Independent Women Zora Neale Hurston, one of the leaders of Harlem Renaissance, influenced a lot of women in the late 1930s by writing Their Eyes Were Watching God. In traditional perspective, it had been a common thought that women need men to live and are only about who they end up with. However, Hurston encouraged many women to raise their voice by letting them know that women and romance do not always go together. The novel demonstrates how modernism has built the new structure of women’s independence by showing Janie Crawford’s long life journey.
At first, Janie follows the traditional path of women because of her grandmother. Nanny Crawford distrusts men because she and her daughter both have been assaulted by men. She fails to achieve …show more content…
All three husbands are desperate when Janie threatens them that she is going to leave them, but Janie is alright without them. Unlike men, women can be the directors in their lives and reach their horizons. Men seem to be frightened whenever Janie shows her masculinity. They beat Janie “to show he was boss” (Hurston 147), but it rather represents men's insecurity. It reaches to the point when “beating [becomes] the reason Hurston permits Janie to kill Tea Cake” (Jordan). Especially Jody does not like Janie being with the community and letting her hair down because it means Janie’s growth of power. He also collapses immediately when Janie insults him whereas Janie remains strong every time he insults her. Even though every three husband has domineering personality, it actually enables Janie to grow because she has to endure …show more content…
At the time of early 20th century, a lot of women were suffering from labor and economic instability thus had no time to think about themselves. “The tale of Janie Crawford is one that was not fully appreciated during the 1930s when women were to a large extent still controlled by chauvinistic attitudes” (Saunders). Janie also goes through the same hardship in the novel. However, she is brave and somewhat fortunate enough to overcome that. The fact that women cannot escape from reality blocks them from their desire for freedom. However, Janie encourages herself and women in reality to fight against reality and to make decisions to develop as a complete human being (Freeman). The author did not set the character as the typical extraordinary heroine who has some kinds of supernatural powers. Instead, the main character, Janie, is only a middle-aged, middle-class, a half-black and half-white women. She is not different from any women in reality. Hurston intentionally set it up this way in order to portray the reality
At first, Janie follows the traditional path of women because of her grandmother. Nanny Crawford distrusts men because she and her daughter both have been assaulted by men. She fails to achieve …show more content…
All three husbands are desperate when Janie threatens them that she is going to leave them, but Janie is alright without them. Unlike men, women can be the directors in their lives and reach their horizons. Men seem to be frightened whenever Janie shows her masculinity. They beat Janie “to show he was boss” (Hurston 147), but it rather represents men's insecurity. It reaches to the point when “beating [becomes] the reason Hurston permits Janie to kill Tea Cake” (Jordan). Especially Jody does not like Janie being with the community and letting her hair down because it means Janie’s growth of power. He also collapses immediately when Janie insults him whereas Janie remains strong every time he insults her. Even though every three husband has domineering personality, it actually enables Janie to grow because she has to endure …show more content…
At the time of early 20th century, a lot of women were suffering from labor and economic instability thus had no time to think about themselves. “The tale of Janie Crawford is one that was not fully appreciated during the 1930s when women were to a large extent still controlled by chauvinistic attitudes” (Saunders). Janie also goes through the same hardship in the novel. However, she is brave and somewhat fortunate enough to overcome that. The fact that women cannot escape from reality blocks them from their desire for freedom. However, Janie encourages herself and women in reality to fight against reality and to make decisions to develop as a complete human being (Freeman). The author did not set the character as the typical extraordinary heroine who has some kinds of supernatural powers. Instead, the main character, Janie, is only a middle-aged, middle-class, a half-black and half-white women. She is not different from any women in reality. Hurston intentionally set it up this way in order to portray the reality