Joe was scolded by his wife in front of the town’s citizens, which also mutilated Stark’s reputation as the mayor. He felt that he would be useless in the eyes of other men if he did not have power. He also viewed Janie’s emotional attack as an action of “cruel deceit”, believing that she had no right to insult him because she was his wife, and more importantly, because she was a woman. Some could express pity for Starks because,

Hurston ultimately provides powerful personal closure for herself. Through Janie’s story, Hurston highlights that worldly success does not define personal fulfillment. Perhaps Janie’s marriage to Jody placed her in the lap of wealth and power, but it also thrust her into the hands of misery and voicelessness, and even in relationships that are supposedly blissful, such Janie’s marriage to Tea Cake, there lies a darker side that cannot be ignored. It is true that Tea Cake allows Janie to have fun, but he also takes pains to prove his dominance, going so far as to beat Janie because “being able to whip her reassured him in possession” (147). Whichever way the story is examined, one cannot claim that Janie reaches true freedom, if at all, until the very end of her story. Unlike, Hurston, who spent her entire life talking and writing and researching the power of the spoken word, Janie fails to use her voice until after Tea Cake dies, finally able to return to Eatonville on her own accord and place herself, not her grandmother or Joe or Tea Cake, as the main protagonist of the story.

“Ah could throw ten acres over de fence every day and never look back to see where it fell. Ah feel the same way ‘bout Mr. Killicks too. Some folks never was meant to be loved and he’s one of ‘em” (Hurston 24). Janie dislikes Logan’s practical and non-romantic ways, he is not attractive to her, and all he does is chop wood, ridiculing her to do more. Constantly waiting for love to overcome her marriage she is disappointed, waiting it out to please Nanny. “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (Hurston 25). She soon comes to the realization marriage doesn’t bring love, and grows increasingly distant from

In Chapter 6, Hurston displays the importance males exhibiting superiority their female partners and their attempts to force them into roles of subservience. In this chapter, Joe Starks attempts push Janie into a passive role by hushing her in conversations, physically abusing her in their home, and handling her as an item in his possession. The author establishes this early in the novel to serve as a catalyst for Janie to make the decision that her personal growth and development as a strong woman will only materialize when she escapes the mold into which Joe has forced

Hurston powerfully uses language to develop the mood, characters, tone and theme throughout the novel. This is demonstrated particularly well in the passage after Janie finds Tea Cake and Nunkie off in the sugar cane fields together. She caught them together and was immediately filled with rage. The passage describes the fight Janie and Tea Cake have back at the quarters. Each character is filled with emotions and Hurston uses language and diction to reflect that.

By illustrating the objectification and oppression Janie experiences in her multiple misogynistic marriages, Hurston highlights the domineering patriarchy that permeates society. Janie’s first experience with sexism comes with her marriage to Logan Killicks. He tries to control her by forcing her to work in the fields in an attempt to “take and make somethin’ outa [her]” (TEWWG p37). This typically chauvinistic banter presents women as mere objects to be shaped and molded by men, unable to form their own identity. Her next husband, Joe Starks, continues to objectify her the instant he meets her, commenting that “a pretty doll-baby lak [her] is made to sit on de front porch” (TEWWG p29). This superficial description suggest that Janie’s is an object made for the sole purpose of providing pleasure to men. Janie, awe-struck and naive, doesn’t notice these tell-tale signs of male chauvinism until Joe refuses to allow her to speak at the elections and on the porch talks where, although Janie had “thought up good stories” to tell, “Joe had forbidden her to indulge” (TEWWG p ). For Hurston, the “front porch...was a gallery seat” (CM p ). This porch talk was highly valued by both Hurston and Janie, and it was Joe who robbed her of her right to express herself, in a place she, like Hurston adored. Her third husband, Tea Cake insists that men should be the sole source of income. He tells Janie that “[she is] gointuh eat whutever [his] money can buy” (TEWWG p ). He insists on the typical standards of the time, woman's ultimate reliance on man because women are not smart or strong enough to handle their own affairs. By illustrating Janie’s oppressive relationships with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake, Hurston highlights the oppressive nature of the

(E) In this passage, Hurston effectively conveys the struggle of control and the roles of gender in a relationship. The dominating figure of the relationship is the man, Jody, who oppresses her and exercises his power over her in order to boost his social reputation and to retain the control in the relationship. Men are capable of proving their dominance by belittling and disrespecting women, who are deemed as the less stronger and more delicate ones in the relationship. These beliefs are held by Jody, as he deems women less intelligent than men, because they “see ten things and don’t understand one.” Janie, opposing these traditional values set by their society, has a different viewpoint, believing that women can be smart and ambitious. As much as she challenges him and invalidates his arguments, Jody does not care about a fair argument, and he only retaliates further. In their relationship, her verbal fight is no match against his physical dominance over her, which