Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

The writer Zora Neale Hurston was born in Alabama, 1891. Hurston later moved to New York City and attended Columbia University where she received a degree in anthropology. She wrote African American folktales with inspiration from her hometown and having them set in her hometown as well. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, follows the story of a character named Janie, as she tells her friend Phoeby about three marriages that she went through with men named Logan, Joe, and Tea Cake. Through her use of symbol, metaphor, and simile, Zora Neale Hurston is able to build the theme that women tend to believe they need a man to be happy, but in reality women can be content by themselves. The story begins with Janie using the literary device …show more content…
Marriage was not as she intended it to be, Logan would force Janie to work and verbally attack her. Then one day, Joe Starks comes around and flatters her where she then leaves Logan for him. Janie only met Joe's surface level and perceived him to be everything she dream of. Janie soon found out that he was not like he portrayed himself to be. There were constant fights between the two, which lead janie to think, “ The bed was no longer a daisy-field for her and Joe to play in. It was a place where she went and laid down when she was sleepy and tried” (71). This metaphor shows how disappointed Janie is with the way their relationship now is. Janie’s idea of marriage changes, as it is not what she expected it to be anymore. Her bees were not singing and kissing as she believed, she realized that they were not always going to be there. When she initially met Joe, she thought it was going to be different and now her idea of marriage has shifted. Janie's transition is shown as she goes from words like “play” and “daisy-field”, to “sleepy” and “tired”. Here, Janie is starting to realize that she is not as happy as she believed she would be with a