“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” (Zora Neale Hurston) In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is searching for new beginnings. Because of her multiple marriages throughout the book, she has many questions about herself and who she is, even if she doesn’t directly notice it. It is not until the death of her last husband, Tea Cakes, that she has found the answers and is satisfied with being her own person. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and “How it Feels to be Colored Me”, Hurston uses the style element of characterization and syntax to reflect from the Harlem Renaissance ideal of creating a new vision of opportunity of social and economic freedom and the celebration of African American culture
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Hurston uses the technique of diction and syntax to reflect the importance of African American culture and pride during the Harlem Renaissance. Every culture has traditions that they are known for and some have tradition just from a community that shares this culture. In TEWWG, there are many examples of the celebration of black culture but one in particular stands out. “When it got good to everybody, Mock Boy woke up and began to chant with the rhythm and everybody bore down on the last word of the line” (157) The chants that the boy was expressing convey how the culture of the way African Americans speak is unique to the people and contribute to who they are. In chapter seven, Janie describes the look of Joe many years …show more content…
In Hurston’s writings, she presents African Americans as a way for it to be suitable for white Americans to accept. Hurston intentionally wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God through the perspective of a female character. Through this she was departing from eliminating stereotypes from the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Although racism was still a large problem, especially in the south, gender equality was a constant struggle for women of the time period. Many women, like Hurston searched for ways to be influential in society and give women the rights they were wrongfully denied in their own homes. Hurston expressed her beliefs through the point of view of Janie, her retaliations against Jody’s rules for her to be seen and not heard, much like a child. Jody many times believed that he was “pouring honor all over her” (62) and that she was simply ungrateful. This was a reflection of the gender inequalities women dealt with on a daily basis. Jody is oblivious to the attention Janie truly craves to have, to be able to contribute to the conversations the men had on their front porch every day. Hurston was a very strong believer in feminism and hoped to convey to her readers the hardships women endured in the early 20th century due to men’s controlling demeanors. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, she also describes racism through the fact that Janie wouldn’t have been
Hurston uses the technique of diction and syntax to reflect the importance of African American culture and pride during the Harlem Renaissance. Every culture has traditions that they are known for and some have tradition just from a community that shares this culture. In TEWWG, there are many examples of the celebration of black culture but one in particular stands out. “When it got good to everybody, Mock Boy woke up and began to chant with the rhythm and everybody bore down on the last word of the line” (157) The chants that the boy was expressing convey how the culture of the way African Americans speak is unique to the people and contribute to who they are. In chapter seven, Janie describes the look of Joe many years …show more content…
In Hurston’s writings, she presents African Americans as a way for it to be suitable for white Americans to accept. Hurston intentionally wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God through the perspective of a female character. Through this she was departing from eliminating stereotypes from the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Although racism was still a large problem, especially in the south, gender equality was a constant struggle for women of the time period. Many women, like Hurston searched for ways to be influential in society and give women the rights they were wrongfully denied in their own homes. Hurston expressed her beliefs through the point of view of Janie, her retaliations against Jody’s rules for her to be seen and not heard, much like a child. Jody many times believed that he was “pouring honor all over her” (62) and that she was simply ungrateful. This was a reflection of the gender inequalities women dealt with on a daily basis. Jody is oblivious to the attention Janie truly craves to have, to be able to contribute to the conversations the men had on their front porch every day. Hurston was a very strong believer in feminism and hoped to convey to her readers the hardships women endured in the early 20th century due to men’s controlling demeanors. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, she also describes racism through the fact that Janie wouldn’t have been