Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Hurston: Character Analysis

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Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story written in Zora Hurston in 1937. The story takes place during the late 1800s and early 1900s in Eatonville, Florida as the main character, Janie Crawford, has returned there after a long time away. The main protagonist in the novel, Janie Mae Crawford, is an African American woman who is often seen to be flaunting herself as if she were Caucasian; this is because she has a mixed family diversity. Janie Crawford is a woman who doesn’t listen to gender stereotypes, and instead uses them to embrace herself. Another person who plays a key role in the story is Janie’s husband, Tea Cake. Tea Cake isn’t her first husband however, after two unsuccessful marriages Janie has settled down with Tea Cake as he was her first true love. He is known to have an immense pride for life and living it to the fullest, and he also withholds razor-sharp wit and charm. Throughout the story, the author employs a range of conflicts, themes, and symbols in order to shed light on the underlying messages betrayed in the story. Janie encounters quite a few conflicts throughout the novel, mainly being conflicts with her current and former lover(s). Firstly, she is in an unsatisfying relationship with her former husband Jody, in which she is verbally abused and cut down immensely. It is not until she finally frees herself from under his wings, and visits him on his deathbed that she feels happy. Continuing on, during the initial stint with her current husband, Janie feels abandoned after he steals her money and leaves her alone for an extended period of time. Not to mention, a catastrophic hurricane rips apart their town leaving them having to flee to safety. One theme that is prevalent throughout the story is being in a relationship versus being independent. …show more content…
Janie is in a constant struggle to find out where she fits in best, whether that is with a man or with her own free independence. When in a relationship with her former husband, Jody, Janie is constantly controlled as Jody achieves satisfaction only when he is in complete control of everything, such as basic relationship fundamentals. Janine is ultimately able to appreciate herself and come in touch with her independence.
Another theme that shined throughout the story was Power and Conquest. Janie is in a constant struggle of husbands who feel the need to assert themselves in every situation as being more powerful than the conflict at hand. An example of this is when the hurricane breaks out and Tea Cake pleads that he is able to fight the storm and survive, through his irrational beliefs. Human limitation is ultimately dominant in the situation. The author is trying to convey human limitation, and how it plays a key role in independence and conquest. Race plays a huge part of the story, as the main character bases her identity around it. She feels as though race is glorified, and truly just wants equality. This book was written during a time were racial equality was not as prominent as it is today, the ever-present imprints of slavery are pressed in the mold of society and are here to stay. Edification of the masses on the subject of slavery is critical, from a social perspective at the very least, for the continued ability of the human race to improve itself through the understanding of its own history. Well known by most, slavery has existed for a large portion of our recorded history as human beings. It has followed closely behind every major civilization as one of the core building blocks leading to success. Due to this issue with domestication of other humans based on class, race, religion or any other discernable social differences, we find the United States’ history speckled with only religion, agriculture, and more appropriately; slavery, as commonplace similarities between great civilizations. However, the inhabitants of this Western society seem to “know better”. The dark ages of human immorality, when slavery was a widespread phenomenon; completely accepted by society, are often viewed today with disgust and humility by large amounts of society. Regardless of this ethical philosophy, the current population as a society has tried to extract from our history some of the most valuable moral and societal lessons we should, and additionally have failed

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