Throughout Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, there is mention of the horizon. Janie, the main character, is originally choked by it, after her grandmother reduces it to something infinitesimally small. After that, she is married to a series of different men. She is married to an ugly man whom she does not love, chosen by her grandmother. She is married to a rich man who she thought she loved, but he just treats her like an object. Finally, she is married to a man who truly loves her and knows how to enjoy life. All three of the men teach her something and broaden her horizon. In the end, her horizon is no longer Nanny's restriction, but a great net full of life's memories. The horizon is a representation of what Janie learns
…show more content…
She saw the blossoming of the pear tree, which "called her to come and gaze upon a mystery." (Hurston 10) The pear tree opened Janie's eyes to the idea of love, but she didn't truly understand what it was or how to experience it. When Nanny saw her exploring love, by kissing Johnnie Taylor, she became hysterical. nanny had no view of the horizon or of the open possibilities of life. All Nanny wanted was for Janie to be an upper-class woman who would sit on a porch. So she took "The biggest thing God had ever made, the horizon ... and pinched it into such a little bit of a thing that she could tie it about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to choke her" (Hurston 89). What Nanny did was she took the open possibilities of life that Janie could have explored, and instead constricted them into a singular ideal that she forced Janie to pursue. By marrying Janie off to Logan Killicks, Nanny forced Janie's horizon into almost …show more content…
They all ended up teaching her something about life or love, even if it was not a happy lesson. Janie's first husband, Logan Killicks, taught her that love was not a guarantee in life, that she would have to work to find it. After Janie married Logan, she asked why she didn't love Logan, and said "Maybe if somebody told me how [to love him], I could do it" (Hurston 23). Janie wanted love, but Logan had to teach her that marriage did not always result in love. Janie's second husband, Jody Starks, took her away from Logan, and at first she though she loved him. As it turned out, Joe was just using her to be his wife, as he felt that as a mayor he should have a beautiful wife. Joe ended up broadening Janie's horizons to new people and culture, by taking her to a new town that was very different from how she had lived previously. Janie's final husband was Tea Cake. Tea Cake ended up being the person to fully expand Janie's horizon, showing her how to really live life and how to rally love. Janie wanted to experience life, as evidenced by her telling Tea Cake that she "Laks fun just as good as you do" (Hurston 124). Tea Cake showed Janie what life was really about, by taking her to the Everglades, where she could work and live with people who didn't think about anything but the present. Tea Cake also finally fulfilled Janie's vision of real love, by loving her until rabies took him. All three
She saw the blossoming of the pear tree, which "called her to come and gaze upon a mystery." (Hurston 10) The pear tree opened Janie's eyes to the idea of love, but she didn't truly understand what it was or how to experience it. When Nanny saw her exploring love, by kissing Johnnie Taylor, she became hysterical. nanny had no view of the horizon or of the open possibilities of life. All Nanny wanted was for Janie to be an upper-class woman who would sit on a porch. So she took "The biggest thing God had ever made, the horizon ... and pinched it into such a little bit of a thing that she could tie it about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to choke her" (Hurston 89). What Nanny did was she took the open possibilities of life that Janie could have explored, and instead constricted them into a singular ideal that she forced Janie to pursue. By marrying Janie off to Logan Killicks, Nanny forced Janie's horizon into almost …show more content…
They all ended up teaching her something about life or love, even if it was not a happy lesson. Janie's first husband, Logan Killicks, taught her that love was not a guarantee in life, that she would have to work to find it. After Janie married Logan, she asked why she didn't love Logan, and said "Maybe if somebody told me how [to love him], I could do it" (Hurston 23). Janie wanted love, but Logan had to teach her that marriage did not always result in love. Janie's second husband, Jody Starks, took her away from Logan, and at first she though she loved him. As it turned out, Joe was just using her to be his wife, as he felt that as a mayor he should have a beautiful wife. Joe ended up broadening Janie's horizons to new people and culture, by taking her to a new town that was very different from how she had lived previously. Janie's final husband was Tea Cake. Tea Cake ended up being the person to fully expand Janie's horizon, showing her how to really live life and how to rally love. Janie wanted to experience life, as evidenced by her telling Tea Cake that she "Laks fun just as good as you do" (Hurston 124). Tea Cake showed Janie what life was really about, by taking her to the Everglades, where she could work and live with people who didn't think about anything but the present. Tea Cake also finally fulfilled Janie's vision of real love, by loving her until rabies took him. All three