As a bee searches for a flower to pollinate, a woman seeks to find her identity, despite the chains by her oppressors. This woman is Janie Crawford. Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God explores the journey of a woman who is subjugated by her husbands because of her race and gender. Hurston challenges the cultural norm of 1900s southern society by criticizing the objectification of African American woman. When Janie breaks her chains, she embraces her independence to seek what every human being searches for: their identity. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston exposes the oppression based on race and gender in order to demonstrate how overcoming objectification can lead to independence and self-discovery.
Hurston initially …show more content…
Janie is the ordinary homemaker wife to Joe. However, his belittlement of her is a tradition in the 1900’s southern society. Although Janie does her best to please him, “when the bread didn’t rise, and the fish wasn’t quite done at the bone, and the rice was scorched, he slapped Janie until she has a ringing sound in her ear” (Hurston 67). Janie’s hard work and obedience never measure up to Joe’s expectations, therefore he ridicules her. Hurston shows the subjugation of women by Joe’s treatment of Janie. This powerless position silences Janie throughout her marriage. Hurston states, “He wanted her submission and he’s keep on fighting until he had it. So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush” (Hurston 67). Joe’s desire for power suppresses Janie to a voiceless state. The oppression of hungry-power men diminishes women’s voice to reveal their inferiority. Bond agrees that “the signifying game takes women as its object and excludes them as speakers” (47). The signifying game, the act of exposing the inferiority of women, is mastered by Joe. Overtime, Janie learns to live with the oppression, and eventually loses her dignity and self-worth. As Janie “sat and watched the shadow of herself going about tending the store before Jody” she is a slave to Joe (Hurston 73). Shadows mimic their original form, therefore Janie is merely an irrelevant clone of Joe. Because of …show more content…
After both Tea Cake and Joe are out of Janie’s life, she realizes she is better off without a man hindering her from inventing herself. The most important lesson Janie and the reader learns is that there are “‘Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves”’ (Hurston 183). Being trapped in the arms of men has prevented Janie from discovering herself and finding God. Throughout her suffering and imprisonment, Janie finally acknowledges her experiences improved her self-growth. Hurston reinforces Janie’s new beginning despite her past of oppression. By the end of the novel, Janie has a new strength and self-assurance. Hurston states, “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder” (Hurston 184). Janie pulling in her horizon represents that she is finally content with the world around her. A horizon is the boundary between the earth and sky; therefore it is out of reach from human hands. According to Janie, the horizon represents an opportunity at change and self-improvement, which is initially out of her reach. She has always sought her horizon and now she can find her it without being bound to a man. Hurston illustrates Janie’s success at self-discovery and the hope of freedom. Without the chains
Hurston initially …show more content…
Janie is the ordinary homemaker wife to Joe. However, his belittlement of her is a tradition in the 1900’s southern society. Although Janie does her best to please him, “when the bread didn’t rise, and the fish wasn’t quite done at the bone, and the rice was scorched, he slapped Janie until she has a ringing sound in her ear” (Hurston 67). Janie’s hard work and obedience never measure up to Joe’s expectations, therefore he ridicules her. Hurston shows the subjugation of women by Joe’s treatment of Janie. This powerless position silences Janie throughout her marriage. Hurston states, “He wanted her submission and he’s keep on fighting until he had it. So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush” (Hurston 67). Joe’s desire for power suppresses Janie to a voiceless state. The oppression of hungry-power men diminishes women’s voice to reveal their inferiority. Bond agrees that “the signifying game takes women as its object and excludes them as speakers” (47). The signifying game, the act of exposing the inferiority of women, is mastered by Joe. Overtime, Janie learns to live with the oppression, and eventually loses her dignity and self-worth. As Janie “sat and watched the shadow of herself going about tending the store before Jody” she is a slave to Joe (Hurston 73). Shadows mimic their original form, therefore Janie is merely an irrelevant clone of Joe. Because of …show more content…
After both Tea Cake and Joe are out of Janie’s life, she realizes she is better off without a man hindering her from inventing herself. The most important lesson Janie and the reader learns is that there are “‘Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves”’ (Hurston 183). Being trapped in the arms of men has prevented Janie from discovering herself and finding God. Throughout her suffering and imprisonment, Janie finally acknowledges her experiences improved her self-growth. Hurston reinforces Janie’s new beginning despite her past of oppression. By the end of the novel, Janie has a new strength and self-assurance. Hurston states, “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder” (Hurston 184). Janie pulling in her horizon represents that she is finally content with the world around her. A horizon is the boundary between the earth and sky; therefore it is out of reach from human hands. According to Janie, the horizon represents an opportunity at change and self-improvement, which is initially out of her reach. She has always sought her horizon and now she can find her it without being bound to a man. Hurston illustrates Janie’s success at self-discovery and the hope of freedom. Without the chains