A select few of pieces of literature like to start off with having a mysterious character -- or characters -- in order to reveal their past and the meaning of the book. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston does exactly this with the main character, Janie who’s origin is unknown from the start. As we learn more about how she’s treated at the beginning before the flashbacks, how her Grandmother affected her view on love, and Janie’s relationships, we learn more about Hurston's message about love and how everyone should have a freedom to express it.
The freedom to express love are shown at the start of the book when a lady known as Janie walks home having been mourning. When walking home, it’s shown that the whole neighborhood gossips about Janie. They discuss her past relationships, and end up calling her rude names. The reader’s interpretation of Janie at this point is that the mysterious woman is a harlot as described by the neighbors. But, we also get an idea of how Janie sees the neighbors; she deems them as lesser as they haven’t got a clue of who she really is and what love to her really means. This suggests that Janie might in fact not be a harlot and we’re misinterpreting her and past motives with …show more content…
When Janie was younger a pear tree made her feel things that made her happy: love. Having kissed a boy, Johnny, near that pear tree, made her express the fruitfulness and joyous feelings of love that she thought she gained and knew from being under the pear tree. Nanny interupts the kiss and begins to supress Janie’s feelings of love by telling her that she needs to worry about wealth rather than love when marrying a man. This leads to Janie getting married to a man she knew she didn’t love, all because Nanny suppressed her freedom to feel and express
The freedom to express love are shown at the start of the book when a lady known as Janie walks home having been mourning. When walking home, it’s shown that the whole neighborhood gossips about Janie. They discuss her past relationships, and end up calling her rude names. The reader’s interpretation of Janie at this point is that the mysterious woman is a harlot as described by the neighbors. But, we also get an idea of how Janie sees the neighbors; she deems them as lesser as they haven’t got a clue of who she really is and what love to her really means. This suggests that Janie might in fact not be a harlot and we’re misinterpreting her and past motives with …show more content…
When Janie was younger a pear tree made her feel things that made her happy: love. Having kissed a boy, Johnny, near that pear tree, made her express the fruitfulness and joyous feelings of love that she thought she gained and knew from being under the pear tree. Nanny interupts the kiss and begins to supress Janie’s feelings of love by telling her that she needs to worry about wealth rather than love when marrying a man. This leads to Janie getting married to a man she knew she didn’t love, all because Nanny suppressed her freedom to feel and express